Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, not only am I new to this group, I am also a new caregiver to a rescued box turtle. With the exception of small parts of it's shell; which was mauled during an attack by a dog, he, the shape of his shell I understand confirms this, appears in good health. Today I placed him within what I thought to be an enclosed area which encluded a variety of shrubs and succulent plants, a packrat nest, all which was shaded beneath the canopy of a mesquite and palo verde tree. I observed him to be exploring the entryway to the packrat nest. I left him alone for several hours, and when I returned around midday and was unable to find him. I have reason to believe he sought shelter from the heat either deep inside the nest or he made it out of the enclosure and found another burrow somewhere upon our acre of desert property. From what I already know about his habits, I have reason to believe he might leave his shelter later in the evening or sometime early morning. Are these turtles nocturnal and do I have reason to be concerned that he might wander to the fringes of our property possibly escaping wherever there might be a rabbit hole through the property fence. Thank you for your spent reading this lengthy post.

palo verde, mesquite....?
Do you live in a warm dry climate?
Box turtles will seek out an area of high humidity and will require such an area if they are to be kept successfully.
The type of box turtle will dictate how much of the space should be humid (despite what is claimed by keeprs who haven't spent any time in west texas or arizona)but they all need access to at least a large soaking dish of water and high humidity hidebox of some sort.
I suspect if the enclosure is truly escape proof (and he was not hauled off by a cat or dog or coyote or hawk or other predator) that you will find him dug into the soil, perhaps at the base of one of the trees.

When you recover him, make a large shady area, get a big, shallow container for water, and dig an depression to fill with mulch of some sort which you hose frequently (probably daily if you live in a low humidity climate).

Can you tell us where you are (what part of what state)?
Sounds like you're in the south west somewhere. Is the turtle you found a luteola (terrapene ornata luteola)?
Lots of questions, but helps with answers to yours.

I didn't know until about a year ago that there were other box turtles besides Easterns... spoken like a true east coaster.

Stephanie

I'm not sure I entirely understand what you are asking... If you want to know if it escaped, none of us can tell you for sure, but if this nest has tunnels, and they lead out of the enclosure area, then yes, it could have gone that way. The reason for his entering the burrow was to seek out higher humidity, and as you suggested, escape from the heat. Dessert box turtles are more able to handle dry conditions, but even they cannot stand the heat of the day. You'd be surprised at how much humidity level can rise in a small burrow or even a shallow scrape. The dessert boxes use them to wait out the hot parts of the day, then go out in mornings and evenings (when it's cooler) to find food, mates, etc.
If you want to entice him out, put a sprinkler on the area in the morning. If he's around, chances are he'll come out to take advantage of the unexpected rainfall.