Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have an eastern box turtle, about the size of the palm of my hand. ive had him for almost a year. i have been feeding him "turtle food" but he doesnt seem to really like it, and it makes an awful mess. any ideas of vegetables, fruit, or whatever that he might enjoy?

much thanks

My box turtle's favorite foods are bananas, crickets and meal worms.

My easterns eat lots of different things, like earthworms, crickets, slugs, snails, cicadas, centipedes, moths, boiled chicken, collards, berries of all kinds, cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potatoes, the occasional tomato, squashes of all kinds, wild mushrooms, etc. This is just a partial list: when I prepare food for them, I try to have 40-50% protein, 10-20% greens, 10-20% veggies (or more) and the rest fruit as an enticement/treat. I end up just eyeballing proportions, so sometimes they get more of a given category: I have a sneaking suspicion that their 'natural' diet is subject to cycles of availability of certain foods in nature, so I don't get too picky about the recipe being a bit lopsided on occasion.
Make sure any meat you offer is low in fat, and try to vary the diet to keep things interesting.
I don't feed my adults any commercial foods because they're just not really interested in the stuff. Slugs, on the other hand, are filet mignon to them.
I keep mine outdoors, though, in as natural a setting as possible, so that they can do some foraging as well as eating what I prepare. They're hibernating now, so I won't be seeing them for another 2-3 months.
Good Luck
Stephanie

The turtle in your photo is not an eastern box turtle, from what I can see...
Stephanie

If he's that small, you want to make sure his diet is mostly protein. Baby box turtles are almost entirely carnivorous for the first couple of years and begin to add more and more vegetable matter into their diet as they age. Most adults will continue to eat animal foods, but their diet usually becomes more tilted towards the vegetarian side. Yours is probably old enough to eat fruits and vegetables as well as protein foods.

Good protein foods are crickets, meal worms, snails, slugs, earthworms, moths, chicken, beef heart. My keeled box turtle is nuts about Jerusalem crickets... those big, ugly reddish bugs that many people call "potato bugs." Good vegetarian foods are apple, leafy greens, pears, grapes, strawberries, squash, and any edible wild weeds you find. Dandelion can't be beat as a food for any tortoise or turtle.

Boxies luuuuuuuuvvvvvvvvvvv Mazuri chow too.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I know the whole Mazuri deal, EJ. but just for the record only one of my 12 will eat it.

Rats like rat poison.... until they croak.

I find that my eastern and florida box turtles enjoy a variety of foods, some more than others. I offer them live jumbo meal worms, wax worms, red and earth worms, and as a treat silk worms (they can get expensive). They enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables including dark leafy greens, grated carrot and apple and a variety of berries, especially blueberries they LOVE. They also both eat dog kibble every once in a while and will eat cooked rice.