Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok well I have been on this website for a long time but haven't been on in a long time. Anyways I have a three toed box turtle which which I have had for a bout a year in a half now I am not quite sure of its age or gender some say it is female some say male and I think he/she is 8 years old. Well my turtle hasn't eaten in a long time! I always offer food and soak it but it never eats. Every time I go in to check on him he is always hibernating or something because he is burrowed under the spaghnum moss and topsoil so when I finally dig him up he has this weird clear kinda seal over his eyes and always hisses at me when I take him out. I was thinking about hibernating him because he is really trying too but on the other hand I am not totally sure he is healthy enough to be hibernated because he hasn't been eating(which I know is a sign of wanting to hibernate)I think I will just keep him up this winter but I am not too sure what do you think? I was thinking about cleaning his cage out and just filling it up a little bit with the spaghnum,peat moss, and topsoil so he doesn't get to burrow down in and hibernate but would that just up set him? I am kind of confused and worried about him not eating. Please answer ASAP.!.!.

I think your questions were answered in detail by a few different people the last time you asked them.
Why have you delayed making a decision about hibernating your turtle for so long?

You really do need answers ASAP, and you need to do something about your turtle ASAP, also! You said it hasn't eating in a really long time- that is probably because you have not provided it with conditions that makes it to want to eat.

What temperatures do you have the turtle in? If you don't have a good thermomenter in there with it, you really don't know.
What is the humidity like?
Does it have UVA and UVB lights?
How are you heating it's home? The turtle needs a core body temp of about 80 degrees to want to eat well.

A turtle kept indoors in the winter months must have SUMMER LIKE conditions if it is to keep eating and retaining it's health. If it does not, it will go into a false, unsafe hibernation mode where it stops eating, yet uses up all its reserves. This spells illness, even death to many turtles. Please don't let you turtle be one of the many who die every winter due to this twilight zone hibernation.

Here are my suggestions, get new lights and keep them on 14 hours a day. Put more heat and humidity in the cage if they are below summer like norms and give your turtle live foods to eat as well as the basic veggies like sweet potaotes, romaine, apples, carrots. Try nightcrawlers, superworms, waxworms, crickets. All these can be bought from mail order suppliers. Let me know you will be taking my advice
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Ok...well I am taking her/him to the vet tomorrow. But yes it gets soaked and has uva and uvb geat and lighting. Thanks for the advice.

Hi, sorry for posting again so soon but I just wanted to let you know that I am getting a thermometer thing for the humidity and the temperature. I am getting it from Big apple herp. Does this look like something worth to buy? Would it be any good? http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Product/Precision_Analog_Thermometer_and_Humidity_Gauge_181110.html

Well thanks again for all the help. And oh I have just one question left: What are the correct temps that need to be in the tub...80-90F right and then 60% humidity?

I buried her up from the soil and I soaked her for about 20-30 minutes. Then I made the soil pretty damp and misted iot with water so it was pretty humid too and I turned the UVA/UVB light back on and put some fruits and vegetables in(I went out to look for slugs and worms and other insects but couldn't find them probably to cold DUH) her cage and kept misting her I did all the right things and she still didn't even touch her food. I know it will take longer to retaliate her but I gues she still didn't have an appetite.

The visit to the vet is great as it will help deterimine if something other than just being cold is causing her to stop eat.

And yes, that product will be good to have in the tank. Now you can know for certain the turtle is being kept at the proper temp. Keep the lights on 14 hours a day. Adjust the lights and heater so one side of the tank is 82 degrees and the other side is 75. This way the turtle can move from the warm and cool end to regulate it's body temp. At night the temp should not go down below 70 since you don't want the turtle to get too cold during the winter months when you are trying to keep it up and eating. The humidty should be kept at 75% or higher. Think of how humid it is in the summer. That is what you are striving for.

Leave fresh water in a shallow bowl in the tank for the turtle to drink and soak in. It will take several days for the turtle to get warm enough to have her appetite return.

Nightcrawlers are the best live insect for box turtles. You can buy them from several online suppliers. Just type in "feeder insects". You can also feed them crickets, waxworms and superworms. Let us know what the vet says.
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Just curious as to what the vet said. If she's on antibiotics, her appetite might not return for a few days.

Try www.wormman.com to order worms.

Katrina

We didn't go to the vets yet not until tomorrow. What are the best kinds of insects/worms for the turtle? Iwill probably change each month but what are the best kinds?