Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We are looking at getting a rat terrier dog, but want to know if anyone has experience with these dogs being around box turtles? Of course, our boxies are in a fenced pen in the yard about 2 ft high, but rats can jump pretty good? Any ideas? These dogs are rat "hunters" so I'm just not sure how they typically do around turts.

Dont' know about rat terriers but when we got my dog(bichon/cocker) we had to put a cover over my turtle's outside pen. When we first got the dog he really was interested in the turtle's pen,even in her tank downstairs(he would sit outside her tank and bark if he saw her moving around) but now he is totally fine with the turtle, he has never tried to hurt the turtle and the turtle comes right up to the dog(the dog never has free access to the turtle though.

SO i would cover the pen as your dog will most likely try to jump in and check out the turtle. So for its safety cover it.Its not hard. I jsut bought some metal fencing and hinged it to the pen's top.

The safest thing to do would be to keep all dogs away from box turtles. Dogs are considered to be a predator of turtles, and even small dogs can do serious damage by chewing in the edges of their shells, or worse.
Many terrier breeds were developed/trained to go after vermin, and have a tendency to go after anything that moves. Three of our four dogs are terrier mutts and none of the dogs are allowed to come in contact with our turtles.
Why chance it?
Avoid catastrophe and put a cover on the pen, or build a higher barrier that your dog can't jump over.
Stephanie

The safest thing to do would be what Steph said. However, I have a yorkshire terrior (sigh) and he just insists on going into my pen everytime the top is down. He goes up to the turtles and sniffs them but thats about it. Just watch him carefully if he goes into the pen. In terms of hatchlings/yearlings, yes, he most def could do damage. The reality is they can do damage, the question is whether or not they will. Only you can answer that.

Jesse

On a rat terrier board, I posted this question too and a breeder told me that her rats had dug underneath her tortoise pen and killed 2 of them. I guess your just never really sure........maybe a chihuahua or some other tiny dog would be much more appropriate?

Just keep in mind that different breed characteristics are not guarantees of behavior patterns, but tendencies. Every dog is an individual: I had a very laid back, friendly(!!)dachshund for 14 years.
Hounds and working breeds tend to be a little bit more mellow, terriers more 'high strung'. We refer to ours as terrors, not terriers : they're ten years old now and I've only seen the female close her eyes a couple of times...seriously.
Training and socializing makes a huge difference, too, so while you're researching breeds, don't overlook trainability.
By the way, the word Terrier comes from the French word for earth, or dirt, (terre), and they were bred to dig, usually after rats or weasels raiding grain stores or chicken coops, and every terrier owner I've met has confirmed that particular trait.
Good luck in your search.
Stephanie