Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A few weeks ago before I recieved these incredible turtles I was doing research trying to figure out how to keep them, I found extremes in ideals from being almost totally aquatic to terrestrial.I read an article written by Russ Gurley and spoke with him as well as few other breeders and this is what I came up with. I basically combined everyones ideals into this simple set up and found that my animals settled in acclimated immediatly, within a couple days they were chasing my fingers through the ivies hoping to score a worm.
Being wood turtles I felt it was necessary to provide this species with lots of room. I use a 6ft. vision cage and laid down a 3in. layer of 50% sphagnum moss and 50% sand. This keeps moisture very well and provides them with loose soil for digging. I also added some driftwood for climbing and hiding and lined the entire bottom with several ivies. The waterdish is a large plastic tray(24in.) used under potted plants. I keep the water level at about 1in. The basking spot is warm but not too hot, I use two 60w UV bulbs that provides a heat spot directly under the lamp of about 88-90'. The temperature gradient in the cage averages about 80' on the warm side to about 75 on the cool end. (With a 5-10 degree drop at night)I also mist them heavily in the mornings.
Feeding is rather simple earthworms are there favorites and is a staple of there diet, other food items are mealsworms ,crickets and melon. I feed them a small portion everyday about 1-2 earthworms each with other food items being supplemented in every couple feedings or so.
I hope this little bit of information helps anyone who may become lucky enough to own this facinating and personable species. I included some pictures of my setup to help.
Justin Mitcham

cage pics

woops wrong pic last time..

cage pic 2

pic 3

pic4