Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son is keeping two box turtles for the summer (class pet - apparently they were going to leave them alone at school for the summer. My son found out and went to talk with the teacher). Right now, they are in a big rubbermaid bin with gravel, a chopped off continer with water and a chopped up dixie cup with 'box turtle food' inside. From the little reading I have done, this is completely wrong and I want to upgrade the housing conditions.

Problem is that I will only have them for two months, so I cannot justify spending $$$ on these fellas. Here were my initial thoughts.

They apparently like topsoil type dirt mixed with ochid bark OR coconut fiber. My mother raises orchids and has coconut fiber bark. It is little squarish chunks of coconut shell, some shredded. Would this work? Plain coconut bark or mixed with dirt?

Ok. 6" or so of media. Either a plant saucer with water or perhaps a pyrax 8x8 dish for water - buried partially in the substrate.

They have a hollowed out wood cave thing to go into. Do they also need a house? What would you recommend for a food bowl? A crock? Could/should I plant a live plant in there for them to eat? What kind? An herb garden?

This is where the idea of spending money comes into play. They should have a heat lamp, heat rock, etc. I think this may be a bit pricey for something I am babysitting, so do you guys have any cheap ideas?

In the last two months, we were given a free hamster that I spent 100. on and two free hermit crabs that I just spent 42. on this week. My bank acct. is a bit low for all these needy creatures! LOL

Oh, one other thing. The bigger turtle has some kind of skin thing on his cheek. Here's a pic. What is this?

Sorry for the huge pic....I'm a middle aged mom, what do you expect! LOL

What happened to his face?
I can tell you that these poor turtles are going to die if kept in those conditions, you really need to talk to your son's school. They are living in deplorable conditions.
First of all, the turtle in the picture is a male ornate box turtle. His face is bleeding, I would clean that out with peroxide and put Polysporon on it. Get a bag of potting soil(try to find the kind without the white stuff) dump that in there, get a big plant saucer(big enough for the turtles to soak in. Then go out in your yard and start digging up worms! Earthworms are very nutricious and they love them! Any other kind of bug is good too, slugs are also a favorite. As for Fruits/Veggies, get dark leafy greens(not iceburg lettuce), squashes, green beans, carrots, strawberries(I have never seen a box turtle turn down a strawberry), apples etc.
A temperature of 80-85 in the day time should be fine. You can go to homedepot and get a clamp light for very cheap, then get a regular 100w bulb.
That will at least give them a little more comfort.
An Ideal situation would be to build a pen outside for them, but since you don't own them(yet!)...

Good luck, PLEASE don't let them suffer any longer!

No I don't want them to suffer - that's why I found this website after having them for (what now - four hours?) Anyway, the thing on his face is crusty and is like a clump of skin/crud. It is attached at one small spot. It's not bleeding, but it is funny colored. I'm not going to pull it off, but it reminds me of a scab that is hanging on at one side (if you know what I mean.)

I saw that if outdoors, they should be on the East or South side. We have strict housing covenants and a grouchy next door neighbor. Those two sides are our front yard and the side of the yard that faces the mean neighbor. So, housing them on one of those two sides is out of the question. I could do West side (maybe) which is the back of the house, but I really don't want to get the neighborhood association on my case, so I was thinking indoors.

Anyway, have you heard about the coconut bark for bedding?

I will make a trip to Home Depot tomorrow for the lamp. Thanks for that idea. I was trying to avoid something really expensive since they aren't mine! I think I will post a current photo of the living conditions they had at the school and then I can post the upgrades to get opinions on what is good/bad. Please forgive any large photos, I don't know enough about computers to fix that type of stuff.

What you may even want to do is try to see if the school is willing to give this guy up. They obviously are NOT taking good care or him and he could possible die from those conditions. I would then either keep him for yourself OR give him up for adoption. There are plenty of people out there that would love a male ornate boxie they may have more room for him.

good luck and keep us posted

Christina
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0.0.1 Hatchling Indian Star Tortoise (Sitara)
1.1 Russian Tortoise (Willy & Mikey)
0.1 Ornate Box Turtle (Lily)
1.0 Red Eared Slider (Chester)
0.0.2 White's Tree Frog (Kermit & Phil)
0.0.1 Red eyed Tree Frog (Justin)
0.0.1 Big Eyed Tree Frog
0.0.2 Bubbling Frog
0.0.2 Tiger Leg Tree Frogs (Akari & Shiro)
0.0.3 Amazonian Milky Tree Frogs
0.0.1 Dwarf Megophrys
0.0.2 Rainbow Burrowing Frog/Ornate Hopper
0.0.1 Asian Blue Webbed Gliding Tree Frogs
0.0.1 Albino Pacman Frog
0.1 Praire Dog (Timmy)
0.2 Chinchillas (Layla & Snickers)
0.3 mice
0.1 dog (Holly)
2.0 Cats (Champ & Bear)

Oh and a husband

Hi-I don't know that I'd worry about what side of the house an outdoor pen is on, the conditions could vary depending on the amount of shade, etc. The west side might be a concern if it received full blown sun and there are no shrubs to offer shade, etc. At my house the west side is pretty heavily shaded.

Anyway, if you wanted to you can build a fairly inexpensive pen with hardware cloth. You need to bury the bottom edge into the ground a few inches, and you need to create a lip around the top to prevent them from climbing out.

If you can't do an outdoor pen, I would make sure they have a damp substrate they can burrow down into, and try to see that they get outside for fresh air and sunlight.

Another idea for an temp outdoor pen, or a playpen would be to get a large wading pool, one with pretty tall sides, put some damp peat moss in it, the hide log, a plant saucer for a water dish, and maybe some plants and you've got a little habitat going. The trick is, that the sides of the pool are going to have to be pretty tall for a full grown turtle. They make those wading pools that are round and the sections snap together, the bottom is vinyl, those were pretty tall if I remember correctly.

The sore on the side of the turtle's head might be an ear infection that ruptured, its hard to tell since his head is partially retracted. I'd try putting a little peroxide on it, then follow up with some neosporin.