Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend has a box turtle that she doesn't take really good care of. She has it in a 20 gallon tank with no supplemental heating. I don't no what she feeds it , but every time I visit I have to feed it. I feed if various fruits and carrots ect. She has no water in the tank because she says its a desert box turtle. Please help. She even wants to get another herp(gecko) I don't have the heart to tell her all that she does wrong. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Print some info out on box turtles and give it to her so she can be educated about turtles. Not all people care for there turtles incorrectly because they dont care about the turtle, but because most people don't care for there turtles correctly because they don't know how to. I would recommend printing some info on box turtle care and give it to her.

Of if you have to, steal it and adopt it out to someone.

* sighs * i know the feeling of some one not taking care of their animals ..

There was a neighborhood boy that brought an Eastern Box Turtle up to our house and was trying to get one of our girls to take it saying he had had it since he was a baby.. he was tossing the poor thing from hand to hand and the turtle had its shell so tight you couldn't see her .. he also put her on the edge of the table and pushed her off on to the floor saying she likes to do flips .. but later he told brittany the one who wanted it ( and i let her keep it hey i wanted it away from the kid not that it was cute Noooo * looks around all innocent like * ) that he had been feeding it hot wings and bannanas and that the turtle didn't like bannanas .. The boy doesn't speak the best english in the world either so that didn't help

One of the other boys in the neighborhood said that he saw the boy pick the turtle up several days ago while they were playing in the woods somewhere with their parents. The boys parents dont speak english at all so i guess we have a pet turtle now .. if she lays any eggs im going to see if i can figure out a way to release them into the wild if possible .. but since i know of another Eastern Box Turtle ( captive ) male near me .. it might be possible for us to get them together and let the males genes get into the wild population that way .. if its possible to release captive eggs into the wild with out parasites or diseases that would kill other turtles ..

if turtles hatch around a certain they tend to stay there don't they if there is a good food supply?

and of course i forgot to get to my own point .. the boy who gave the turtle to my fiances daughter now says he wants the turtle back ... i think i shall refuse this and my fiance is backing me one hundred percent .. because of the mistreatment of this creature that we both witnessed with our own eyes .. and from what we heard that he was trying to feed the poor girl .. if we would give her back she would be dead or living a horrible life suffering ...

but i know that we will take care of her and use her to help out the turtle population if possible to do so