Hi! My daughter found a tortoise and I was hoping for some help. I don't know much about them as I'm more into snakes. But after seeing some of the causulties on our road, I agreed to let her keep it.
It's mostly an olive green color on the shell, has a beak, has yellow spots on it's legs and an orangish speckles on the throat. It also has some orange spots on it's face. We've had it a few days and it's no longer scared of being held. I'm not sure where my daughter found it. But we have fields, chat piles and ponds nearby. We've been feeding it vegetables, romaine lettuce, carrots, and such. (We have a couple of beardies so we just basically give the tortoise some of the same salad mix.)
Any advice would be helpful. Sorry I can't send a pic but I don't have digital camera or a scanner. I've looked in turtle/tortoise books but can't find one that looks like it.
Anyhow, thanx again!
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N. E. Oklahoma
Replies (5)
It sounds like a box turtle. Have you been looking at box turtle pictures? Does it have a hinge on the bottom of the shell?
it sure does sound like a box turtle. i'm from northern oklahoma and i have a 3-toed box turtle. they are really sweet turtles.
amy
What do they eat? I don't really know much about turtles at all. I feel kinda silly asking this. Oh and how do you find out the sex? My daughter calls it a girl, but she's 6 and everything is a girl. 
Thanx for your help!
Well I'm 23 and everything to me is a girl still lol. I believe sex cannot be deterined until the turtle reaches sexual maturity. It does sound like you have a box turtle of some type.
The diet you are feeding sounds okay. However it sounds like a young turtle. Younger turtles need more protein in their diet. Younger boxies will eat earthworms, slugs, crickets (if they can catch them) and I have heard that they will eat pill bugs. Mealworms or superworms may work too. I however do not know a good ratio of protein to other nutrients. I'd give it 2 earthworms and three superworms every other feeding. Veggies one feed period and protein the next. I'd feed it every other day so that it will not get bored with its food. It keeps the feed response going. 3-4 times a week at least.
Make sure it has plenty of calcium in its diet. This is critical stage in the turtle's development. The shell is hardening and it is growing. So a sprinkling of calcium with that salad mix will do fine. A nice terrarium with plenty of hides and plants and nice water bowl that it can soak in is great. Have a deep dish type of bowl and fill it with sphagnum moss and keep it moist. I find that boxies use it to burrow in. They will still burrow in other parts of the tank though. Okay so that is all I got. Read some literature to find out more. They are cool animals.
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That is very interesting considering there are no tortoises native to Oklahoma. Your daughter may have found an Ornate box turtle, or possibly a stray three-toed box turtle. Look up pictures of these species. Good luck.
