Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In late April I agreed to buy a pair of captive bred Ornate Box Turtles from someone that was getting out of breeding boxies to focus on other areas of interest.
When they arrived they are actually Three Toed, and I believe they are wild caught.
Now I don't know what to do with these guys. I have provided the best environment I can for them and they are not adjusting well. They are housed outside in a large enclosure - 8ftx20ft. It has pools to bathe in, soft soil and hay to burrow in, shade and sunlight. I bring them inside and soak them at least once a week. So I can inspect them and check for problems.
They appear healthy, but I have NEVER seen the female eat. The male used to eat after I would soak them. Now whenever he even sees even my shadow he closes up so tight his shell squeaks. I leave food for them and it used to disappear, but not anymore. I have tried fruit, greens, veggies, worms, everything. It either wilts or crawls away.

What can I do for these guys? I feel so bad for them. I think they being in captivity. Timid, cowering, hiding turtles do not appear happy to me. What more can I do to ease their transition?
I wish I could take them back to Arkansas and turn them loose. Is it possible to release these guys somewhere?

Any help would be appreciated.
Shari

shari, can you tell us a bit more about your turtles. How many days have you had them. How large are they. Also a bit more about the enclosure. Are there plenty of shaded spots. At least two hides pref in shady spots. Does the enclosure get full sun.

I have a wild caught ornate and I guess we were lucky. he started eating fruit in 3 days. Veggies took a while longer. We had some days where he didn't eat at all. Didn't seem to be a big deal. Have you tried strawberries? That is definately our turtles fav food.

regarding soaking turtles, maybe you should try a week or two without doing that. Also, we got ours used to us by having contact for brief periods each day. At first, he would sometimes hiss at us when we touched him. But after a few weeks of daily contact, he seemed indifferent. After a few months of daily contact, he eats out of our hands and seems to like the attention.

I can't say whether releasing is a good option. Some of the experts will prob be able to say better. I would not give up on them though if it was me. Might just take a bit more time to get used to your climate, etc.

Oh just a couple other thoughts. If you use outside enclosure, don't use any pesticides/herbicides in yard or around house. They could taint the natural critters which your turtles might be eating when you are not looking. I know our turtle will eat any slugs, worms, etc he can catch in the yard.

Good luck and keep us posted!

"Can you tell us a bit more about your turtles?"
"How large are they?"

The turtles are both adults. Female is a little smaller than the male. She is about 400g and has SCL of about 3.75 inches. Male is about 430g and has a SCL of about 4-4.25 inches. (I am at work and do not have my records here, these are what I remembered) Their weight has held pretty steady. I will recheck in a few days.

"How many days have you had them?"

I purchased them the end of April, so I have had them almost 8 weeks.

"Are there plenty of shaded spots?"
"Does the enclosure get full sun?"
Are there at least two hides preferably in shady spots?"

Enclosure is in full sun until about noon or a little later, by 4:00 it is partial/mostly shaded. Plants have not grown up very much to provide a lot of shade yet.
One end of the enclosure is covered with a solid top to provide shade and shelter from the rain. There are hides (overturned flower pots) in the shade and full sun. There is also a large pile of mulch/compost in the covered end, and at the sunny end for burrowing. They are usually buried in the shaded end. (Compost pile consists of straw, grass clippings and dried leaves. They are not sneaking scraps from the compost pile.)

"Have you tried strawberries?"

Yes, the male would eat strawberries the first couple of weeks I had them, but not anymore. He would also eat tomatoes, melon and a few greens if I chopped them up. He has never taken wiggly things. I have never seen the female eat. One night the waxworms did disappear, so someone ate them.

I know I really can't release them, I just wish I could. I would have NEVER purchased wild caught if I had known. By purchasing them I have doomed them to a life of captivity. All I can do is make the best of a bad situation.

Does anyone know if adding a few captive bred, tame, well established, turtles would help or make thigs worse?

Thanks for your help.
Shari

WEll it sounds to me like your enclosure is pretty good. Just wish it had a bit more shaded areas. Our turtle loves to hang out in a natural wooden hide during the heat of the day. It is in the shady side of the enclosure and is probably the coolest area for summertime heat which we have plenty of in Texas!

I would cut out the soaks and spend about 20 minutes a day just sitting right next to the enclosure. It might be that since every time they saw you they got handled moved and soaked, they may simply be scared. Kind of like a dog I had that associated removing his collar and grabbing a towel with a bath which he did not like. Every time I would walk up with towel in hand and start removing his collar, he whined.

It seems that 8 weeks is a long time to go without eating at least part of the time. However, they could be catching natural foods (crickets, snails, worms, slugs, etc) so they may be eating more than you know. To coax our turtle to eat early on, I would drop a slice of ripe strawberry right in front of their nose and then move back so he could not see me. It sometimes took 30 minutes to an hour for him to eat it but he usually did. Our turtle did not become tame overnight. It took many months of daily visits, handling, etc before he learned we were not there to harm him.

The idea of adding another tamed turtle might work. I would go with a female of same species if there is an honest to goodness tame one available for sale. Others might have more ideas.

I'm betting if you will spend 20 minutes a day for 2 weeks sitting by the enclosure and simply watching them (no touching or removing the turtles from the enclosure), they will start showing signs of improvement!

Don't worry, these guys will adjust! Like matt suggested, maybe spend a little time each day with them (if you aren't already). Make sure they have a variety of hiding areas and places to hang out. I use logs, branches, hay and leaves.
I've got a makeshift den on one end of my pen made out of small logs and branches, topped with hay. They can hide in the den or hang out on top of it. I wouldn't bring them in to soak, just make sure they have a small "pool" to access at will.
I use a big clay plant saucer and make sure I put clean water in it every day. During the summer, I'll sometimes let it overflow and some of the turtles like to make their own "mudholes". If you don't see them soak on their own, them put them in their pool, but I don't see any need to bring them in to soak. Keep monitoring their weight and watch for droppings and that should put you at ease. Chances are they are finding food in their pen. Thats why I keep alot of hay and leaves, and I have their pen surround by leaves raked the previous fall, it keeps a good food supply around. I also supplement with storebought or handcaught worms, superworms, crickets. During the summer I watch for whatever is flying around. Lately I've been going out to the driveway by the garage lights and am catching junebugs. Later it will be cicadas, katydids and grasshoppers. I give them some biljac dog food about once a week, or sometimes some cat food.
They love tomatoes, blackberries, corn, dandilion, cactus, romaine lettuce, cantaloup, etc.

Probably the key is to making their habitat as comfortable as possible. Keep us posted!

good strong healthy adult box turtles can go atleast a month without food and have no problems, I wouldn't freak if it's only been a couple weeks, some turtles dont start eating for a while.

releasing them would not only be illegal but it'd also be a death sentence, since box turtles have a home range that they imprint on in their first few years of life, a turtle released someplace other than "home" will wander till it dies of either starvation, hit by car or a predator finds it, in captivity we dont allow them as much room as they have in the wild, there's really no hunting for food, unless your turtle becomes a strict insect eater.. but everything's pretty much supplied.
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