There is a kid down the block who always wants me to give him a snake and/or a turtle and/or buy a turtle from him. Well, he showed me his turtles and among them was what I thought was a desert tortoise so I thought he was lieing when he said he "found it at the creek". "The creek" is a drainage ditch at a city park. Anyway, I went to the petshop and looked at a turtle book and there it was, an Eastern Box Turtle. So I went back home and bought it from him for $5. I also bought a Painted Turtle and some kind of Mud turtle for $5 apiece. The water turtles I know how to keep, but the box turtle is all new to me. Unlike the water turtles he wanders around in the basement all the time and I go every night to try to get him to eat out of my hand. He is really shy but if I give him a worm he usually will take it. Mealworms he won't take out of my hand unless I have forgotten to feed him the day before or so. Superworms he loves but they are kind of expensive.
Anyway, what should I do that I'm not? Or what shouldn't I be doing that I am? I doubt there are many of these around so I almost took it back to the city park, but figured he or his friend would just catch it again.
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Why didn't I go here before???
Replies (2)
Where do you live? Is the boxie native to your area? If so it would be best to build him a pen outdoors. Here are some great links to check out...
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-easternboxie.htm
http://www.tortoise.org/archives/terrapen.html#eastern
Link
For now, you can get a 50 gallon Rubbermaid, add a few inches of finely shredded hardwood mulch, add a pan for soaking (a round cake pan works well), maybe some artificial silk plants from a dollar store or a home improvement store/Wal-Mart. Put a screen on one end (a 20 gallon long scree is OK), add a heat lamp and UVB light. Keep the mulch slightly damp by adding a little water every other day or so.
For long-term indoor housing, you can get an inexpensive bookshelf unit from Wal-Mart, remove the shelves, lay it on it's side, add a tarp or pond-liner, and follow the directions above.
Try a variety of fruits and veggies in addition to earthworms, insects, and slugs.
Katrina
