Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I just wandered over to this site from the Leopard Gecko forum. I've had a wonderful Chinese Box Turtle for the past 12 years and haven't seen much on here about this type of box turtle. Does anyone have one?

I have 2! An adult male, and a hatchling. I love them. Is yours a male or female?

Thanks for the reply. The funny thing is that when I first got my turtle, they told me it was a female, so I named her Sadie. But, as she's grown more and more, I'm thinking that she is actually a he.

Do you keep your turtles inside or out? Also, what kind of substrate do you use? My turtle's had some eye problems, so I'm playing around with her setup right now.

Beth

Well, my hatchling is kept in a plastic shoebox that is tilted slightly, I have fresh water in there and some spagnum moss.
My adult stays outdoors, except he is missing in my backyard somewhere.... he dug out when we had heavy rains, I am hoping to find him soon!
Yours is having eye problems? Sounds like it is being kept too dry? How do you have it setup? They love water.

Hi Josta,

I like your setup. I have Sadie in a tank (I'm actually in the process of moving her to a much larger tank). I have a mix of substrates; it's mostly the type of dirt/mulch substrate that comes in a brick, you add water to make it as humid as possible and then some reptile bark/mulch around her water bowl (I'll try to post a picture asap).

I used to have her (or him, I suppose) in the kind of dry shavings you use for small animals (sorry I don't know the specific names of these products). Two years ago, she developed a small, white growth on the side of her eye. I took her to a reptile vet and he said she had a vitamin A defficiency. I was using an ointment and changed her vitamins. The growth didn't go away, but she clearly can see out of the eye and it hasn't gotten any bigger. Now I'm starting to read a lot about the turtle's need for humidity.

Any suggestions? I'll try to post a picture asap. Thanks.

Beth

I know of the dirt stuff you are talking about, the kind that comes in a brick. I love that stuf. So how old is your turtle, and what size enclosure do you have her in. If you show me a picture of its "butt" I may be able to tell you if it is a he or a she.
Here are some links to Chinese box turtle care sheets, if you haven't read them before.:
http://www.turtlepuddle.org/cuora/flavomarginata.html
http://www.tortoise.org/archives/cflavo.html
Here is a pic of my boy....who is still Missing In Action.

Hey,

Nice turtle! It's lost? I hope you live in a warm climate! I'll post pics of my turtle soon.

In the meantime, here's a pic. of her new setup. It's 3 ft long and 1.5 feet wide. She loves it!

Beth

The pic didn't show up. I do live in a warm climate, wont be cold for a while.

Hey,

Sorry about the pic. I'll repost it tonight. I haven't posted a pic. yet, so I need to figure out the best way. But, it'll be coming soon.

By the way, I'm jealous of your warm climate. It's raining in Upstate NY and very chilly--I was so tempted to burrow with my turtle under her nice heat lamp this morning!

Beth

Yep, it is about 90 today. Last week it got down to 50 though, our climate is weird. I do love the warm temps because my turtles can stay outside longer-or do not go into hibernation as early.
If you want to e-mail me the pics My addy is TameYourself@hotmail.com
It may be easier to get a pic to me that way!

Ok, let's try this again and if it doesn't work, I'll e-mail it to you.
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