Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 3 toed boxies toenails are overgrown & starting to curl. i was trying to trim them on a regular basis but they dont look any better. her substrate is strictly bed a beast right now, which is lining a wooden box covered in aquarium liner, because the wood hasnt been treated so its not waterproof. i have a 1 foot square tile under a heat lamp for her to sit on, i was hoping this would keep her nails under a little more control, but it doesnt seem to be working. im in the process of upgrading to at least soil & bed a beast, any ideas what else i could do? im also trying new things for her to eat, her favories right now are strawberries & cantaloupe. tomatoes shell only eat if i mix it with something, but since they are only supposed to be fed them occassionally, im not to worried. any help would be appreciated.

btw, anyone know a percentage of what the humidity is supposed to be? that is a problem in the room shes in (we dont have a back yard, so i cant put her outside) & ive never been able to find any solid answers. i going to put in a humidity box as soon as i can get out to buy a box for it. o yeah, she also has daily access to an open window, & one bulb i bought from petco, cant remember what wattage though. what am i doing wrong?

thanks in advance for any help.

You can trim the nails as you would a bird. Try trimming just a little bit first, then in a couple of weeks trim a little more. Do not trim close the "wick", as this will cause bleeding/trauma. As far as the humidity, I would put a plastic container upside down, and fill it with moist moss; the turtle will use it when he needs it. You can also put a larger plastic container in the enclosure, with a heat lamp and a container of water (he should be able to tip it over) this will keep a lot of humidity in a close space. Box turtle do need humidity, but as far as a formula on what humidity level to keep your turtle at, I don't think there is one - just make sure it has access to water every day, and give it a place to have humidity if it wants it. Also, you should give it as much natural sunlight as possible, and include a cuttle bone to pick at, that will help keep its beak from overgrowing.
Bill