Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, on the Fourth of July I found a tiny hatchling in the outdoor pen where my adult three-toed box turtles live. It looked like it was almost dried out, so I carefully picked it up, got it in a little pool of water up to its beak and let it soak for a couple of hours. The hatchling did not have its egg sac, but did still have its egg tooth, so I knew it wasn't very old. I didn't see any evidence of other hatchlings or a nest anywhere. After hydrating the baby, I offered it some minced canned cat food (chicken), but it wouldn't eat, just chomped its jaws a couple of times then walked away to hide. I've been offering it food the same way each day with no bites. In addition to soaking the baby in a beak high puddle in a saucer, I add about half plain Pedialyte to the water for electrolyte replacement. Anyone got any ideas to get it to eat, and is this normal? I looked for small worms outdoors with no luck.

it might be that the poor little guy is scared since he was pretty much wild with in the cage .. and from what i have heard the hatchlings are flighty and scardey cats as a protection so they dont get eaten ..

maybe give it a little environment that has pently of moist spots and hiding spots .. and food and step back and treat the little guy like a wild turtle ..

i havent ever had a baby boxie .. but i have a VERY SHY boxie.. which is due to being caught wild them abused by a previous child owner ... which i have been leaving her alone as much as possible .. and she finally ate *EXCITED *.. and that has taken several weeks

First food I got my babies to eat was slugs and probably still is their favorite food. If there are some slugs where you live try putting some newspaper outside underneath bushes or underneath flowers where it is somewhat damp and check first thing in the morning to see if you have "caught" any slugs on the underside of the newspaper. Make sure to wet down the newspaper in the afternoon or evenings so will still be damp by morning. I have 7 hatchlings now - oldest being about 3 years old and have only lost one in 3 years.

put down cabbage leaves instead of newspaper and you'll be crawling in slugs.

Try bait shops for small worms, also pet stores for maybe live bloodworms. Try pill bugs, all sorts of things.

Once you get it eating, get it on a schedule, then you can start working in other foods and get off the live ones being the staple.

bait shop worms are bad, they're usually raised under rabbit hutchs or in mulch piles with tons of bacteria and other stuff

Wild box turtles will dig through cattle dung to find beetles and worms as well as eating carrion. Personally, I'll risk a few germs and parasites to feed a natural diet, over malnutrition.

You can order redworms from many places and those are small, and if you order from places like reptilefood.com they are probably raised in a "cleaner" method, but my turtles, young and mature, have shown a definate preference for backyard and baitshop worms and nightcrawlers over redworms.

do you feed road kill too? how about dead animals you might find?

Not road kill per se, because it's too far to get to the main road from my place, but plenty of things like frogs that get snipped by the lawnmower, fallen baby birds, etc. They get tossed in as food for the turtles.

Not to mention whatever gets in there on it's own. I have some medium sized green frogs that live in my pens and now and again I'll find the remains of one.

I also order worms by the couple thousand at a time and spread them through the pens all at once, one time a year. This will spike the population, give the turtles a feast, but mainly it keeps a huge amount of worms living in the area for them to hunt.

What kind of worms, and do you have a local supplier?
It sounds like a great idea... we go out at night and pick up slugs off walkways and toss them in the pen. We had a small frog take up residence shortly after the pond got up & running, but its disappeared.
Stephanie

I just do a search on the web for suppliers when it's time for me to do this, and buy the cheapest I can find for 1000 or more. Since I only do it once a year, I'm not too worried about keeping track of who has the best prices and such.

For slugs, though, I find tossing some cabbage leaves under bushes and other shady places will attract them well.

We have frogs that moved in UNDER our cement mixing tub water dishes we use for the boxies. They have little burrows under there and wait out the day then climb up to chirp at night. Our backyard was a dusty flat hayfield a year ago and now it sounds like a dang jungle at night.

when they start chriping and driving you nuts dont you wish the turtles would make quick work of them *G*

I wouldn't panic if he doesn't eat right away. Hatchlings often spend a great deal of time in their nest after hatching.
I would keep him comfortable and hydrated and keep experimenting with different things. All of my babies have liked Reptomin, its a water turtle food that you put in their water and it looks kind of "wormy" as it softens up. Keep looking for worms and slugs and if you can get some mealworms, try those(molted). Just give him time to get used to you and keep trying different things even romaine lettuce, berries or tomatoes. He's less likely to go for the fruits and veggies this young, but if your preparing some for yourself, give him a little, he may try it.
Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks Lisa, I got some Reptomin baby food at the pet store today, soaked a few in water, then placed the baby turtle in the saucer with them. He ate three! I'll also keep looking for little worms and slugs outdoors.

Thats great news! I hope the little guy keeps eating & growing for you!
Stephanie

I am so glad to hear that, I know its a relief when they start eating. Nathan mentioned something else that is excellant advice and that is sow bugs or pill bugs (roli-polis).
They LOVE those and I think they might be a natural calcium source. You should have those in NE Okla, we had them in Tulsa, anyway.

Sow bugs and pill bugs

I am so glad to hear that, I know its a relief when they start eating. Nathan mentioned something else that is excellant advice and that is sow bugs or pill bugs (roli-polis).
They LOVE those and I think they might be a natural calcium source. You should have those in NE Okla, we had them in Tulsa, anyway.

Sow bugs and pill bugs