Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this is a temperary home

2

How long do you plan to use this set-up? I do not recommend using this type of set-up for box turtles. The substrate is not easy to clean. The wading dish is too small. The food is not on a paper plate or dish that can be washed. This type of set-up would be too hard for you to keep hygienic for the turtles. It is also very easy for them to climb out by climbing on another turtle, or on one of those boxes. It is convenient for a cat or dog to get inside the pool to get the turtles, too.

Box turtles need to dig. A better substrate would be a mixture of ORGANIC potting soil and moistened sphagnum moss. You will want to change this at least once a month.

I find it much better for the turtle to keep them in an outdoor pen, but you did not mention what kind of box turtles these are and if they can be kept outdoors.

Those thick, black plastic "supertubs" that you can get at the hardware store for lugging wood or mixing cement are ideal and can be covered with wire racks for protection.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

PHkiwi scroll down you'll see shellys' other posts

i don't plan to keep them in that for mare than a day or two. i am getting something better to dig in. thanx for your input

that setup is not good for either animal. There's no way for the humidity to stay up for the box turtle (which is actually good for the tortoise since humidity is bad for a russian tort), yet the food is mixxed and available to either, meaning the russian can eat the fruits and veggies and meats provided to the box turtle or else the box turtle must eat only the grassy diet of a tortoise. They have access to each other's feces, which is a bad bad thing for two such geographical separate species.

This might suit a russian for a short while, by itself, without the water dish, and with plenty of uvb lights.