Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just found a hatchling in my enclosure. I want to keep it indoors and have a 20, 10 and a 5 gallon tanks.

I plan on buying small crikets and worms for food. Should I buy a uv light or use the meat light I have now?

Someone tell me the exact setup, food and any care that i might not think of. Thank you

BTW. It is the most beautiful thing i have seen since my son was born. I was so excited to see it sitting there. I almost had a heart attack.lol

To my knowledge, most turtle kept in captivity require UV to survive, and box turtles are no exception. If you are going to keep this hatchling inside(which you should, it makes them easier to monitor), you must have a UV light that produces UVA AND UVB. Make sure your turtle gets calcium as well, which is crucial at this point in your little guy's life. You can either gut load the crickets with the processed cricket foods available in pet shops or you can use supplemental powder. Good luck with your turtle.

They do not have to have UV to survive. It does make a good back up source to prevent "MBD" but as long as the diet is supplemented appropriately then the turtle will be fine.

I tend to keep baby Terrapene pretty wet in damp spahgnum moss until I am sure that they are eating well and have put one some good size.
Initially I offer small dusted mealworms, crickets, and pieces of earth or red worm (or even blackworms in a shallow dish). As they begin to feed better I start to include Repto-Min and trout chow in the diet (this will help with D3 sources as will the dusting). When they are feeding well I also start to include salad in the diet and as they grow reduce the amount of insects and other foods but increase the amount of salad in the diet (this doesn't occur for a year or two as there is some individual variation in acceptance of the salad).
Here is a picture of last years hatchlings and one of this year's hatchlings.

Ed