Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to say thanks to all who have posted to help me. I am now making him soak daily and allowing him to warm up. I soak him in a container where he can't see out and he doesn't seem to mind it. I think he ate one waxworm the other day. I soaked him and then put him in front of it and when I returned it was gone. I don't believe it got off the plastic top that I used as the others have not been able to. He is maintaining his weight so far and doesn't seem ill. I do throw a couple of worms in there where he is buried. I have a mixture of shredded bark and spaghnon moss and mist it multiple times a day. The temps are 85-90 at the basking area and then cools down toward the far end. I am using a red light (40 watt) directly over where he buries himself at night to keep the temps up some. I keep the room heated to about 82 degrees with a heater that has a thermostat.

Just wanted to update everyone as to where we are. Wow, I can't believe how difficult this continues to be. My adopted box turtle adult is doing very well and eats like a champ every other day. Tess mentioned that this baby is a year old. Do I care for it any different than an adult?

Thanks again, Linda

I'd be careful how much protein you are giving him right now. They start to pyramide a lot of if you feed to much protein. Make sure you have a cuttle bone in the cage for him and a strong UVB light. At this stage I fed mine protein food once a week and fed more veggies as mine was developing a little pyramiding. It went away after awhile, luckily. You can lengthen the period where he gets protein if you notice he is pyramiding and feed him salad, comprises of a lot of plant protein instead, in between.

Paradon, being that my turtle has literally not eaten for 4 weeks I am not going to be picky about what I can get him to eat.

Once he starts eating, if he ever does, I will be cautious about not giving him to much protein.

Thanks, Linda

Yes, I forgot to say that once he started eating, well. And I just wanted to point out what happened base on my experience, not just with box turtles, but other species as well....

I'm not too sure about the possibility of shell pyramiding being a danger to box turtles. I've never seen it in my 40 years of husbandry, and suspect their typical carnivorous, high-protein diet for their first year or two of life would seem to prove the fears unwarranted. Tortoises are much more prone to this malady than box turtles.

Also, I don't think the UVB is critical to healthy shell development in box turtles since they seem to spend so much time "hidden" when young. I do think I've read that the UV rays have been shown to be visible to turtles, providing a more "natural" light source, and perhaps helping to stimulate a normal feeding response, so it seems they would be helpful in this situation. I use the UV bulbs on my hatchlings.

I'm just spouting from my experience, your mileage may vary...