Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If I remember correctly, some here said it was bad for box turtles. Can someone tell me why?

My turtle is not healthy. I've shown photos to Jim Harding and to the herp supervisor at John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, and both say "she" is not getting good bone growth. Bleached scutes, I think they said.
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Least favorite quotation: "These foul and loathesome animals are abhorrant because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." - Carolus Linnaeus

0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle
0.0.2 Gray Treefrogs
0.0.2 Northern Leopard Frogs
1.0.0 Eastern American Toad
1.1.0 Wood Frogs
0.0.7 Spring Peeper tadpoles

here's a pic. It cannot close its posterior plastron, the the shell has a bleached color.
Link

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Least favorite quotation: "These foul and loathesome animals are abhorrant because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." - Carolus Linnaeus

0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle
0.0.1 Green Frog tadpole
0.0.1 Eastern Newt

one more pic
Link

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Least favorite quotation: "These foul and loathesome animals are abhorrant because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." - Carolus Linnaeus

0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle
0.0.1 Green Frog tadpole
0.0.1 Eastern Newt

So what DO you feed her? Does she stay inside or out? If her shell is bleached or lost all it's color, like it appears from the photos, that seems like a diet and/or a lack of proper sunlight problem to me...

was mostly worms for years, but now collards and some worms.

She is indoors, and has a CFL UV bulb. I used to always coat worms in vits and minerals, then thought she was getting too much. And, she seemed to like taking worms from the water dish, so I stopped coating them vits/minerals.
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Least favorite quotation: "These foul and loathesome animals are abhorrant because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." - Carolus Linnaeus

0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle
0.0.1 Green Frog tadpole
0.0.1 Eastern Newt

I'm going to try some Zoo Med canned box turtle food.[

Jim H. just recently (since i asked him again) said that there are some high quality dog foods thta are low protein, high veg, that are good.
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Least favorite quotation: "These foul and loathesome animals are abhorrant because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." - Carolus Linnaeus

0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle
0.0.1 Green Frog tadpole
0.0.1 Eastern Newt

Box turtles are opportunistic omnivores, meaning that they will eat a very wide variety of foods. Your turtle has probably not been getting enough variety in it's diet to satisfy some basic nutritional needs.

Check the link below for an overview and suggestions on how to vary your turtle's diet.

I feed the turtles here a wide range of foods, including cooked chicken, turkey, cooked beef heart, venison, worms, grubs, slugs, beetles, carrion, also greens, assorted vegetables including various squashes, carrots, peas, corn, wild mushrooms, yams, fruits such as melon, various berries, grapes, tomatoes.

My one outdoor cat occasionally kills a baby rabbit or squirrel or bird, and leaves the carcass in the turtle pen: the turtles consume the rest. I also leave chunks of cuttle bone (minus the hard 'shell') in the pen for the turtles to graze on at will.
Low fat canned dog food, while not ideal, is ok as an occasional protein source, but it should be supplemented with bits of fruit and vegetables.
Link

I really don't have the number of people - or turtles - to provide the varied diet without throwing out a lot. I think that the canned box turtle food is the best option.
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Least favorite quotation: "These foul and loathesome animals are abhorrant because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them." - Carolus Linnaeus

0.0.1 Three-toed Box Turtle
0.0.1 Green Frog tadpole
0.0.1 Eastern Newt

REALLY, feeding box turtles dog food is so 1970's. It should not be the staple of any turtle's diet. First off, it's terrible for dogs (I feed my dog a raw meat diet), it has not nutritional value other than protein. I don't feed my turtles dog food, canned, dried, or otherwise.

Really, read that link StephF posted. An adult box turtle's diet should INCLUDE protein, from natural sources it would come across in the wild, like, yes, worms, snails, slugs, lizards, fish, carrion, etc. But a diet should never be exclusively just one thing, like protein. An adult boxie needs greens, mushrooms, fruits and other veggies that all contain a proper calcium to potassium ratio. Raw veggies like bell peppers, collard greens, squashes, etc., in addition to a proper ratio of protein from natural sources, will make ALL the difference. Please do a little reading before you think you don't have the time.

I have three turtles and it takes me 7 to 10 minutes to prepare these foods for them each morning. I would much rather have a $1.29 thing of collard greens go bad than risk your turtle's nutrition to a can of processed crap, IMO.

You don't have to throw out anything if you do a little planning and nominal preparation.

You can make a month's worth of food at a time, divide it into weekly portions and freeze it in re-sealable sandwich bags, and thaw as needed.

Your local supermarket should carry bags of frozen berries, vegetables and greens and if you make friends with the produce manager they may set aside produce for you that is a little past it's prime for human use but is fine for turtles.

It doesn't have to be complicated, and your turtle will benefit. You'll save a bundle of money in the long run, too!

"It doesn't have to be complicated, and your turtle will benefit. You'll save a bundle of money in the long run, too!"

Well said, and so true.

A 6oz. can of box turtle food costs about $3.50. That's about $8 per pound.

Making food from scratch with better quality ingredients is much less expensive. You can buy a 10 lb. bag of chicken quarters (legs and thighs) for less than $7 at Walmart!

Granted, I have more turtles but there's no reason you can't do this on a smaller scale. Buying a whole chicken is much more economical per pound than the canned-food route.

I buy chicken in bulk (see above), boil it and freeze it in smaller portions, then build meals around it, changing the produce combination regularly to create variety.

Just out of curiousity, why do you boil the chicken? Why not feed it raw?

On the note of economy, as I mentioned before, I only have three boxies, but I RARELY have to buy protein. I find snails, slugs, earthworms in my compost, grasshoppers, June bugs, and more without even trying. And its all FREE!

I cook it mainly in order to render off excess fat, and, for whatever reason, the turtles eat it more readily than they do the raw.

I have more turtles that you, and, even though they have a 1000 sq. ft. pen, I supplement their diet (incl. protein) because there just isn't enough forage in the confined area.

Sure, I get the supplementing. I think if I had any more boxies, I would definitely have to buy worms and such. I think I'm rather fortunate in that I have plenty of protein sources to forage.

Thanks!
Curtis

How long have you had this turtle? Can you post a link with a photo of its housing? And a few more of its shell and face?

Sorry about the lost of your newt. Let's get your turtle on a good diet so it can have a long life. Eating just a few things-no matter how much a turtle likes it-will not be good for the turtle in the long run. A pet owner has to provide the correct diet-no matter how time consuming or costly-or else the turtle will suffer. Turtles are used to eating a variety of foods because different wild food items become available throughout the seasons. That is what we are imitating when we offer different foods, as well as a more complete and wider range of nutrients.
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

I agreed with PHboxturtle. Giving a variety of food is good in preventing malnutrition. I also think giving them a balanced diet also helps them grow better and reduce pyramiding. Of course, they need to be kept in good set-ups, too, with lots of UVB.

Because it tends to have a higher than optimal fat content, is not as good a protein source as straight lean meat, and does not contain a balance of fruits, vegetables, greens that provide an adequate supply of key minerals and vitamins.