Feeding box turtles

[turtleowner4]

What all should I try feeding my little box turtle? He's not wanting to eat, even if i put a worm right in front of him.

Is it okay if i let a few worms in his cage so he can hunt for them with the reptibark substrate? Will he eat the substrate or will it hurt him?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

i only know a bit about box turtles but i don't think reptibark is the best substrate for him, cause its really dry.

 

[leigti]

You have young Boxturtle right? According to the box turtle care sheet in that section of the forum, they eat mostly protein when they are young. worms, crickets, pill bugs, grasshoppers, fish, shrimp, cooked chicken. I am not familiar with reptile work. My box turtle is an adult, I use a mixture of coconut core and orchid bark. And I feed her on a terra-cotta plant saucer or one of the zoo med reptile bowls. I do let crickets and worms loose in her indoor enclosure for her to hunt down.I haven't had my box turtle for that long and I think feeding is the most difficult part of keeping them. At least it has been for me so far. There are a lot of threads about it in the box turtle section, so I guess I'm not the only one. check them out and maybe some of the experts can give you some good ideas also.

 

[Michael in MO]

If your little turtle is wild caught you've probably got a battle on your hands as it's probably trying to hibernate. If you don't have a light source on a timer for a 12-13 hours a day.. you need to get that going.. you'll need to keep temps up, and provide access to protein as that's the first food source in springtime (before vegitation and flowers and fruit bloom)

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Keep him damp and warm. You've gotten good advice so far...if he's really little I cut the night crawlers into a few pieces for him. That way he's got numerous wiggling things to choose from.Py attention to what leigt said. All those bugs are good box turtle food. Ya just gotta wander your yard and look under a lot of rocks...
Also. they won't eat while you're watching...mostly