DCTurtle
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2014
- Messages
- 5
Hi all,
A friend of mine recently gave me a Baby Box turtle that she could no longer care for. Frankly, she was doing a really poor job of it anyway. We've named her Lucy (brown eyes mean it's a girl, right?)
I'm brand new to turtles, but have read everything I could find online regarding their care. I've set up a habitat (work in progress - see the attached picture) and need some pointers. I've heard that a more aquatic setup may work better at this point in our turtle's life. Currently, I have her in a 15 gallon tote w/ about 4 inches of coconut substrate and frog moss but am going to upgrade this to a 50+ gallon tote in the very near future. Should I consider an aquatic setup until she's older, or will the current one I have be OK?
Overall, she's doing pretty well, but I have some questions: At night and for most of the day she burrows an inch or two under the moss and into the soil (coconut husk based substrate) in the enclosure. She's a good eater - she's been eating primarily mealworms, and will always go right after them when I drop them in her cage after she's warm. If I drop them on the far side, she'll head over to catch them and seems to enjoy hunting them. Now, here's my question: I've been digging her up in the morning for a soak, then I let her heat up (I get one side of the enclosure to about 80), feed her (she eats two or three worms without hesitation), and then let her soak in her dish again, where she usually takes a drink and then makes some turtle poop. After that, she'll walk around the cage after soaking for about ten minutes, bask for a little bit in the heat, climb on the moss, and then bury herself again.
Should I be digging her up for feedings and to make sure she soaks, or will she come out by herself? I've only had her for about three days, but I want to make sure she's getting what she needs. Additionally, we've just purchased the turtle supplement powder and will be making sure that gets onto her food. To be quite honest, I have fallen head over heels for our turtle, and I am very paranoid about her well being and I know that I may be doing more harm than good sometimes.
Secondly, is she warm enough? I hope that she's not burrowing because she's cold. Is protracted burrowing a normal behavior for baby box turtles? Could she be trying to hibernate? Currently, I have a UV light running twelve hours a day. I am currently heating the enclosure with a ceramic space heater (the dome lamp for the basking light is in the mail) and have achieved a solid range of temperatures around the enclosure (measured using infrared thermometer) from about 74 - 83 degrees F during the day. At night, the soil temp is anywhere from 67-73 degrees F, and lower levels of soil are colder or warmer depending on the side of the tote and whether or not it's facing the heater. Are my temps OK for now? I'll have much more control once the dome lamp gets here.
Thank you in advance for your input! I hope I'm doing OK for Lucy's sake!
A friend of mine recently gave me a Baby Box turtle that she could no longer care for. Frankly, she was doing a really poor job of it anyway. We've named her Lucy (brown eyes mean it's a girl, right?)
I'm brand new to turtles, but have read everything I could find online regarding their care. I've set up a habitat (work in progress - see the attached picture) and need some pointers. I've heard that a more aquatic setup may work better at this point in our turtle's life. Currently, I have her in a 15 gallon tote w/ about 4 inches of coconut substrate and frog moss but am going to upgrade this to a 50+ gallon tote in the very near future. Should I consider an aquatic setup until she's older, or will the current one I have be OK?
Overall, she's doing pretty well, but I have some questions: At night and for most of the day she burrows an inch or two under the moss and into the soil (coconut husk based substrate) in the enclosure. She's a good eater - she's been eating primarily mealworms, and will always go right after them when I drop them in her cage after she's warm. If I drop them on the far side, she'll head over to catch them and seems to enjoy hunting them. Now, here's my question: I've been digging her up in the morning for a soak, then I let her heat up (I get one side of the enclosure to about 80), feed her (she eats two or three worms without hesitation), and then let her soak in her dish again, where she usually takes a drink and then makes some turtle poop. After that, she'll walk around the cage after soaking for about ten minutes, bask for a little bit in the heat, climb on the moss, and then bury herself again.
Should I be digging her up for feedings and to make sure she soaks, or will she come out by herself? I've only had her for about three days, but I want to make sure she's getting what she needs. Additionally, we've just purchased the turtle supplement powder and will be making sure that gets onto her food. To be quite honest, I have fallen head over heels for our turtle, and I am very paranoid about her well being and I know that I may be doing more harm than good sometimes.
Secondly, is she warm enough? I hope that she's not burrowing because she's cold. Is protracted burrowing a normal behavior for baby box turtles? Could she be trying to hibernate? Currently, I have a UV light running twelve hours a day. I am currently heating the enclosure with a ceramic space heater (the dome lamp for the basking light is in the mail) and have achieved a solid range of temperatures around the enclosure (measured using infrared thermometer) from about 74 - 83 degrees F during the day. At night, the soil temp is anywhere from 67-73 degrees F, and lower levels of soil are colder or warmer depending on the side of the tote and whether or not it's facing the heater. Are my temps OK for now? I'll have much more control once the dome lamp gets here.
Thank you in advance for your input! I hope I'm doing OK for Lucy's sake!