godzilla90fan
Member
Hello, I recently found a beautiful box turtle on the road near my house. There used to be a creek here, but its long since dried up, so I have no idea where she came from. Her species is native to here (north carolina) and its legal to own up to 5 wild box turtles in NC, so we (my niece, nephew, and myself) decided to keep her rather than risk her death to the busy roads here.
We have had her 6 days, and so far we haven't seen her eat or drink. I have seen her sitting in her water dish twice, so she MIGHT be drinking when we aren't around. We have left various fruits and veggies in her crate, including carrots, cantaloupe, watermelon, lettuce, and banana. I have also tried feeding her red worms (haven't tried earthworms yet) and superworms (closely supervised and cut off heads) in a seperate crate. She looked at the red worms like she was about to snatch them up, but them would always stop before actually biting, and entirely ignored the superworms, instead just going straight to the corner of the feeding tub and sitting there.
Beyond that, she spends most of her time in her cardboard den, and/or buried underground, with either her entire head out, or just her nostrils. She seems to burrow a lot, and has an established nest (don't know if its considered a nest without eggs, and we don't know if she is pregnant or laid any, she did dig with her back legs), and is very lively when held, but seems very relaxed if shes around people and not being held, even somewhat enjoying a chin rub (extends her neck).
Thinking that maybe its just too cold for her (the room sits around 75 degrees or warmer) today I bought her a 100w UVB/UVA/heat lamp, and a 5.5 inch dome for it. We aren't leaving it on, because I noticed when I got home that while the dome says it supports up to 100 watts, the bulb itself says it needs an 8.5 inch dome. The small amount of time we used it, the dome got really hot, does anyone know if the 5.5 inch one is usable, or should I return it? Is 100 watts too hott? We currently have it hanging around the top of the tub, 8 or so inches away from the ground (unlike the picture) but its turned off.
Any advice would be much appreciated, we want her (named her Azula) to have everything she needs. We do believe she needs more room, but don't know how to combine two of these tanks together. We also plan to get her a better soaking dish. Thank you in advance guys
We have had her 6 days, and so far we haven't seen her eat or drink. I have seen her sitting in her water dish twice, so she MIGHT be drinking when we aren't around. We have left various fruits and veggies in her crate, including carrots, cantaloupe, watermelon, lettuce, and banana. I have also tried feeding her red worms (haven't tried earthworms yet) and superworms (closely supervised and cut off heads) in a seperate crate. She looked at the red worms like she was about to snatch them up, but them would always stop before actually biting, and entirely ignored the superworms, instead just going straight to the corner of the feeding tub and sitting there.
Beyond that, she spends most of her time in her cardboard den, and/or buried underground, with either her entire head out, or just her nostrils. She seems to burrow a lot, and has an established nest (don't know if its considered a nest without eggs, and we don't know if she is pregnant or laid any, she did dig with her back legs), and is very lively when held, but seems very relaxed if shes around people and not being held, even somewhat enjoying a chin rub (extends her neck).
Thinking that maybe its just too cold for her (the room sits around 75 degrees or warmer) today I bought her a 100w UVB/UVA/heat lamp, and a 5.5 inch dome for it. We aren't leaving it on, because I noticed when I got home that while the dome says it supports up to 100 watts, the bulb itself says it needs an 8.5 inch dome. The small amount of time we used it, the dome got really hot, does anyone know if the 5.5 inch one is usable, or should I return it? Is 100 watts too hott? We currently have it hanging around the top of the tub, 8 or so inches away from the ground (unlike the picture) but its turned off.
Any advice would be much appreciated, we want her (named her Azula) to have everything she needs. We do believe she needs more room, but don't know how to combine two of these tanks together. We also plan to get her a better soaking dish. Thank you in advance guys