Does this beauty have red eyes? or yellow eyes? The reason I ask is because all the ornate box turtles, painted box turtles and such that I have re-leased after healing, look like this one, but found out that red eyes tell it is a male.
I have been rescuing turtles and boxies for years and years, I keep Gamera and Lil Bit in the same large kiddie pool in my basement jungle. They eat everything! Both are females Gamera is an Eastern Missouri and she is lucky to be alive, her shell so damaged by the cars, but she is well now, 8 years later. Lil Bit is a mis-placed three toed, dropped in my back yard by a blue Jay. she was the size of a quarter..Lil Bit has grown three times bigger in two years. They both live together, but they are not really "friends". And.. they are both females. Gamera was probably hit before she mated. We have never had males here long enough to breed.View attachment 223904 View attachment 223904
You’ll be fine in SF. Box turtles are native to areas that get much colder. I live near Sacramento and mine are outdoors year round as well.Thanks for putting this care sheet up.
I see that in 2017 it was mentioned that there might be an update. Is the current top post the updated one, or the outdated version? I ask since there were some questions and discussion about the temperatures in the indoor environment.
I would also appreciate any information about outdoor 24/7 enclosures for box turtles(Ornate Box Turtle in my case) and heated housing, etc.
I live in the SF Bay Area, so do not have a long period of freezing, but it is not unheard of to get a cold snap. We also have long periods of temperatures well below the "suggested" average temperature of an indoor cage.