Box turtle enclosure problems

[REDdawn6]

Hi all. We have an ornate box turtle, he been in a glass tank but is getting big for it. We purchased this enclosure. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087WJYZVQ/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
He keeps climbing the wooden walls and keeps flipping himself over. Any ideas of what we can use to keep him from climbing? Thanks REDdawn6

 

[Yvonne G]

A couple things - Turtles suffer from relocation stress. He's trying to escape and find his way back to his 'home territory.' You just have to wait him out (maybe a couple weeks).

The other thing, those manufactured tort tables might be convenient for the human but aren't really turtle friendly. Your turtle should be living in warm, humid conditions, and that would be difficult to maintain in an open-topped wooden enclosure.

 

[jeff kushner]

Morning guys,

Congrats on your buddies new home. That's very nice and like most things, can be setup to work well. I would suggest a large cookie sheet under fully hydrated-(all puffy and wet)Spanish moss and leave 1/2" of water in the sheet. That will provide the beginnings of a happy place for him and worms thrive in the stuff, if you are so inclined. Also, I would suggest that you might want to lower the lighting for now. As mentioned, our friends don't always enjoy "new & exciting"...they more remind me of Walter, yes, that "walter"....anyway, turn down the light levels and he will calm down....not dark, just darker for a bit.

He will only climb walls that lead to a bigger world, if he can't see it, it won't bother him that he can't go there. I used construction paper to cover the sides of Matilda's home when she got a little sketchy. Seemed to help.

good luck

jeff

 

[Box Turtle Tuesday]

I have heard of box turtles trying to escape if the enclosure is too small but I would wait a couple of weeks and see if the climbing continues

 

[m irwin]

I can't tell from the picture if the turtle can see out/through the glass but if so, that's likely going to cause "pacing" and climbing. In my experience, box turtles that can see outside of their cage walls will continually climb to try and get out. They aren't smart enough to know there is a barrier there and will constantly try and scale the wall to get to the other side. I used to have portions of my outside enclosure made of hardware cloth (think chicken wire) and the turtles would press up against it, climb it, stick their legs through it, etc... move them to the middle of the enclosure and they'd be back later on pacing and climbing. I then went to cinder block walls (no see through) and that activity stopped 100%.....