Canadian(or close to) Box turtle owners outdoor enclosure help

[Rover15]

I was hoping I would start building my outdoor Enclosure by this weekend but its currently snowing. I'm in Hamilton, Ontario.

I have always housed my box turtles and tortoises inside but now I have a huge yard I want to set them up outside.

my question for owners that house their box turtles outside and have weather like Canada, when do you bring them outside?
what temperatures do you wait for?
do you house them outside all year round?

I know Eastern box turtles used to live in Ontario but they are believed to be extinct from this area, so I know they can survive here all year round.

also if you house your box turtle outside I would love to see pictures of your enclosures to help me with ideas. I have an idea of what I want to build but I would love to adopt other peoples ideas and talk about what worked and what didn't. I have skunks and Raccoons so I have to consider that factor

**SIDE NOTE** if you are in Ontario and looking to rehome a female Three-Toed box turtle or any age Eastern box turtle send me a personal message, please.

 

[wellington]

@terryo might be able to help.

 

[mark1]

where you choose for them to hibernate should be south facing , not flood , and all day sun .............. if they've lived inside , i'd wait for the soil temp to be 55-60 F , and a warm stretch of weather where the temps somewhat resembles where they've been , give them a leaf pile to get down in at night , a bit of mowed grass will add some heat to the leaf pile ........ i'm at 41.5 north when we get long deep cold stretches I've thrown a tarp over the leaf pile , so the sun warms it a bit to keep the ground from freezing to deep ....... I also do use an unheated greenhouse to moderate the winter , close it and open it as needed , makes for a shorter winter ........

 

[Rover15]

where you choose for them to hibernate should be south facing , not flood , and all day sun .............. if they've lived inside , i'd wait for the soil temp to be 55-60 F , and a warm stretch of weather where the temps somewhat resembles where they've been , give them a leaf pile to get down in at night , a bit of mowed grass will add some heat to the leaf pile ........ i'm at 41.5 north when we get long deep cold stretches I've thrown a tarp over the leaf pile , so the sun warms it a bit to keep the ground from freezing to deep ....... I also do use an unheated greenhouse to moderate the winter , close it and open it as needed , makes for a shorter winter ........

I will consider hibernating this winter, and I will be doing my fair share of research beforehand.

that is good information about the soil, I didn't even think about soil temp. The way the weather is going here we won't get a warm stretch until may. I'm not sure what you mean 41.5 north are you referring to your temperature?

I eventually want to move where I have enough property to build a large greenhouse to run an aquaponics system and house box turtles.


question about an outdoor enclosure, I have seen somewhere people have pre-dug hides for their box turtles, what is the benefit? is there one? I assumed it would be better for them to dig their own burrows.

I plan on having a few different hides available, but should I have the hides that are dug into the ground?

 

[mark1]

41.5 latitude , how far north ....... Hamilton Ontario looks to be somewhere around 2-3 degrees further north , it's not always an accurate climate description , i'm a very cold 41.5 north because of geographic and climatic conditions ........... box turtles don't dig burrows , they bury themselves and try not to freeze ..... their hides are at the base of shrubs or clumps of grass where they dig shallow depressions ...... the goal over winter is to not let them get to warm , above 40 F or below 33F ....I keep a probe about an inch or two below ground level under the leaf and grass pile , I've seen it get as low as 26 F for short periods of time ..... if you use a greenhouse you need to be careful it doesn't get to warm , until you can keep the ground above 55 degrees , then I leave it closed even if it hits 80 f , winter is over for them at that point , I don't use a greenhouse for the box turtles , they are outside ........... I loosen the soil down 2 feet or so deep , mix in some sand so it doesn't clump and they can dig through more easily ..... pile leaves and grass clippings 2-3 feet high over the loosened soil , they'll naturally go in it when it gets cold . if you see them out during extended cold spells , bring them in , something is wrong with them ........ we sometimes get consecutive weeks in single digits , 0 and negative temps , i'll throw some branches on top of the leaf pile and cover it with plastic , it acts like a hot box/greenhouse , i'll take it off when the weather moderates so it doesn't get to warm ........ make sure the soil immediately around the leaf pile is not bare . insulated with leaf of snow cover will help keep the soil under the leaf pile warmer ........ they really can do without a lot of help , it's natural for them , but I give them every advantage , in the wild some get unlucky , mine aren't dependent on luck , and I've never lost one to hibernating .....

 

[Rover15]

okay thank you, and I used the term burrows but meant just holes but I did assume they dug more than a depression. As I mentioned before I have seen other people that look like they will make a hole about 1 foot into the dirt for their box turtles to hibernate. I'll try and find the youtube video and I'll post it.

I try to find as many examples of outdoor enclosures to help me come up with different ideas for mine.

 

[Rover15]

 

[mark1]

it's not any way I've ever seen an eastern box turtle hibernate , I've never seen them dig a burrow or look for a cave ... possibly western species do ? I wouldn't know , I been told ornate box turtle are known to dig down over 3 feet ....in a climate like mine i'd be concerned the opening to the surface wouldn't be a good idea ..... I guess they can dig in to the dirt at the bottom of those holes he dug , but eastern box turtles normally don't dig down very far , without the organic detritus cover , and the opening to the surface , i'd imagine temperature fluctuation could be an issue , getting them active when they shouldn't be , or freezing them for too long ... the idea of being buried in the dirt is the dirt covering them insulates them from the weather above , and the leaf grass pile insulates the dirt covering them .........

this is what an eastern box turtle hide looks like

 

[Rover15]

Thank you for the pictures. Im glad we are months away from hibernating there is lots i need to learn lol.

Do you just use bushes and ground cover for hides for your box turtles?

 

[Eric Phillips]

Thank you for the pictures. Im glad we are months away from hibernating there is lots i need to learn lol.

Do you just use bushes and ground cover for hides for your box turtles?

Hello...here is a couple shots of one my outdoor enclosures..
Terryo, Colleen, cmac, and AJK Aquaria to name a few have wonderful examples of the use of plants and hides for their outdoor enclosures. You can look through some threads to see more examples or visit the enclosure library on the site for more ideas. Depending on location and the amount of sunlight...I use all kinds of ornamental grass, ferns, strawberry plants, daisies, clover, ground cover plants, sedum, Japanese maple trees, monkey grass, hostas, lavender, sage, dandelions etc. as examples. I’ve incorporated some hand built hides and rock formation hides for an aesthetic look. I’ve also moved many plants that I planted the previous years because I didn’t like the way it looked, but the box turtles don’t give a rip. They just want places where they can get warm, cool down, and leaf litter areas where they can hunt for some live yumminess Hope this helps and keep getting ideas from Mark, the guy knows his stuff! Good luck!

 

[Rover15]

your pictures didn't show up but I'll try and see if I can find the enclosure library I can't believe I didn't know about it lol. our backyard faces west, so we get sun pretty much all afternoon from 11am ish- sundown. we have some taller trees that look like and maybe an Incense cedar. that provide shade but they are at the side of my deck, so it won't be included in the enclosure, i was also thinking about using potted plants so I can move them as needed, and if they can't handle Canadian winters i can bring them inside.

 

[ColleenT]

i use Pachysandra, Hostas, Ornamental grasses ( the smaller ones), Lamium, Strawberry plants, Ferns.

 

[Rover15]

i use Pachysandra, Hostas, Ornamental grasses ( the smaller ones), Lamium, Strawberry plants, Ferns.

What type of box turtle do you own?? How big is your enclosure? I think im going to see what plants will survive the winter and continue to come back each year.

 

[ColleenT]

What type of box turtle do you own?? How big is your enclosure? I think im going to see what plants will survive the winter and continue to come back each year.

I have 3 -3 toed box turtles and one gulf coast. None are native to the Region, i was worried last year when they hibernated for the very first time, but they came up and did great. This spring is a bit delayed, so i am still waiting for them to come up. The enclosure is 16 ft x 6 ft. most of my plants come back every year, except my Large ferns are kept in pots, and they do not come back.

 

[Rover15]

I have 3 -3 toed box turtles and one gulf coast. None are native to the Region, i was worried last year when they hibernated for the very first time, but they came up and did great. This spring is a bit delayed, so i am still waiting for them to come up. The enclosure is 16 ft x 6 ft. most of my plants come back every year, except my Large ferns are kept in pots, and they do not come back.

Sounds good, our spring is delayed aswell, it was -5 c when i dropped the kids off at school .... i think our high is plus 2 c

I havent yet figured out the size of the out door enclosure i know for sure i have a 10x10 area, but i wonder if longer would be better? So go 4x 16 or something simular.

 

[ColleenT]

i am not sure what would be better. I did it that way bc the enclosure is against the back of our car garage.