Florida Box Turtle carapace not highly domed?

Jason06

New Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Bradenton, Florida
Ok, I might be worried about nothing, but I figured it's better to be too concerned than not concerned enough. I have a Florida box turtle who's just over a year old. The possible issue here is that I've noticed her shell does not seem to be as highly domed as it used to be. Nothing about the shell looks deformed (no pyramiding or metabolic bone disease that I can tell) it just doesn't seem as highly domed as it used to be. Someone also told me that female box turtles tend to have more highly domed shells than males, so I've been a little concerned.

My turtle's in a 75 gallon coconut coir/peat moss bio-active terrarium with a basking site in the low 90s. She has plenty of places to burrow and hide, as well as a water bowl to swim in and live plants to forage from. The only thing I can think of as a possible cause if this is an issue is that over the last few months I've been trying to get her to eat more veggies in her diet compared to protein. I've tried to still give her plenty of protein since she is a growing turtle, but I have dialed down her protein intake in an attempt to get her to eat more veggies, which has worked. Could this reduction in protein result in her shell not being as highly domed? I've already started adding more protein into her diet in the form of more red wigglers and crickets just as a precaution. Is this even an issue, or am I overreacting to a natural progression in box turtle growth? This is my first young box turtle, so I'm new to this. Thanks for any advice!

1586708790226.png

1586708812775.png1586708962079.png
 

MichaelL

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2018
Messages
983
Location (City and/or State)
Ocala, Fl
First off, that is a beautiful Florida Box Turtle! Second, I really don't think you have anything to worry about, I have seen some slightly more domed than others and some that have had an overall more flat carapace. The diet you're giving is great, don't stress about that and it will grow according to its natural shell shape. Yours has nothing that is out of the ordinary and I think the shell is normal, in fact, great.
 

ZenHerper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2020
Messages
2,078
Location (City and/or State)
New Jersey
I would not restrict her diet in any way...let her choose from a wide variety of meats, veg, and fruits. As long as she is well-hydrated and her heat gradient is Optimal, she will digest and metabolize everything very well at this age. Younger (rapidly growing) animals naturally choose more meat meals than established adults do (same for our species).

She may have lightened up if she brumated in any way this winter.

The only way to know for sure if she is continuing to grow properly is to weigh her on a schedule. Daily weight in wee critters fluctuates widely (how much they ate & drank vs how much they eliminated as urine and stool...a morning post-soak weight helps mitigate this for animals that eliminate in their bath water), but a weekly data point will help you to verify what you see and feel.

By these photos, she seems to be in the right proportions.
 

Jason06

New Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Bradenton, Florida
Great, thanks for your input everyone! So glad to hear there’s nothing to worry about! I’ll make sure to let her choose from a variety of foods, and I’ll start recording her weight too
 
Top