Fostering two Eastern adult females

[lynnedit]

Our local Reptile Rescue was inundated with Box Turtles and Russian tortoises this fall, so I volunteered to foster two of the Boxies.
Mind you, I come from Russian tortoise land; feisty, weeds only, don't house them together if you can help it….

I did own a Box Turtle for at least 15 years in the past but times have changed…

So, a couple of question:
1) I have had them a little over a week. They are in an Xmas tree bin, with a tube fluorescent and a black 100w bulb on one side. Temps seem OK based on review on this forum.
One turtle is already used to me and knows that I bring food. She soaks, basks and runs to the food dish when she sees me. The other is very shy and burrows unless I get her up. I provide soaks every few days just in case. Once up, she will briefly self soak, and eats reasonably (fruits, some sweet potato, mealworms/waxworms/earthworms- slim pickings for bugs this time of year).
However, today I noticed that when she was getting ready to eat some earth worms, the other turtle also spotted them and started to come over. The shy one retreated and left. I never see any evidence of bullying (they walk past each other), but could this be why she is shy, or are some Easterns just this way? I do have two separate food dishes and make sure she eats.
Should I separate them?
2) IF I keep one or both (lol), I could create an area outside. The area I am thinking of gets direct sun from sunrise to 12p to 3p depending on the time of year. Otherwise it is spotty sun/dappled shade. It would be about 8'x12'. Would this work exposure-wise?

Thanks!

 

[kanalomele]

Hi Lynne! Ok so a few questions. . How long were they in rescue? Any health issues? Did they live together previously at all? How much do you see the shy one out and about soaking, exploring, digging? Do they both sleep/burrow in the same area?

Easiest answer to all the questions is to separate them. The shy one might be acting this way for several reasons. Fighting brumation, too cold, adjustment issues, being bullied,

 

[lynnedit]

I don't know some of the answers. I do have a message into the organization to find out more about what they ate, etc., but the manager is out of town.

Due to space constraints, the boxies are all kept together. These two were with the organization longer, I am going to assume that means several months.
They sleep in the same area (shy one is already there).

Shy one will not get up w/o me getting her up, but then will eat fruit, some sweet potato, and moving bugs=waxworms, meal worms, earthworms (dusted with Repashy). Neither one eats greens that I know of. Too cold to find other bugs right now.
After that, she goes over to water and bathes briefly, then maybe looks around and eats a bit more, then burrows again. She is very vigorous when I pick her up, but not as 'heavy' as the other turtle, who is all over the place. So she is hidden away most of the time, and only up if I get her up.

Temps are 70ish on cool side, basking (also over water) 88-90 directly under. No night heat (unless you think I should, goes to about 65f).
Basking light is a black bulb 100w. I have a Reptisun 10.0 UV tube light, with the Reptisun 5.0 on order. Enclosure is partially covered and sprayed twice per day. Several plants in it now (also hard to find this time of year- they are all pointsettas!).

Anything else?

 

[kanalomele]

Sounds more like she is fighting brumation than anything else to me. If the rescue wants them kept up then hopefully the new bulbs and maybe just a bit warmer temps will do it. When you get it up put it under the basking area rather than right in front of the feeding bowl. I wouldn't worry about night heat if the ambient is staying that warm. But get the daytime temps up just a bit. Plus I would probably wake it a couple times a day and put it in the basking spot each time.

 

[lynnedit]

OK, will do.
Just wanted to be sure that bullying wasn't an issue, but I will keep an eye on that.

 

[lynnedit]

Any input on question #2 about outside enclosure location/sun exposure?

 

[Saleama]

The difference in Boxie personalities is as vast as with us. There are shy ones, agressive ones, ones that bite, ones that stay hidden and ones that want to follow you every where no matter what and every other kind of behavior in between. I have 6 juveniles in a big indoor area and three of them, the easterns, are very active and I see them every day for their daily super worm. Of the two Gulf Coast, I see one every three or four days and the other one maybe, once a month. The Three Toed in there I do not see unless I dig him up or sneek in at four in the morning while he is self soaking. Healthy box turtles will not starve themselves and hiding out is just what some of them like to do. I keep putting food down so it is available and I turn red wigglers loose in the habitat for them to hunt and let turtles be turtles. If you are concerned about bullying, which can happen, just put up a seperator and see if the personalty changes. If it does, good, if it doesn't then you know you just have a shy guy/gal. PM BPDiamond. He is a box turtle expert and loves to talk with anyone and everyone when it comes to these little guys.

 

[lynnedit]

Thanks, Stephen! Will do.

 

[Saleama]

Thanks, Stephen! Will do.

And I got it backwards. His user name is diamondbp. But be careful! He is a used car dealer!!!

 

[kanalomele]

The area you have in mind sounds great to me as an enclosure. Having both sun and dapples shade is perfect. My experience with Easterns is that they generally are pretty outgoing. Hopefully as this shy one settles into the routine you will notice a change for the better.

 

[lisa127]

If you think the one is trying to bromate, you may want to offer gentle night heat so that it is more like summertime night temps. You say you use a 100 black light for heat in the day. You could either hook up a rheostat to that and turn it down to low at night, or get a 50 or 60 watt black light for night. I find when I want any reptile to stay active over the winter, 14 hours of UVB and gentle night heat does the trick.

 

[lynnedit]

Thanks, all!
*I have separated them, since I had two xmas tree bins set up, expecting 2 Russians. Just took a few modifications (bigger water dishes, etc.). This way I can just see how the shy one does. She definitely chowed down on sweet potato and blueberries today, even some spring mix! So she just may be more retiring.
*Thanks for the feedback on the outside enclosure. Looking forward to setting that up.
*I am going to add a 60w black bulb mid enclosure that stays on 24/7, so thanks lisa127 for that input; good idea.