Hello from Maynard and Mim

[dharroald]

Hello, my name is David and I live in central Kansas. I've been visiting the site for quite awhile and have finally decided to post. I have two little ornates that I've had for going on two years. My youngest daughter who was two at the time named the larger one Maynard and the little one Mim. No idea where she came up with the names lol. They had been living in a 10 gallon aquarium until about a month ago. I had a week off for paternity leave and decided to upgrade their housing finally. Now they are in a 21x43 closed chamber. I know its still a little small but when it warms up a little more I'll be building an outdoor enclosure for them also. I have noticed that since the move up Maynard has begun being aggressive while eating. I have a feeling a separation will be needed soon. I'm going to try and upload a couple pictures.

 

[Yvonne G]

Aw, one is still just a baby! It looks like the bigger one is female, but I can't see the smaller one good enough to guess on its gender. The Ornata are a bit more aggressive than the other box turtle species, but I'll bet when you get them outside in a larger space Maynard with start to behave herself.

 

[bouaboua]

I love the face in the first picture. You have the photo of entire new enclosure??

 

[dharroald]

I'm starting to think Maynard might be a male. Over the last couple of months the eyes have started to turn a little more red and the coloring on the legs are a little more "colorful". I think it's still a little young to know for sure though.

 

[dharroald]

Here you go.

 

[dharroald]

Its a pretty simple enclosure. The bottom is 1/2 in plywood and the rest is 1/8 hardboard. The panels are screwed to a frame made of 1x3. I siliconed the inside and used spray on bed liner. I have two zilla slimline tropical fixtures mounted on the frame across the top. It has about six inches of substrate(top soil from home depot). I have pothos, peperomia, Christmas cactus, and hen and chicks out of reach because they are terrors towards plants. For water I'm using a 10 inch plant saucer. I mist every other day and humidity stays between 62% and 76%. I have no source for heat right now and the temp drops to 73 at night and peaks at 81 during the day. I would like to raise those temps by about ten degrees. Any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[dharroald]

Had a little photo shoot lol

 

[taza]

Love the pics.