Help! Eastern box turtle going on hunger strike

Status
Not open for further replies.

boxy

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 7, 2013
Messages
1
Hi all! So about six months ago I found a medium sized eastern box turtle crossing the road. I brought him back and put him in my huge backyard before I had planned on taking him to the woods. By the evening I couldn't find him anywhere so I assumed he had gone underground to hibernate. About 5 days ago I find him sitting there looking around.

The problem I'm having is that he seems to be very scared for some reason and never leaves his shell. I've moved him around the yard a couple times to see if that helped but he'll close up and basically won't even move for many hours. He also has about an inch crack on the bottom of his shell so he might've suffered trauma. I've kept him outdoors where there's lots of plants and worms. And even dug in the ground to place pit holders of water. I live in maryland and its been a little cold recently (not going above 60 and dropping to 45*F at night). I've brought him worms and fruits and veggies and he doesn't eat anything. I'm very worried about him.

I've had many box turtles before and they're usually friendly. When he closes his eyes the lids are whitish and opaque. No puss or anything. Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you for reading my long post!
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,388
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Hi boxy, and welcome to the Forum!

Some wild box turtles are pretty hard to get going. If you're not planning to keep this turtle, I suggest you put him back close to where you found him. If you are planning to keep him, here's an article for you to read:


http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-42397.html
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top