HELP! what kind do I have?

[kristiemathias]

THANK YOU! what kind of paper? does it have to be a dark color or can it be any color? and its ok to keep him in the tank he has now as long as i cover the sides?

 

[Floof]

As far as the tank is concerned, don't worry about it. Watch your turtle's behavior. If he has a problem with the glass, i.e. seems unduly stressed, tries to walk through it, etc, then worry about putting up sight barriers. But every animal is different, and, IME, they usually don't give a hoot about the glass... They figure out pretty quick what's going on and stop worrying about it. I have 5 tortoises (granted, not boxies) in glass aquariums with no sight barriers, and not a one is concerned about it. My leopard tortoise likes to watch out over the room and give me nasty glares if I don't get his food on time, even.

I'm pretty sure TerryO, or resident boxie & Redfoot "terrarium expert" doesn't use any sort of sight barriers on her glass aquariums. I could be mistaken, but I don't recall seeing anything of the sort looking at some of her gorgeous photos.. And she's never reported a problem with this method, either.

I'd be more worried about reflections, really. Glass is quite reflective, and if you put something on the outside of it (especially something dark-colored) it tends to raise that aspect. I tried to move my male bearded dragon into a 6' aquarium (the one my Russians are in now, coincidentally) and had to move him back into his 4' because the reflections along the back of the tank, which is covered in black contact paper, kept stressing him out. I'd think the reflections of the tank would have a larger "Hey, look, there's more room to explore... Wait, what the heck is this strange barrier keeping me from getting there?" effect than just plain, uncovered glass with no recognizable "territory" beyond... But that's just my opinion.

Re: Food, limit both mealies and waxies. Waxworms are just fat. Mealworms are high in chitin and phosphorous (fat, too, I think--that might have been superworms, though), and pretty low nutritionally. Try earthworms, for one... I'm sure some of the more box turtle-experienced members will have a couple other recommendations, but earthworms/nightcrawlers are the most readily-available one I can think of right now. Oh--plus slugs and small snails if you don't treat your yard with pesticides/chemicals, are both relished by boxies.

If you're willing to mail-order your worms, Silkworms, Pheonix worms, and Butterworms are all fantastic (with the butters being more of a treat item). I know Coastal (a member on here) carries Silkies, I don't know about the other two. Mulberry Farms carries all three. I've never ordered through Coastal, but I've been ordering from Mulberry Farms for two and a half years and have nothing but good to say about them.

 

[kristiemathias]

He seems to be OK in the glass tank, he just burrows and hides alot. He becomes more active when I take him outside to get some natural sunlight every few days for about an hour or so. I need to order some worms from them, thanks for the recommendation. I have been using eye drops for the past few days because they have been a little puffy and I took him to the vet but he said since the turtle was so tiny it was hard to figure out exactly what he had so I've just been giving him vitamin A, but earlier today I saw some bubbles come out of his nose?

 

[Floof]

Bubbles would indicate a respiratory infection. Keep him warm, 80F at the coldest, and humid.

Are you giving him straight Vitamin A? If so, stop. It's VERY easy to overdose on.

Instead, do baby food soaks... Half a jar of carrot baby food mixed with warm water so it's about 80F, in a small container, up to about where his top and bottom shells meet (the "bridge"), and let him soak in it for about an hour a day. It helps to put the soak under or close to a heat light to keep it warm, so you don't have to keep adding warm water. He will probably drink some of this mixture, which will get some nutrients (including a much safer form of vitamin A) into him. Even if he doesn't drink the mix, it's said that they absorb liquids through their cloaca and maybe the soft skin around their bum and necks, so it's beneficial either way.

 

[kristiemathias]

Thank you so much! I'm going to get the carrot baby food right now, is it OK to put him in that soak in the natural sunlight for an hour instead of a heat lamp? and would you do it everyday for like a week?