TLDR: I replaced the substrate and my box turtle hasn’t settled down…keeps making a mess and walking everywhere ..same substrate I’ve always used I just added more than usual so she could burrow and added potted sedans…I can’t tell if she’s just very stimulated or stressed out
I have a baby box turtle I’ve had her for 2 years and I keep her in a pretty large outdoor 2 story enclosure…4x2 downstairs…1x2 upstairs
I had been neglecting replacing the soil for sometime now…it was dry and the wind blew abunch away …i had seen old pictures of how she loved to bury herself and the amount of soil i had didn’t really allow her to dig much….so yesterday I finally got around to switching out the soil and made sure to have more than enough so she can burrow anywhere
I even bought little sedans to liven up the place even more
But for over an hour, she wasn’t settling in…making a mess everywhere…knocking down the plants etc…it was late so I kept her inside for the night so she could sleep and tried again today and added some of the old dry substrate on top so it would be easier to walk on …same result
I used the same combination as I’ve always had and never had these issues before
Organic soil from home depot
Coconut husk fiber
Little bit of old substrate
The only think I could think of is that it’s too soft or moist so that’s why I added the old substrate on top so she wouldn’t feel it much but that didn’t really help calm her down
It’s not super moist just kind of cold to the touch if you dig into it cause of the coconut husk…not damp at all…but that shouldn’t be the issue because she hasn’t really attempted to burrow just walking around up and down making a mess
She’s not sleeping good …just checked on her tonight she stopped running around and is in her sleeping area but her eyes are open so I’m not sure if shes been sleeping
and she even took a break from eating worms to knock down the plants and walk around …she’s always super focused when eating worms never takes breaks like that
I have a baby box turtle I’ve had her for 2 years and I keep her in a pretty large outdoor 2 story enclosure…4x2 downstairs…1x2 upstairs
I had been neglecting replacing the soil for sometime now…it was dry and the wind blew abunch away …i had seen old pictures of how she loved to bury herself and the amount of soil i had didn’t really allow her to dig much….so yesterday I finally got around to switching out the soil and made sure to have more than enough so she can burrow anywhere
I even bought little sedans to liven up the place even more
But for over an hour, she wasn’t settling in…making a mess everywhere…knocking down the plants etc…it was late so I kept her inside for the night so she could sleep and tried again today and added some of the old dry substrate on top so it would be easier to walk on …same result
I used the same combination as I’ve always had and never had these issues before
Organic soil from home depot
Coconut husk fiber
Little bit of old substrate
The only think I could think of is that it’s too soft or moist so that’s why I added the old substrate on top so she wouldn’t feel it much but that didn’t really help calm her down
It’s not super moist just kind of cold to the touch if you dig into it cause of the coconut husk…not damp at all…but that shouldn’t be the issue because she hasn’t really attempted to burrow just walking around up and down making a mess
She’s not sleeping good …just checked on her tonight she stopped running around and is in her sleeping area but her eyes are open so I’m not sure if shes been sleeping
and she even took a break from eating worms to knock down the plants and walk around …she’s always super focused when eating worms never takes breaks like that