I need help finding my pet turtle good bedding and food options!

[rosietoes420]

Hello everyone, I have an 8 year old box turtle named Roger, we got him just a few months ago and I was wondering what is the best feeding options for him, and how often do we have to feed him, we feed him just about everyday, we don't really know what to feed him though, any answers would be super helpful, thanks!



Also he lives in a under bed storage container, we're looking for perfect and comfortable bedding for him as well.

 

[ZenHerper]

Box turtles are omnivores -- they eat all kinds of things!

Worms, insects, isopods, fish, boiled eggs with the shell on, all-meat canned cat or dog food are all acceptable protein sources...whole critters are more nutritive than processed.

Greens: dandelion (with flowers), plantain, endives, clover (with flowers), viola/heartsease (with flowers).

Fruit: berries, mostly, but also melon, squash, tomato.

An adult will no doubt have personal tastes, but their palate can always be expanded and corrected over time. The goal is to feed a balanced, varied diet. They can certainly eat every day...keep portions managed so that fat and carbs are not overwhelming. Chop greens and new foods very small to insure balanced eating habits.

Plastic storage containers are generally too small and too shallow to make appropriate habitats for turtles.

Boxies, like tortoises, roam large tracts of forest and field every day. They can swim (but vary by personal interest in doing so). Indoor habitats should be quite large and include a safe water feature of a few inches depth (start with 1 inch of water to see how your turtle feels about it). Fir bark ("orchid" bark) mixed with peat moss simulates forest substrate well and holds a good bit of moisture. Boxies like to burrow in moist earth, so provide a good 4-6 inch substrate depth. To comfortably accomodate a single turtle, you'd need an enclosure of about 8x4 feet. Live plants (spider plants, wild violet/heartsease) create natural shade and places to hide.

As a temperate species, they don't need whopping heat, but a basking spot of around 80*F in a 70*F habitat insures that their body systems will run at Optimal levels during their active seasons.

Turtles need UVB radiation to make/manage vitamin D, which contributes to their calcium management and bone health. Daily natural sun exposure for 20 minutes works very well, or you can invest in a UVB tube bulb and hood fixture.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Before you go out and spend good money on a UVB source, understand these important things:
1) Almost every uvb light sold at most pet shops are garbage for one reason or another. Either the spiral or coiled compact CFLs or the combination UVA-B and heat MVBs.
2) A few hours a week of actual outdoors sunlight. NOT through a window or a screen can supply enough UVB to keep your turtle healthy.
Or you can get a T5 5.0 linear strip florescent light like this one.

 

[rosietoes420]

Before you go out and spend good money on a UVB source, understand these important things:
1) Almost every uvb light sold at most pet shops are garbage for one reason or another. Either the spiral or coiled compact CFLs or the combination UVA-B and heat MVBs.
2) A few hours a week of actual outdoors sunlight. NOT through a window or a screen can supply enough UVB to keep your turtle healthy.
Or you can get a T5 5.0 linear strip florescent light like this one.

Thank you for the idea! We take roger out for about an hour everyday in our front yard and let him walk around in the grass and he absolutely loves it! we are going to modify his habitat very soon but we have already changed his eating habits and he loves it!