Intro

Cocacola

New Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2018
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Florida
Hello, I'm one of those people who picked up a turtle off the road and decided to keep and care for it (I realize that is not looked upon favorably). I think this is a Florida Box Turtle, of which it is legal to possess two in the state of Florida but illegal to sell and whatnot http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/freshwater-turtles/. This turtle was closed up on the 55mph road right after a steep turn and between a neighborhood and an orange grove. I've lived in Florida for 18 years and have never seen one of these turtles before and I've volunteered in park restoration and I've worked as a vet tech for a little bit (I never saw a turtle in either setting). Considering that they are most active at dawn and dusk - when lawn mowers are active, and that the area is only being developed more, I've decided to take in this relic individual and see if I can give it a good solid home. I'm taking it to the vet next week.

I've never owned a turtle before, but I've done nothing but research box turtles the pass two days (since I've acquired it). The turtle is not shy and completely comfortable with hanging out of the shell when I'm around and when I pick it up. It's eaten earthworms and white mushrooms. It has not shown interest in veggies, but I've pureed green zucchini, green beans, carrot, small amount of corn, an orange pepper, and a little bit of sardine (in water) and mixed the live earthworms in with it so that it would eat some going at the worms. I've also got Repti Calcium and Reptile Multivitamin supplement powder that I coat the worms with.

The enclosure is currently a 3ft diameter kiddie pool (~7 sq ft) with river pebbles on the bottom, paver sand in the middle, and slightly composed oak leaf mulch on the top layer. There are two bromeliads, two jasmine groundcovers, and two coleus plants in there that I read on a couple sites as being box turtle safe. We have several slate slabs from New York that I set in there for feeding and filing beak/nails. The water/bath dish is currently a cheap metal pan that I intend to replace with a terra cotta or stone plant saucer. I change the water twice a day at the moment. I plant on creating an outdoor enclosure like this one:
although I will probably enclose it completely because of how aggressive the raccoons and possums are here. I made the mistake of keeping the turtle on sand the first day and it did eat some sand chasing the worms that run off the slate. I'm worried that it might have some gut impaction from the sand it ingested.

The turtle's name is Tortellini, and based off of an identification video, :
I think the turtle is a juvenile-coming-of-age because amount of yellow in the iris and a female because of the location of the vent, but I honestly have no clue.

Long term, I think it would be neat to breed and release these beautiful turtles into nearby parks. I know there is a lot of information available on these forums as searches keep bringing me back here. Let me know if you have any advice or criticisms and thank you for your time.
 

Attachments

  • ant trap.jpg
    ant trap.jpg
    5.2 MB · Views: 28
  • front area.jpg
    front area.jpg
    3.8 MB · Views: 22
  • Peekabo.jpg
    Peekabo.jpg
    4.6 MB · Views: 31
  • Turtle head.jpg
    Turtle head.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 26
  • Turtle shell.jpg
    Turtle shell.jpg
    2 MB · Views: 23
  • Turtle tail.jpg
    Turtle tail.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 23

wellington

Well-Known Member
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Tortoise Club
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
49,655
Location (City and/or State)
Chicago, Illinois, USA
I'm going to say it anyway. If they are native to Florida it needs to go back where you found it but off the road.
It will spend its life trying to get out and back to its territory.
 

Cocacola

New Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2018
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Florida
All captive bred ones came from wild collected ancestors or exploited eggs at some point in time. Many species that have gone extinct in the wild because of human development and hunting only live on today because captive populations exist with a large enough gene pool. However, I have neither the experience to properly acclimate a wild turtle nor do I want to be responsible for harming the gene pool of the wild population. I understand they have a high mortality and take a long time to reach maturity. I will release the turtle alongside the road (where I found it) facing the orange groves (the direction it was going) later today.

I consider this an invauble learning experience and look forward to getting a captive bred breeding pair of eastern box turtles in the future. Thank you for your forwardness.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Good job. You're doing the right thing. Oh, and Welcome to the Forum!!
 
Top