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.
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:
The turtle's name is Tortellini, and based off of an identification video, :
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.