new eastern box turtle, opi (: any advice appreciated !

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stinax182

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i recently acquired an adult female box turtle. I'm new to a boxies, so my first question is how do other boxie owners offer worms/crickets/roaches? i tried sinking a dish into the substrate but she has trouble and everything just crawls out on her.

she's not too fast and won't eat in front of me yet so i can't really supervise. she's only eaten super worms so far. I've offered her a variety of store bought and home grown greens, banana, tomato, cucumber, mazuri, carrot and green pepper. I've only had her since Sunday so i know she is still settling in. any advice on box turtles in general is appreciated!


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wiccan_chicken

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I usually soak my yearling, then drain the water and put her in a tub with her food and set that in her enclosure and leave her alone for an hour. This way they don't crawl out and I know she ate.
 

SANDRA_MEISSNEST

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She is super cute.
Mine eat like 1—2 times a week nightcrawlers, they also hunt their own food, then they eat everyday a mix of avocado mushrooms any kind of berries, tomatoes cucumbers lettuce, cantaloupe... that mixture they get twice a day. I also have like a little pool in the enclosure, where they can get in and out very easily

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wiccan_chicken

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Also, very pretty girl and welcome to the forum, I'm tired sorry lol I hope you enjoy your new girl :)
 

SANDRA_MEISSNEST

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luvpetz27

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She is adorable!! Easterns are my favorite!! I have a male and female.
Those are great pictures of her! She has the sweetest face!! :)

My female is very shy. She would not eat in front of me at first either. She will get used to you and her new home before you know it!! :) Enjoy your new precious girl!!


Welcome to the forum!! :)
 

stinax182

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what a beautiful enclosure! that is quite a spread they get! i love that their diet is so flexible. winter is coming soon here so she'll be inside full time. she has a 3'x6' enclosure with top soil/peat moss, live/fake plants, i have her basking light on a dimmer because i know they do not like bright light but the temp is 90°. a couple hides and a water dish that I'm upgrading to an actually pond soon. for a couple more weeks she's outside all day with partially sunlight in a 8'x6' enclosure.


and the tub idea is great! i like the idea of knowing for sure what she ate. and i can leave her alone and not worry about her running by the food onto her hide because I'm there. thank you guys!

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Saleama

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I always put mine in a separate tub which I put in their pen so they can eat without it escaping. Also, if you make it "rain" they will eat better. I also let worms go in their pen so they can hunt at their leisure. the other day I saw one of my GCB's come out of the dirt like Godzilla out of the ocean and he had a big ole worm in his mouth!
 

SANDRA_MEISSNEST

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Lol how cute....
Send some pics of ur inside set up,it sounds really nice

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johnsonnboswell

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A turtle that is too hot won't eat. Neither will a cold one. Instead they'll burrow & hide. Mine like bright sun light, but are not at all active at 90, nor will they eat then. In summer especially they are likely to hunt and eat at dawn and dusk. If you can't feed then, toss the food in at night so your turtle can find it while you're still asleep.

For easterns, a good substrate mimics the forest floor. Rich and damp. Pile up leaves as a place to hide. That will feed the worms, too, and break down into the substrate. My favorite indoor substrate is a mix of coconut coir & finished compost. Think of the habitat as a seed bed. Seeds should germinate in there or else it's too dry.

A good UVB bulb running long enough helps stimulate appetite, too.

Uneaten worms and slugs and pill bugs can survive to be hunted or found later. They'll reproduce if your habitat is suitable.

Don't let your turtle see you while you try to watch her eat. Also, you can put her in her water dish and drop worms into the water.

Some turtles take a long time before they'll eat while being watched.
 

stinax182

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great link! thanks for the insightful advice everyone! I'm definitely going to have to get some leaf litter....not sure how to do that but I'll figure it out. what temp should the cool side be?


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it looks a lot smaller but the water dish is 12" and you can't see the basking spot (bottom left) or the bowl i sunk into the substrate and her feeding rock (bottom right) i am upgrading it come winter time.
the box turtles enclosure is on top of my leopard tortoises enclosure, who, I'd think, likes warmer temps than the boxie.

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dunno why a smiley face popped up instead of the picture, lol

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