New here - with hatchling EBT

[lisa127]

It is true that many box turtles, mine included, prefer to bury into soil or hide under moss/plants as opposed to using hides. However, if your baby already likes and uses his "cave" I would not remove it. Your boxie is very young, and at this age they hide a lot. As he gets some size to him and grows older he will be out and about more. I have always provided UVB for my boxies, but they have never spent hours basking under it. The main thing to remember with boxies is they like warmth, humidity, and low light levels. Even in nature, a baby box turtle is not going to be basking in the suns rays for hours.

 

[Sunbunny]

Thank you all, I think I will be reorganizing his tank and providing him with plants and leaves, etc. He's staying out more in the UVB, and once our weather turns, I'll be taking him outside daily as well.
One of these days, I'll get the pics to upload...
Thanks again for the welcome. I want him to have the best possible start in life and just about panicked when I saw the changes to his shell. No further bad changes, by the way, and he's still alert & cruising, so hopefully tweaking his environment just that little bit will do the trick.

 

[Sunbunny]

Update: still unable to post pics (sigh). Anyway, I have noticed some cracking around the scutes and marginal plates, not through the scutes themselves but in the inbetween area - but from reading other threads, I'm thinking a little of this is normal as they grow, but of course, if I'm misunderstanding and this is not normal and needs to be addressed somehow, please let me know and I'll take the appropriate steps.

The little EBT is actually staying out a little more, digging into the substrate and hiding a bit under the water dish when he digs, rather than heading for his cave hide. I think he's gotten to the cuttlebone a bit. I do not see any worse flaring of the sides of the shell, so I'm hoping that the tweaks are helping. He is still very alert and clear eyed. Thank you all again for the welcome and the advice. I want to make sure this little baby grows properly.