Outdoor Box Turtle Enclosure

[turtlefever]

Hello, I am looking for any advice on what I need to do in order to create an outdoor turtle enclosure. First off, how big should I make it. Ultimately, I would like to keep two turtles in it. Second, what kind of plants would you suggest for a three toed box turtle. I think we live in Zone 5 or 6. I know these little critters are are very crafty, whould anyone suggest lining the enclosure with something they can't dig through? How much sun is a good amount of sun? One of the places where I would like to put the enclosure would have the full afternoon sun. My second choice is more protected from the sun but I am not sure that is ideal for other reasons. Thank you in advance for any advice that is given for this thread.

 

[Yvonne G]

They seem to do best in a part sun, part shade enclosure. Your full sun place would be ok, except you would have to plant it heavily to provide lots of shade. There are many, many plants that do well in full sun...butterfly bush, rose of sharon, blueberry, currant, pineapple guava to name just a few. These will provide the necessary respite from the sun for the turtle. The floor of my pen is covered by wild strawberry, with a few button ferns and violets. I also allow the weeds to grow, but not overtake the pen.

They will also need a waterer big enough to climb into and fit their whole body.

Box turtles are good climbers and diggers. My box turtle pen is made out of grape stakes that go down into the ground about 4". Then I have a large garden trash pile in one corner that they dig into for protection.

I would think that a pen appx. 8'x16' would be ok for a pair, however if you can make it bigger, bigger is always better.

 

[bmt123]

Is 8x16 a minimum it seems kind of big.

 

[terryo]

My turtle garden is 22' x 7'...I think. I have 7 box turtles in there. Hosta's are great. There's three in there, I have a fig tree, rose of Sharon tree, ornamental grass creeping jenny, a small pond, an old log, and a cave at one end with a lot of leaf litter where they hibernate. There are dandelions, begonia and lots of annuals, just to make it look pretty. All these plants provide shade, as there is sun most of the day where the garden is. At night they usually go in the cave.

 

[turtlefever]

Wow, Terryo that is incredible!!! Very beautiful, thank you for sharing.