Petsitting some boxies!

[Rutibegga]

Just a few photos of some boxies I'm caring for (in their outdoor inclosure at home) for the next week or so. They're all under five years, though two are recent hatchlings and three are a few years old. I think I only got photos of three--the mosquitos are wicked in their yard and I had to be quick!

These guys are not used to being handled, so I kept that to a minimum. In the group photo, the two on the left are a few years old and the smaller one is from this spring. The big one has grown very quickly all of the sudden--I watched them a few months back and the size difference wasn't nearly as extreme!

 

[wellington]

Cute. Are they owned by a member of the forum? And if not, why haven't you gotten them to join

 

[Rutibegga]

Cute. Are they owned by a member of the forum? And if not, why haven't you gotten them to join

I doubt that they are members, but I was planning to pass the site info along. It's probably missed by a lot of turtle owners since it's a tortoise forum, but there's a ton of good information here for turtles too.

 

[Angel Carrion]

Yeah before I joined I thought this was just for torts so I was looking into the turtle forum but after looking around here a bit more I realized there was a lot of info on turtles too! So I joined both sites! Haha, honestly I'm much more active on this site than the turtle forum one. I think I'm on that one once every month or so...?

 

[Angel Carrion]

Just a few photos of some boxies I'm caring for (in their outdoor inclosure at home) for the next week or so. They're all under five years, though two are recent hatchlings and three are a few years old. I think I only got photos of three--the mosquitos are wicked in their yard and I had to be quick!

These guys are not used to being handled, so I kept that to a minimum. In the group photo, the two on the left are a few years old and the smaller one is from this spring. The big one has grown very quickly all of the sudden--I watched them a few months back and the size difference wasn't nearly as extreme!

They are so cute!! Aww I love them

 

[Rutibegga]

So that tiny baby hatchling in the above photos has an eye that's swollen shut. I'm calling the appointment desk at our local referral hospital tomorrow to see if they can see him on an emergency basis or if I need to bring him in through their specialty service. I'm going back to their house tomorrow: any suggestions on care? He's housed outdoors and I can certainly bring him in, warm soak him, etc... I could probably bring him to my place for a bit if needed--I've been in contact with the owners and they want what's best.

I can't really tell if he's otherwise feeling ok--they get some veggies and whatnot, but they mostly eat bugs and snails in their enclosure. They're not used to handling, so they hide or retract into their shells when I visit.

@Angel Carrion ?

 

[Angel Carrion]

So that tiny baby hatchling in the above photos has an eye that's swollen shut. I'm calling the appointment desk at our local referral hospital tomorrow to see if they can see him on an emergency basis or if I need to bring him in through their specialty service. I'm going back to their house tomorrow: any suggestions on care? He's housed outdoors and I can certainly bring him in, warm soak him, etc... I could probably bring him to my place for a bit if needed--I've been in contact with the owners and they want what's best.

I can't really tell if he's otherwise feeling ok--they get some veggies and whatnot, but they mostly eat bugs and snails in their enclosure. They're not used to handling, so they hide or retract into their shells when I visit.

@Angel Carrion ?

He not open it at all? Have you tried running some Luke warm water over his eye to see if he can open t that way? Could be that it's just sticking a tiny bit after a nap/sleep like our eyes stick sometimes, could be he needs more vitamin A. Have you heard of a carrot soak? I'll attach an explanatory picture in my next reply

 

[Rutibegga]

He not open it at all? Have you tried running some Luke warm water over his eye to see if he can open t that way? Could be that it's just sticking a tiny bit after a nap/sleep like our eyes stick sometimes, could be he needs more vitamin A. Have you heard of a carrot soak? I'll attach an explanatory picture in my next reply

Thank you! I'll plan to do a warm soak tomorrow. I didn't want to stress him with handling until I had a plan in place. I'm calling Penn tomorrow too, but I doubt they have an exotics vet on during the weekend.

If he seems no better, I'll probably bring him to my place for more frequent soaks and attention unless you think that will be too stressful.

 

[Angel Carrion]

Here is the carrot soak picture. Sorry, took me a bit to find it

 

[Angel Carrion]

Thank you! I'll plan to do a warm soak tomorrow. I didn't want to stress him with handling until I had a plan in place. I'm calling Penn tomorrow too, but I doubt they have an exotics vet on during the weekend.

If he seems no better, I'll probably bring him to my place for more frequent soaks and attention unless you think that will be too stressful.

No, better supervision if this is a medical problem and not just a sleepy eye is a good idea

 

[Rutibegga]

Ok. I'm going ver there this afternoon, so I'll pick him up and bring him to my place for at least the weekend. I have a small (probably one gallon) pet travel container I can house him in until I dig out something better.

I'll check out the boxie care sheet and make sure I've got things I can feed him, since he's used to foraging.

Poor little guy. I hope he makes it. I'm worried because he's the smallest of the bunch.

 

[Angel Carrion]

If you need more help let us know, k?

 

[Yvonne G]

Wow, they took some of the info and then added their own spin on it.

Buy a few jars of Gerber strained carrots. Take one jar and empty half the jar into a small tub with tall sides, but a small footprint. Add a half a jar of warm water. Mix it up. Leave the baby soaking in the carrot/water mixture for about a half hour. You should see an improvement in three days. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ALLOW YOUR VET TO GIVE THE BABY A VITAMIN A INJECTION!!!!!

 

[Rutibegga]

So it turns out that hatchling didn't have a swollen eye, it appears to have been attacked by one of the larger turtles and is missing its eye and a chunk of its face. The good news is that this is an old injury that seems to have healed well, but the turtles need separate enclosures. I've offered my help to the owners when they return from vacation. Thanks everyone for your help. I have them in my care for another week, but might have more questions once the owners are back in town.

 

[Angel Carrion]

Wow, they took some of the info and then added their own spin on it.

Buy a few jars of Gerber strained carrots. Take one jar and empty half the jar into a small tub with tall sides, but a small footprint. Add a half a jar of warm water. Mix it up. Leave the baby soaking in the carrot/water mixture for about a half hour. You should see an improvement in three days. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ALLOW YOUR VET TO GIVE THE BABY A VITAMIN A INJECTION!!!!!

Oh jeez I didn't see that it said to do a vitamin A injection at the vet! I've been looking at the picture on my phone and had a hard time reading the last bit but because of the info given about how to make a carrot soak I thought it was okay! I got it off of a facebook box turtle group, I'll go and correct them. Thank you for bringing my attention to it!!

 

[Yvonne G]

So it turns out that hatchling didn't have a swollen eye, it appears to have been attacked by one of the larger turtles and is missing its eye and a chunk of its face. The good news is that this is an old injury that seems to have healed well, but the turtles need separate enclosures. I've offered my help to the owners when they return from vacation. Thanks everyone for your help. I have them in my care for another week, but might have more questions once the owners are back in town.

Oh, that's really too bad. I learned the hard way too, that box turtles are quite carnivorous and will try to eat each other. If you keep them very well fed, (read overfed) they will usually leave each other alone.

 

[Angel Carrion]

Yes, let's have some nice and slightly plump boxies!

 

[Alaskamike]

I think I did read someplace that Boxies will even eat babies if they find them very young.

True?

I had thought that if mine lay eggs it is doubtful I would know since their enclosure is so fully planted with allot of cover and hides. It is doubtful I would ever see the eggs at all. But might see babies if they hatched eventually.

I do try and keep them fed well so that might help.

In the wild they would probably not encounter the babies , but my surround is only 10'x12'.

 

[Angel Carrion]

I think I did read someplace that Boxies will even eat babies if they find them very young.

True?

I had thought that if mine lay eggs it is doubtful I would know since their enclosure is so fully planted with allot of cover and hides. It is doubtful I would ever see the eggs at all. But might see babies if they hatched eventually.

I do try and keep them fed well so that might help.

In the wild they would probably not encounter the babies , but my surround is only 10'x12'.

Yup, they will eat the babies if they find them. They'll eat the eggs, too, if they can find those. But if you think your girls are going to lay eggs this late in the season, I suggest keeping a good eye out come spring time and keep looking until summer. Heck, maybe even halfway through summer.

 

[Alaskamike]

Guess I have no particular reason to think they will lay this fall. Here in Florida it's still very warm.

My first year with FBT and EBT's. I suppose it's possible. We don't have a real change in weather till November. It has gotten down to 32f some years in Jan / Feb.

I'm not actually " trying" to have babies. But I've allowed the male access a few times as an experiment. No one has to tell him what to do. Lol

Since they can hold sperm for years , it is likely Spring / Summer will be the time.

But I'll keep an Eagle eye out