rescue Boxie - what is next?

nicoble

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I just took in an ornate box turtle who was brought into the local shelter as a stray ( whatever that means is anyone's guess) ... They assessed him ( gender a guess ) and thought him in rough shape... thin, overgrown beak, overgrown nails, soft shell. Vet stated that they did not have the equipment to trim the beak and that they would humanely euthanize him if he would not eat ( they provided him with kale and some type of pellets which ... he seemed to ignore ). I decided he would be better off with me than dead ... :) I set him up in a large, 2.5 ft plastic tote with moistened coconut fiber and sphagnum , a hiding place, a water dish and some bricks for basking and feeding as well as appropriate lighting ... I got him mealworms and red wigglers as well as some freeze dried bug mix and made him a chop with dandelion, tomatoes, carrots and whatever else I could find that looked yummy for a tort ...he started eating right away, ate veggies, live and freeze dried insects and worms sprinkled with calcium powder and he loves his bathing dish... I trimmed his beak with a Dremel ( I used to have to trim bird beaks - it sure isn't perfect but believe me ... better than it was ... his beak was enormous !), clipped his nails and my kids secured an outside pen inside of one of my abandoned planter beds. He seems active, eats well, hunts his own bugs outside ( ants, spiders ..) and seems amazingly un-phased by people. For a tortoise in rough shape he he very active and spent the day outside digging and hunting and exploring and soaking in the sun.
I am a bit unsure what is next ... We live in Colorado and it will be winter soon ... not sure if we can provide him enough space during the long winter. Is there anything else he needs? And how much does the average box turtle eat a day? He seems to have a rather large appetite ... How many insects/worms should he eat? I am not sure how I trust the vets assessment at the shelter maybe I will take him to my exotic vet that also sees my birds. I'll definitely make sure he gets as much outside time as possible before the winter, his supplements and a variety of foods - anything else I can do for his shell? Pictures are in his current outside pen ( secured against birds and dogs ).

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Toddrickfl1

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He doesn't seem to be in rough shape in the picture. Looks pretty darn good actually. Congrats on your new friend.
 

Toddrickfl1

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I dunno, the besk looks pretty odd/deformed or it’s the angle of the pix.
I do see that. Beak does look a little odd but we've seen way worse, and the shell looks good to me.
 

nicoble

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Thanks! I am not sure about his condition either ... he is rather active and ... I have not noticed any softness as far as his shell goes... his beak was huge - an inch maybe from nostril to bottom curling outward ... and nails overgrown but that was an easy enough fix ... he sure seems a bit too active and bright eyed and brave to be close to perishing lol
 

K1RK

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Glad you saved the lil thing. Not sure what your temps are at during the night right now, but once is starts hitting 50 it’s hibernation time. That is unless you plan on not hibernating. I’ve been feeding my Ornates as much as they’ll eat so they got plenty of reserves ready for winter.

The first thing I did once I committed to this species was google and read everything I could find. Some stuff will not match up with others but the more info you have the better care giver you’ll be.

Good luck with your Ornate.
 
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Yvonne G

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Thanks! I am not sure about his condition either ... he is rather active and ... I have not noticed any softness as far as his shell goes... his beak was huge - an inch maybe from nostril to bottom curling outward ... and nails overgrown but that was an easy enough fix ... he sure seems a bit too active and bright eyed and brave to be close to perishing lol
Once the beak starts growing outwards, like a duck beak, that orientation is hard to get rid of. Just keep trimming it and hopefully, eventually, it will get back to a downwards orientation like it should be. You've done a great job with him.

I wouldn't worry about winter time space. Just allow the turtle to hibernate/brumate.
 

PJay

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It looks and sounds like you have done a great job and have a turtle that is doing well. If you are going to let it brumate this winter start collecting a super large pile of leaves and grass clippings to pile up as insulation over the bed. It would also be helpful to dig up a couple areas to loosen the soil making it easier for the box turtle to dig down below the frost line.
 

nicoble

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I was able to get her evaluated by my exotics vet. She is a girl! Shell looks OK, beak will be watched but she is definitely underweight and the vet recommended not to let her hibernate outside - we get temps down to sub zeros every winter ( -21 F is not a rarity and we are at 6500 ft altitude ) and while box turtles are native to CO they are at home in the plains- not were we live. The chances that she'll survive hibernation outside in my yard are slim in her current condition. If she wants to hibernate indoors in a cooler but not freezing place ( basement/garage??) he suggested to wake her up after a short time unless ... she packs on weight very fast ... She is on a weight gain diet of all you can eat for now and supplements and we'll make sure she stays relatively warm with long light hours and hope she won't want to hibernate too soon ...
 

Moozillion

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FANTASTIC JOB!!!!!
That's a lucky boxie to have found you!
 

nicoble

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This is her indoor temporary habitat ... she spends nights buried and basks in the morning... no idea if that will be enough light for her or if I should remove her log and just do plants for cover s she will burry anyway but might get more light- we'll see ... she cracks me up ... she likes the yellow food dish ... not the stone one and not the terra-cotta and she'll sit in there on the top of the food leftovers often ... as if she is guarding it lol
 

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Pastel Tortie

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This is her indoor temporary habitat ... she spends nights buried and basks in the morning... no idea if that will be enough light for her or if I should remove her log and just do plants for cover s she will burry anyway but might get more light- we'll see ... she cracks me up ... she likes the yellow food dish ... not the stone one and not the terra-cotta and she'll sit in there on the top of the food leftovers often ... as if she is guarding it lol
They can be really funny about colors... Box turtles seem to have strong color preferences for yellows, oranges, and reds.

Boxies are masters of hiding, sometimes even when they're basking. It isn't uncommon for box turtles to bask (or lurk, just quietly paying attention) with only their heads visible. Leave the log in there for her unless it poses a safety hazard (flipping, getting stuck, etc.). As long as you have suitable lighting for (above) the enclosure, the turtle will manage to expose herself as much as she needs to, to get the heat and UVB she needs.
 

nicoble

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YES! She loves to sit half buried in her log and watch the world around her. She has only been here for a less than a week and she seems to have figured out that picking her up means that we will carry her outside and put her into her enclosure and ... give her a yummy worm ... so she'll sit and look at us when we put her down ... waiting for that snack- when we check on her she will turtle jog to that same spot and look for another treat ... she doesn't seem stressed and clearly enjoys being outside. I need to start breeding nightcrawlers for her - they are sold mostly seasonal here and the pet store warned me that there might be limited supply in the winter lol ...
 

Pastel Tortie

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YES! She loves to sit half buried in her log and watch the world around her. She has only been here for a less than a week and she seems to have figured out that picking her up means that we will carry her outside and put her into her enclosure and ... give her a yummy worm ... so she'll sit and look at us when we put her down ... waiting for that snack- when we check on her she will turtle jog to that same spot and look for another treat ... she doesn't seem stressed and clearly enjoys being outside. I need to start breeding nightcrawlers for her - they are sold mostly seasonal here and the pet store warned me that there might be limited supply in the winter lol ...
Unless you're way up north, you may have better luck breeding red wigglers. It's easy enough to set up indoors... Even in your turtle's indoor enclosure, if the substrate is suitable. You can use a plant saucer as the turtle pool (wading pool) in the enclosure, and the red wigglers will congregate underneath it. When you lift up the saucer to do a quick water change, you can collect red wigglers to feed the turtle. Sprinkle some turtle pellets or leftover greens (occasionally with a dusting of calcium or vitamin supplements) beneath the turtle pool before you set it back down.

Boxies seem to like the taste of red wigglers better that have been grown in an enclosure or worm bin. It also seems to help if you rinse off the red wigglers before feeding them to your boxie. You can get a small strainer (or a set of small mesh strainers) in the kitchen supplies section of someplace like the dollar store or Walmart.
 

Pastel Tortie

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Another suggestion is to get into the habit of weighing your turtle (and recording its weight) on a regular basis. It will give you a baseline to use and help monitor during the winter. Even if the plan is to keep the box turtle up this winter, she still may (read: will probably) slow down a bit... stay buried most of the time, eat less or go long intervals between meals, be not all that active... which is pretty normal for a boxie during the winter.

Don't be surprised if you catch yourself wondering whether your turtle is actually trying to drive you crazy this winter over the brumation conundrum ( "Is she, or isn't she??" ). Tracking her weight will be a sanity saver.

Basically, during the winter, as long as you're getting her out to soak (and weigh) and check on her once a week or so (offer food in case she's interested)... if she isn't losing weight, she's fine.

When I record my boxie's weight, I have columns for pre-soak and post-soak weights, as well as columns to notate whether she ate or pooped during the soak. Basically, I record those factors that can (and do) affect the turtle's weight in that instance. It saves a lot of worry and second guessing if/when the numbers look different than expected.
 

nicoble

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great advice - thank you!! I will weigh her and see that I at least have a few readings before winter gets here ... so far she was able to spend this entire week outside ... daytime only as it does get colder at night ... I take her inside at night and our house is a pretty constant 70 degrees at night ... plus minus a few ... She likes her wading pool and gets in it at least once a day so I haven't been doing a whole lot of soaking. She spends the night buried in her bin, wakes up about an hour after I switch on her lights, eats breakfast, then spends her day outdoors in the sunlight ( this will end soon as CO usually goes from summer to winter temps in a day - one day 80 degrees - the next day ... snow storm ) - she is very hungry when I bring her in again ... and then goes to bed buried in moist substrate lol .. I feel like she knows she is supposed to hibernate and eats as much as she can. She is not picky with her worms- covered in soil or not lol - she loves anything that moves ... and yes I think I bought red wigglers and I sat them up in a coir based substrate and feed them whatever I would feed the turtle including calcium. Thankfully she also eats the freeze dried and re-hydrated grasshoppers and crickets ... I hope they multiply and stay healthy over the winter and that my lady turtle decides to not take hibernation too seriously ... For a Box Turtle that was deemed too sick for adoption she is doing very well ... the funniest thing is when we transport her outside in a little box ... she will stretch her head all the way up to be able to see ... not exactly a shrinking violet ...
 
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