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Elohi

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Lylah has finally decided that earthworms will work as food. She kept turning them down and they either escaped into her substrate or they dried out under her lamp.
So her substrate is sphagnum peat miss and ground coconut coir. It used to also have organic garden soil in it but after the coil bulb incident and I changed the substrate, it is 50/50 (or there about) sphagnum peat moss/coconut coir

Is it ok for her to ingest when she eats her worms? Because it sticks to her worms pretty bad.
 

Yvonne G

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My baby box turtles have to walk all over their food while they're eating it. By the time the last bite is consumed, it looks more like dirt than food.

If you keep your babies well hydrated, eating dirt won't be harmful.
 

Saleama

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Neither is much of an issue causing impaction. She should be fine with it. i have never had an issue with either substrate and I also mix the two. I also put a layer of the square cut mulch on top. I think I buy it at Lowes. You could also rinse off the worms and place them in a dish for her although with my Juveniles, they seem to prefer to "hunt" them down. Have you tried super worms yet? My 2 inch boxies and larger love them!
 

Elohi

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Yvonne G said:
My baby box turtles have to walk all over their food while they're eating it. By the time the last bite is consumed, it looks more like dirt than food.

If you keep your babies well hydrated, eating dirt won't be harmful.

LOL, yeah her worms usually look like dirt tubes because she drags them backwards and claws at them while she eats them.


Saleama said:
Neither is much of an issue causing impaction. She should be fine with it. i have never had an issue with either substrate and I also mix the two. I also put a layer of the square cut mulch on top. I think I buy it at Lowes. You could also rinse off the worms and place them in a dish for her although with my Juveniles, they seem to prefer to "hunt" them down. Have you tried super worms yet? My 2 inch boxies and larger love them!

Ok good because her worms are totally coated by the time she gets them eaten. I wet them and put them in her dish but she drags them out and backwards, through the dirt and claws at them turning them into wiggly dirt worms lol.

She does love her some superworms. She will pig out on 4-5 of them at a time. She prefers superworms and crickets over the earthworms but I offer all of them in rotation. And I STILL can't get her to eat any sort of veggies or leafy greens. She will eat strawberries and bites of banana of the rare basis I give them, so I have made pumpkin purée or purred carrots soaks as a part of her routine. I've been doing that once a week lately. Is that enough? She does get some calcium and d3 powder on superworms and on wellness canned cat food (grain free chicken). I offer that once in a while and she seems to like it alright. The calcium sticks to it really well compared to how it falls off the superworms.
I can't get her to eat the zoomed tortoise food at all. I think it smells amazing but she walks through it and looks at me like I OBVIOSLY have no idea who she is. "Pssshhhhhhttttt vegetation...I eat live things lady! It has to wiggle or have wiggled at some point." (Lol)


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Saleama

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Elohi said:
Yvonne G said:
My baby box turtles have to walk all over their food while they're eating it. By the time the last bite is consumed, it looks more like dirt than food.

If you keep your babies well hydrated, eating dirt won't be harmful.

LOL, yeah her worms usually look like dirt tubes because she drags them backwards and claws at them while she eats them.


Saleama said:
Neither is much of an issue causing impaction. She should be fine with it. i have never had an issue with either substrate and I also mix the two. I also put a layer of the square cut mulch on top. I think I buy it at Lowes. You could also rinse off the worms and place them in a dish for her although with my Juveniles, they seem to prefer to "hunt" them down. Have you tried super worms yet? My 2 inch boxies and larger love them!

Ok good because her worms are totally coated by the time she gets them eaten. I wet them and put them in her dish but she drags them out and backwards, through the dirt and claws at them turning them into wiggly dirt worms lol.

She does love her some superworms. She will pig out on 4-5 of them at a time. She prefers superworms and crickets over the earthworms but I offer all of them in rotation. And I STILL can't get her to eat any sort of veggies or leafy greens. She will eat strawberries and bites of banana of the rare basis I give them, so I have made pumpkin purée or purred carrots soaks as a part of her routine. I've been doing that once a week lately. Is that enough? She does get some calcium and d3 powder on superworms and on wellness canned cat food (grain free chicken). I offer that once in a while and she seems to like it alright. The calcium sticks to it really well compared to how it falls off the superworms.
I can't get her to eat the zoomed tortoise food at all. I think it smells amazing but she walks through it and looks at me like I OBVIOSLY have no idea who she is. "Pssshhhhhhttttt vegetation...I eat live things lady! It has to wiggle or have wiggled at some point." (Lol)















My babies will not touch veggies and fruits although I will put them in every time I feed them. the Juveniles will eat certain things like strawberries and mango but won't go near a veggie. they will also eat broiled chicken and egg whites but not egg yolks. I have no idea why. My adults are all kept in a garden and the only food we put out for them is fruits and veggies and they tear it up. If they get any live food, it is by hunting for it themselves like they would in the wild, although my uncle has released quite a few canadian night crawlers into the garden. I have not tried the baby food soaks but I am going to the store tonight to get some and start them on a regular soak pattern with it. I understand the best ones are carrots and squash and I am going to try some fruit ones and mix them as well.


Oh, and if I were you, I would make her/his soak deeper. Boxies can swim well and if you make it deeper s/he will be more inclined to drink or dunk her/his head under the water. Just a thought.
 

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