Box Turtle Care Sheet
DIET:
Babies: 95% live insects
5% veggies
Adults: 60% fruits/veggies
40% insects
Insects: ONLY FEED OUTSIDE BUGS IF YOU ARE 100% SURE THAT THEY HAVE NOT BEEN
SPRAYED WITH PESTICIDES!!! (Outside bugs are best as long as they do not have pesticides)
Ex) crickets, worms, slugs, snails, rollie pollies, etc.
Earthworms / Red Wigglers (size appropriate for your turtle)
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If temporarily out of earthworms/red wigglers… Crickets (small)
Mealworms (small)
· The smaller the turtle, the smaller the bugs
· Earthworms and outside bugs are best for your turtle. Should you ever be temporarily out of earthworms/red wigglers, you can feed crickets or mealworms. Crickets are better than mealworms (mealworms have an exoskeleton that is hard to digest), but neither are as good as earthworms/red wigglers. So, you can feed your turtle all types of bugs, but keep in mind that you should be feeding mostly earthworms and other “goo-y” outside bugs. My baby turtles eat earthworms/red wigglers almost exclusively!
· If you have to use crickets or mealworms temporarily, you MUST feed your crickets and mealworms BEFORE you feed them to your turtle! Use “Fluker’s High Calcium Cricket Diet”. It must be “High Calcium”. Feed that to your crickets and mealworms for at least 3 days before feeding the insects to your turtles. The act of gut-loading the crickets/mealworms will improve their nutritional value. Just before feeding, cover the insects with calcium powder by shaking them in a bag with the powder.
· IMPORTANT: Even with gut-loading and coating your insects with calcium, they are still NOT as nutritious as earthworms/red wigglers!!
· Outside bugs and earthworms/red wigglers do not need to be gut-loaded with the Fluker’s diet before feeding them to your turtle. Outside bugs naturally eat outside plants and are already packed full of good vitamins for your turtle. Earthworms are naturally packed full of protein… you can sprinkle them with calcium powder if you want on occasion.
· Other bugs may be OK, but check with your veterinarian first.
· Change your turtle’s diet gradually as it ages. A baby turtle may not like veggies for the first year or two of life. Just try and see. It depends on the individual.
· NOTE: Crickets especially like to nibble on your baby turtle while it sleeps. Removing any remaining insects (crickets) during the night will prevent tiny cuts that could turn into larger cuts. In general, feed your turtle until it stops eating and is full. If there is extra food in the cage, remove it.
· You can choose to sprinkle calcium powder on your turtle’s food. Some veterinarians say it is necessary, while others say it is not if the turtle is getting a well-balanced diet. If you use it, make sure you buy only calcium powder. Do NOT use calcium powder with D3!! D3 helps the body to absorb calcium, but with turtles, it is too much. Studies have shown that using D3 with turtles will calcify their bones to the point that they can no longer grow or even move and this can actually result in death. Instead, use natural sunlight and a UVB light to help the turtle absorb calcium without causing problems. D3 CANNOT be used in place of a UVB light or natural sunlight!!
Fruits/ Veggies:
NO lettuce!! (Has no nutritional value!)
Dark greens – Kale, Collard greens (These are excellent!)
Tomatoes
Grapes
Berries
Squash
Cantaloupe
Grated carrots
· **REMEMBER** Baby turtles should not eat fruit. I do NOT feed my hatchlings fruit, but I do give them greens on occasion. They start getting fruit in small quantities, when they are older. Too much sugar from fruits has been found to cause deformed shell growth as well as other health issues.
· There are many other options of foods to feed your turtle, so look in a book or on the Internet. (Make sure it is a reputable site!)
· Try to stay away from too many fruits or veggies that have “empty” calories. Examples would be melons and ice burg lettuce. These consist of mostly water and do not provide enough nutritional value. Items such as tomatoes, berries or kale are much healthier.
LIGHTING:
First and foremost, I have found it best to keep hatching turtles indoors (hatchlings are turtles LESS than 1 year old). There are many people who disagree, but I do that for several reasons.
· Outside your baby can be killed very easily by any of the following: ants… yes ants! , birds, cats or dogs.
· Outside you do not know how much, or even if your baby is eating enough proper food to be healthy.
· Outside you are not as in tune with your baby turtle’s health, and you may not notice if it becomes ill.
BUT… it is absolutely necessary for your turtle to get NATURAL sunlight. The vitamins from the sun are ESSENTIAL for your baby to live. Many pet stores will encourage you to buy “Vita-Lights”, which work well during winter when it is too cold to take your baby outside or in addition to taking them outside. IF you cannot take your baby outside as often as necessary for any period of time (winter), the “Vita-Light” is recommended as a supplement. It cannot be used instead of natural sunlight, but can be used only in addition to natural sunlight. Remember that nothing works as well as Mother Nature. Keep in mind that it is too cold to take your baby outside in winter. Use the “Vita-Lights” during this time. You can purchase other brands as well, but make sure the light you purchase says ‘UVB’!
Here are a few important facts for you to keep in mind. The light gives off UVA and UVB. But, your turtle only absorbs this if the light is within 6-12 inches of your turtle. So, keeping the light at the top of a regular aquarium does nothing! The closer the light is to your turtle, the more vitamins he is getting. So, buy a shorter cage or put the light inside your aquarium propped up on something, like soup cans. My favorite method is to set the light on top of a shallow tub. Also, make sure there is NO plastic covering over your light. Some light fixtures are sold with this covering… this will filter out all of the vitamins you are trying to provide. Finally, these lights use up their vitamins in about 6 months of use. So, they must be replaced every 6 months. While these lights are helpful during winter or for someone with a busy schedule… remember this fact: 6-8 Hours of “Vita-Light” is equivalent to only 20 MINUTES of natural sunlight! This is because turtles and tortoises cannot absorb this artificial light through their shells… only through their tiny little legs and head.
So, your baby needs at least 2 hours of natural sunlight per week. Remember, the vitamins from the sun cannot penetrate glass (putting your turtle by a window does nothing), nor does your turtle need to be in direct sunlight to receive these vitamins (putting your turtle in shade gives him vitamins, but keeps him from getting too hot from direct sunlight). Also, do not forget your turtle’s predators… keep your baby protected when outside. Try using a mesh top over the container your turtle is in. Since baby box turtles should be soaked in water, a good time to do that is when you take your turtle outside. Put enough water in a bucket so that your turtle can still touch the bottom with its feet but have its head above water, cover the bucket with a mesh top and put him outside. He will love it! For more information on soaking, visit: http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/soak.htm
The best artificial light is “Zoo-Med” brand with at least 10% UVB (the higher the percentage the better). The long tube lights are better than the bulbs because they cover more area.
****Please remember that while natural sunlight is important, baby turtles CAN go all winter without going outside. Your turtle will be in his/her house inside with the temperature around 80-95 degrees. If you go to give your turtle natural sunlight in the winter, you will be suddenly placing your turtle into 50 degree (or colder) weather! That kind of shock can kill your turtle within minutes. Please do NOT do that!
HOUSING:
· 10 gallon tub or larger – a tub is easier to clean than an aquarium plus you can get your UVB light closer!
· Mesh top so that air can get in the tank, or no top if you do not have other pets
· Do NOT use any of these substrates…
NO sand!
No gravel
No wood chips
No pesticides
No outside dirt
· Provide a hiding spot for your turtle… if your baby is hiding all the time, place him in front of his food every morning so he learns where to find it.
· Keep a heating lamp on during the day and off at night ~ heating lamp should be on opposite end from water area.
· Use a mist bottle to spray down the inside of the tank at least once a day ~ three-toed box turtles like it humid! (Cocoa Peat helps a lot with humidity!) This is more important during summer.
Babies (Hatchlings – 1or 2 years old):
· I keep my yearlings in a tub with about ½ inch to 1 inch of coconut bedding. This comes in tightly compacted squares and can be found at pet stores. When you add water, the bedding expands. One of the brands is called Bed-A-Beast, but any brand of cocoa peat will do. This is good because it holds moisture very well and therefore keeps the humidity high. Be sure to keep a shallow level of cocoa peat for hatchlings, as they will dig down and stay buried if it is too deep. Yearlings know enough to dig their way out to get food. This area is misted daily and shallow food and water dishes are provided. My food dish is a plastic lid where I place the earthworms/red wigglers. Part of the tub is under the heat lamp and the whole area is covered with a UVB light.
Yearlings – Juveniles (1 year +)
· I have found it best to keep turtles less than 1 year old inside in the environment described above (Babies). All my babies are born during late summer. The first summer after they are born (about 1 year old) the turtles can be moved to small outside enclosures. There should be plants, hiding spots, lose soil for them to dig, food and water dishes and a mesh covering to keep out predators. Small garden beds work well. I have found that hatchling turtles should stay awake, inside, their first winter to continue to eat and grow. However, by their second winter (about 1 ½ years old) they should hibernate. If the turtle has been moved into a dirt-filled enclosure outside, they will hibernate on their own. Just make sure they can dig down deep in the soil.
**** Remember: When you transition your turtle from inside to outside, make sure the outside temperatures (night and day) are close to your inside temperatures that your turtle is used to! You do not want to shock your turtle! That can result in death.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/door.htm
TEMPERATURE:
Purchase a small thermometer from your local pet store and keep it on the bottom of your tub. That way you know the ground temperature your turtle is walking on. Keep the temperature between 75 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The range should be between 90-100 degrees at the hot end of the tub during the day, and down to about 75 degrees at night in the cold end. The temperature will naturally go down at night when you turn off the heat lamp and UVB light and the turtle will go to sleep. I use a 60-watt bulb placed about 18 inches above the babies. Do NOT use a heat pad under the tub. Do NOT use a heat rock.
Once your turtle is approximately 2-3 inches, you can keep it outside. Make sure that you acclimate your turtle slowly to the temperature change. This is most easily done in spring. Don’t forget that turtles hibernate in the winter if they are kept outside. So, do not decide to keep your turtle outside for the first time during winter. Also, when making this transition, make sure that your turtle’s new house is secure from predators. A small, enclosed garden area covered with mesh is perfect. There should be lots of small plants to hide in and to help keep up the humidity. The soil should be soft enough for your turtle to bury in. A drip system will help keep fresh water for your turtle and your plants. The shade, plants and water will also attract bugs for your turtle to eat! A garden area has most of this already and once covered in mesh, will be a perfect place for your small turtle.
ILLNESS:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/daily.htm
HIBERNATION:
http://boxturtlesite.org/dvmhib.html
Do you have more questions that haven’t been answered yet?
Email Jessica ~
… Or call your local reptile specialist veterinarian.
Other good sites to check out:
http://www.boxturtlesite.org (overall care)
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Terrapenecare.htm (overall care)
http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/daily.htm (daily hatchling care)
http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/door.htm (outdoor housing)
http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/soak.htm (soaking)