rwright893

I have a female Ornate box turtle that I saved after she was blown into a busy street by a lawn mower last June. Fortunately, her only injury was a clip to the highest portion of her shell; and this was superficial, only shaving a small sliver of the outer, pigmented portion. Luckily my flashing hazard lights stopped all traffic on both sides of the street. On that same day, my son attempted the same maneuver to save another box turtle; but a pickup truck swerved and ran over the turtle.
Her name is "Missy Turtle", and her favorite, but rarely given, treat is original Kentucky Fried Chicken. Today, when placed into her outdoor habitation "compound" with her Igor, her Russian Tortoise (male), she found two snails which she immediately chomped and gobbled.
Several days, I acquired a mature male Russian Tortoise; and thus begun my latest, full-time hobby/occupation/education.
Despite the "rules" about not mixing species, my two get along famously; so when my turtle/tortoise education revealed that the mixing of two separate species, not to mention opposite sex, it was too late.
They live in an outdoor 12-feet by 8-feet "compound"; complete with a 4-foot high by 6-feet long and 4-foot wide "hill", ferns, grass, milkweed, dandelions, water and multiple hiding places, including pots, leaves and lots of dirt with micro climates of moist to dry.
At night, the come inside the house, into a 100-gallon "aquarium" properly outfitted with smooth river rocks, bark mixed with dirt, a hiding shelter, water, feeding area, and UVA & UVB lights, with a night light (all on timers). This was their home whenever the outside temperatures were below 60 F. They did not hibernate, but definitely did slow down their activity and eating.
Boy, were they glad to get back outside three weeks ago! They are very active and have increased their eating. Fortunately, they did not lose much fat or weight over the winter.
It is fun to watch them. They know their names; or at least, they respond to their names. At first, I was concerned that Igor, the Russian tortoise, would bully Missy, the Ornate box turtle, because he is several ounces heavier. I noticed that he would position himself between her and the food, and would subtly block her attempts to eat. However, Missy was soon pushing back.
The hardest thing for me, is making sure that Igor does not get meat. My solution is to simply feed the meat treats by hand to Missy. Now I have to figure out how much meat protein Missy needs, and how to monitor her intake. Now that her "garden" has night crawlers/earthworms, grubs and snails, I will decrease her meat "treats".
The other difficult problem I have, is preventing fire ants, and other ants, from infesting the soft soil in the pen. I spread fire ant killers 6-weeks before placing Igor and Missy outside, and closely monitor them.