Recent content by xyhapu

That's a great idea! I should be able to build something like that inside the enclosure, or maybe even seal up and insulate the entire enclosure. One of them is basically a 4x8 raised garden bed with metal mesh shelving on top to keep the predators out, so it should be pretty simple to attach...

Thanks! I think I've even read your thread before, it's quite famous! I was definitely concerned about fluctuations, so I've been trying to dig deep as possible. I wanted to avoid brumation altogether but one of them (the pictured one) insists on it and stops eating for months on end, once she...

Thanks, lesson learned! Is there a good alternative substrate suitable for burrowing and brumation? I will need a lot of it (two 4x8 pens, aiming for 2 feet deep), so it would be nice if it was economical. I use coconut coir in my smaller indoor enclosures, but it would be pretty expensive to...

Store-bought garden soil smells faintly of coffee, causing me to suspect used coffee grounds were part of the 'compost' portion of the mix. Concerning since caffeine is poisonous to reptiles (and most other critters), and I remember specifically reading this account of a box turtle dying upon...

Thank you all for your inputs! I will try the fish oil and antibiotic eye ointment. Here is a video of the little guy eating a worm and a slice of egg. It shows a bit of the limited sight in his left eye - he seems to get much more scared if I approach from that side, and seems to have a hard...

Saw a rare sight the other day, a juvenile/~10 year old(?) box turtle crossing my driveway. On closer inspection, he looked healthy and normal except for one clouded over eye (see image). Vaguely remembering that eye problems could be due to vitamin A deficiency, I temporarily moved him to the...

Is there a correlation between her behavior and outdoor temperatures? One of my eastern box turtles behaves the same way as soon as the first cold spell hits, despite there being little change to indoor temps/humidity/light. This is only the second year I've had him, but so far he's been very...

Looks like some kind of adhesive-backed foil. Use heat (like a hairdryer) to loosen the adhesive and then scrape it off. Be very careful not to overheat the aquarium/don't leave it on one spot for too long, as you can crack the glass.

But that's what playing is for humans and mammals too! It helps/helped us survive and so we evolved to like doing it - we don't play for no reason.

Here's an interesting excerpt from a Scientific American article: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/not-bad-science/looking-past-the-scales-the-truth-about-reptilian-behavior/ Whether or not play and the need to play in reptiles is exactly the same thing as in mammals, I think it is...

That's an interesting question. Play behavior is evolutionarily attributed in part to letting an animal simulate behaviors like foraging, hunting, and fighting, and give it practice with real-world skills it will need to survive. Since this practice behavior could also be advantageous to a...

4' x 8' is a standard size for construction materials like plywood or steel, so I'm suspicious someone threw that number out there out of convenience or familiarity. That said, I agree with everyone else that even that size is technically still 'small', and that bigger is better if possible...

Here is a 3-year study where they radio-tracked newly-hatched box turtles to see how they survived. Tortoises probably face similar conditions. It has data on all the ways in which they died: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/theses/853/ Sadly, none seemed to have made it past their first year in...

Not a tortoise, but hopefully still effective stress therapy!

It could be that he notices you behave differently/you are around more on Saturdays due to it being the weekend, and has learned to associate that with the pellets? Explains why he doesn't 'recognize' Tuesdays since it's a weekday. A simple association like that would IMO be well within a...