concave scutes?

Loohan

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with older box turtles you can have a lower air humidity as long as they have a humid hide and can retreat to a higher humidity spot, or dig into the substrate for better humidity.

as always I could be wrong but this is how I understand it.

Yeah, of course the smaller they are, the more critical the humidity.
 

Loohan

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Maybe. I live in their native area. But it's also very rural, with raccons, stray dogs, and much more rarely, bears or even cougars.
I have often heard, but never seen, coyotes as well.
I do need to make some better outdoor facilities for them, rather than just soaking them in tanks, but i would be very nervous about leaving them out at night unless it was ultra-fortified.

I forgot to mention RATS. And possums.
 

Loohan

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A butt-shot to see the rear edge.
It was tough getting this pic as he was hilariously wiggly when i took him out of the water.Rorg.butt4.18.jpg
 

Loohan

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I just saw where Tom pointed out that electric heat sources like CHEs are very desiccating. This could be a factor, and explain why this phenomenon got worse in winter.
I have wood heat and usually in cold weather by the time i get up it's 63-64 F. So i crank up a fire then. But meanwhile CHEs have been running a lot to keep the boxies warm. Plus i was often letting the substrate get pretty dry, thinking the frequent soaks were good enough. So, combination of CHEs and dry substrate...
Anyway now the mornings are warmer and i am keeping the substrate moist. Plus they are soaking even more.
 

Loohan

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15 months later:
Rorg6.19.jpg
Looks a bit more normal. Increased humidity, more frequent spraying of water on his shell may have helped. Also every couple months or so i put some jojoba oil on him -- looks like he's due for another lube job.

But check out the bizarre plastron:
Rorg6.19plastron.jpg
Seems like it extends further forward (in relation to carapace) than normal, plus has these unusual curves.
 

Yvonne G

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I've taken in a lot of 'rescued' box turtles like that. After talking to the owners I've attributed it to lack of UVB, poor diet, no calcium, not a moist enough environment and light/heat too close.

I think that about covers it, huh?
 

Loohan

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I've taken in a lot of 'rescued' box turtles like that. After talking to the owners I've attributed it to lack of UVB, poor diet, no calcium, not a moist enough environment and light/heat too close.

I think that about covers it, huh?

Well, he gets loads of sunshine and soaking outdoors during the warm of the year, and a good bit on warmer winter days. Otherwise he gets a warm soak every 2-3 days in the winter.
He has a 50W CHE at a 45 degree angle that he often hangs out just 10" from in the winter. Maybe that's a bit too close. This time of year i don't even turn the CHEs on though, plus for 2 months in the heart of last winter he was in an overheated bathroom in my mom's house, that stays warm with no CHE. So he didn't even get that much CHE exposure last winter yet his plastron is curling dramatically only fairly recently (as his carapace meanwhile is getting more normal).
He eats cuttle bone, eggshell, and homemade calcium chunks of his own volition from time to time.

Diet: i wish i could get more night crawlers. A couple years ago they were plentiful and i fed them to him regularly, but they got mysteriously scarce after that. Likewise the pill bugs. However i have built up some serious mulch so am getting a few smallish earthworms occasionally.
I feed him small bits of fruit occasionally. In the winter at my mom's house the turtles would each get a small chunk of banana or mango most days. He's actually not that wild about banana but eats some. Small pieces of cooked lean ground turkey or salmon for protein. More recently i have been feeding them some egg occasionally.
In the warm of the year he eats some greens and flowers at times.
Later in the summer i tend to have a lot of BSFL.
 

ColleenT

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Well, he gets loads of sunshine and soaking outdoors during the warm of the year, and a good bit on warmer winter days. Otherwise he gets a warm soak every 2-3 days in the winter.
He has a 50W CHE at a 45 degree angle that he often hangs out just 10" from in the winter. Maybe that's a bit too close. This time of year i don't even turn the CHEs on though, plus for 2 months in the heart of last winter he was in an overheated bathroom in my mom's house, that stays warm with no CHE. So he didn't even get that much CHE exposure last winter yet his plastron is curling dramatically only fairly recently (as his carapace meanwhile is getting more normal).
He eats cuttle bone, eggshell, and homemade calcium chunks of his own volition from time to time.

Diet: i wish i could get more night crawlers. A couple years ago they were plentiful and i fed them to him regularly, but they got mysteriously scarce after that. Likewise the pill bugs. However i have built up some serious mulch so am getting a few smallish earthworms occasionally.
I feed him small bits of fruit occasionally. In the winter at my mom's house the turtles would each get a small chunk of banana or mango most days. He's actually not that wild about banana but eats some. Small pieces of cooked lean ground turkey or salmon for protein. More recently i have been feeding them some egg occasionally.
In the warm of the year he eats some greens and flowers at times.
Later in the summer i tend to have a lot of BSFL.

I can Get nightcrawlers at my local Ace hardware or at walmart. i always open the lid before i buy them to make sure they are alive.
 

Loohan

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I took some more pix today:

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Loohan

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Real weird. I tried to upload 5 pix the first time as full pix. But i just see 1 full pic and 4 thumbs, one of which is the same as the full pic.
But regardless of which thumb i click on, i still only get a copy of the first full size pic.
So i will have to re-post separately.6.jpg
 
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