Baby boxie diet

[Janine2468]

Hello all! I have a new addition to my family. A baby box turtle. I am not quite sure how old he is but he is probably around a year. I got him from a local pet store. At the store, they said they were feeding him the generic box turtle food (in his dish) as well as hand feeding him crickets. Since I brought him home he has not been so interested in crickets but loves hunting his own live meal worms on the floor. He doesnt have interest everyday but will be interested every other day. In the meantime, he always has a dish with box turtle food and I add in extra dry mealworms. I also add a little vitamins in his food. I have read a lot on box turtle diets and most say you should feed them fruits and veggies as well. However, I have tried different things and he does not seem interested (only mealworms). Although i also read that box turtles eat mostly protein for the first years of their life, they should still get in some veggies/fruits/varied diet. Any suggestions on how to be successful with other foods? Thank you

 

[Tom]

@Yvonne G has a lot of experience raising baby box turtles.

 

[Len B]

They love earth worms.

 

[lisa127]

Can we see a photo of him? How big is he? What makes you think he is about a year?

It is not a good idea to allow mealworms loose in his cage. Feed them in a dish they cannot crawl out of. Mealworms should be fed occasionally as part of a rotation, not regularly. They need to be gutloaded and dusted with supplement.

Earthworms (nightcrawlers) are best for him. Black soldier fly larvae is good as well.

 

[mark1]

softened/moistened appropriate sized hikari cichlid gold ....... for some reason most any type turtle i've had prefers it over any other type pellet food i've tried , possibly just the color ? .......

 

[Janine2468]

Lisa,
Thanks for the reply. What are gutloaded mealworms? I just feed him the live ones you buy in the pet store as well as his regular box turtle food. We have a specialty pet store here too. I have not been there yet but I will be going this weekend.
Thank you
Janine

Can we see a photo of him? How big is he? What makes you think he is about a year?

It is not a good idea to allow mealworms loose in his cage. Feed them in a dish they cannot crawl out of. Mealworms should be fed occasionally as part of a rotation, not regularly. They need to be gutloaded and dusted with supplement.

Earthworms (nightcrawlers) are best for him. Black soldier fly larvae is good as well.

 

[lisa127]

Lisa,
Thanks for the reply. What are gutloaded mealworms? I just feed him the live ones you buy in the pet store as well as his regular box turtle food. We have a specialty pet store here too. I have not been there yet but I will be going this weekend.
Thank you
Janine

Gutloaded just means you feed the mealworms well before feeding your turtles. Oatmeal, oat bran, carrots, leafy greens, etc. Feed mealworms at least 24 hours before feeding to turtles.

 

[Janine2468]

Gutloaded just means you feed the mealworms well before feeding your turtles. Oatmeal, oat bran, carrots, leafy greens, etc. Feed mealworms at least 24 hours before feeding to turtles.

Oh. Ok. Well I am going to go to the specialty pet store here and see if I can find some of these suggestions. Also posting a picture of him.

 

[Janine2468]

Here is how he looks and a pic of him by my foot for a rough idea of size. His shell is about 2 inches. Maybe he is older than a year