Box Turtle and water

[Maggie Cummings]

They have so much fun they make me lol. I'm finding out that some people don't believe box turtles need water. They're treated more like tortoises. Well, that's wrong. Box turtles are semi-aquatic....here's some pictures of my pond, I dug it myself, so it's not too pretty. But it works.......

This is my yearling.......followed by my Eastern Box turtles need water!!!!!

 

[lisa127]

How sweet! They look so happy!

 

[wellington]

Yes they do need water. Most people that think they don't, I bet doesn't belong to this forum. We know better here.
Great pics. They look like they are having a great time.

 

[mike taylor]

Looking good Maggie. I never wanted box turtles but now that I have three I love them .

 

[ColleenT]

i love it!

 

[blancka]

I thought mine had drowned the other day, i saw him just laying underwater completely withdrawn and i rushed out to see if it had drowned, and its not really that deep. But as soon as i got close i could se my boxie withdraw even further, just to change into a sprint out of the water. I guess he just liked being in deep water (Which really, isnt that deep)

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Box turtles are so much fun, they have such great personalities. Right now I have more box turtles than tortoises.....

 

[Alex Z]

View attachment 178452 They have so much fun they make me lol.View attachment 178453 I'm finding out that some people don't believe box turtles need water. They're treated more like tortoises. Well, that's wrong. Box turtles are semi-aquatic....here's some pictures of my pond, I dug it myself, so it's not too pretty. But it works.......

This is my yearling.......followed by my EasternView attachment 178452 Box turtles need water!!!!!

Incredible....

 

[Alex Z]

So it best to house them in a pond like setting as suppose to a tort table??

 

[Maro2Bear]

Nice pictures. Agree that too many ppl keep boxies away from water! They like to swim and dig and have fun in watery bogs and marshes here!

 

[Loohan]

I have never actually seen the local boxies (3-toed) floating in ponds here, but i notice with captive ones, they sure don't mind floating in my stock tanks for hours on end.
They are so buoyant they can't dive under at all if they tried.

When i was taking care of my injured friend Sally
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/injured-3-toed-boxie.146508/
there were a few times when i would get up in the morning to find her sitting in her water dish; a small plastic dish hardly larger than she is.
She would look so cute, nestled in there, looking up at me.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

So it best to house them in a pond like setting as suppose to a tort table??

They each have a tort table in the house as I live in semi country every body has to come in the house at night. I have foxes, 'coons, mountain lions, (only saw 1, but that was enough) rats, voles etc. So in the summer they live in the pond all day and come in at night. I live in the PNW so the winter is rain, snow and ice so everybody lives inside during the winter.
But if I could and lived in better weather and safer, I'd set them up outside in a pond like setting with hides and places to get out of the water and bask. I'll see if I have a pond pix, I'll post it for you if I do.... But I have to say, my box turtles have a blast in the pond. I lol.....

 

[Maggie Cummings]

@Loohan Sorry it took me so long to do this for ya. We have an ice storm going on so the Internet has been intermittent. So this is how my box turtles spend their day. But I have predators so they all have to come in at night. But they LOVE being outside.


I always say, there's 4 box turtles in the pond picture, can you find all of them?

Boxies love swimming, and I put that fence plank for them to bask on.....my babies do most of their swimming in my 250 gallon tank. I breed Dalmatian Mollies

 

[Loohan]

I see 3 for sure. Is the 4th toward the top, right of center?
Boxies are so cute.
I actually have a stash of unused concrete blocks i could do something with, but i worry that even in the daytime, a turtle might get abducted by a predator out here. And my turtles are still small.

I usually provide a rock or block in the tanks sticking up at around water level, so they can come in and out of the water. Also, some shade available.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I see 3 for sure. Is the 4th toward the top, right of center?
Boxies are so cute.
I actually have a stash of unused concrete blocks i could do something with, but i worry that even in the daytime, a turtle might get abducted by a predator out here. And my turtles are still small.

I usually provide a rock or block in the tanks sticking up at around water level, so they can come in and out of the water. Also, some shade available.

Lower/sort up, right hand corner, looks like an orange leaf, a 6 mth old 3 toed is there on the leaf.
They get in and out without a problem. But we don't get a lot of sun here, so shade is not too important. But they have that tall grass and the house for shade. The pond is banked in a slope so they can walk real good. The water is mid thigh to me. And there's a flat area all around. My predators only come out at night.Again no one has named the boxie in the last pond photo....???
Hope this helps......
View attachment 194758 View attachment 194758

 

[Big Ol Tortoise]

I like filling up the tub and letting Mrs.Turtle swim.

 

[Loohan]

I think i see him now.

Around here we have hawks during the day. I enjoy them cruising low and slow over my property looking (presumably) for rodents. But i won't leave a turtle out long without a wire-fence guard overhead.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

We have hawks an eagles too. And ginormus crows....

 

[Loohan]

We have hawks an eagles too. And ginormus crows....

God yes, forgot about those. Big crows or ravens. I like them too, even though they will attack compost piles sometimes.
Hadn't even considered them as predators.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

God yes, forgot about those. Big crows or ravens. I like them too, even though they will attack compost piles sometimes.
Hadn't even considered them as predators.

In the Mojave desert those crows pick up Gopherus Agassizii, Californis Desert tortoises, and fly to the top of a pole and fling the tortoise to the ground where he's smashed to pieces and eaten by a buncha predators. How's that for a good morning post???LOL That's just one reason they are an endangered species, or threatened, I forget. But then the US Army decided they wanted the land that the tortoises called home so they moved thousands of desert tortoises to a different section hundreds of miles away. And of course the Army didn't bother to do any research on the subject, so thousands of them died trying to get "home"; desert torts are very terratorial, and their territory or home was now hundreds of miles away. Sorry They are my favorite tortoise and I will rant about the Army killing hundreds of them......but on a different thread. Anyway, I hope I have answered your questions and helped you. Are your turtles adults or babies?
Smile and have a great day.