Box Turtle Diet

[Neal]

I have quite a bit of experience with box turtles, and will finally be getting back in the game shortly. I'm be a bit rusty, so I'd like some help to refresh my memory as well as looking for new ideas.

The type of food they can eat is easy enough to find, I am looking for personal experiences and husbandry practices here.

Lay it on me, what is YOUR box turtles diet and diet routine (frequency, amounts, etc...)?

 

[Yvonne G]

My box turtles all live outside. Every other day I cut up some veggies and fruit into walnut-sized pieces. I put this in a big bowl. Then I add some softened Mazuri Tortoise Diet (or Trout Chow). I also add in a large can of cat food. I mix this all together and place it at the different feeding stations in the different pens. Occasionally I give each turtle a couple night crawlers. And sometimes I give them sardines from the bait shop. But mostly they get fruit and veggies.

I turn the sprinkler on in their pens every other day and run it for about an hour.

 

[terryo]

I make a mix once a week. Lots of greens, plantain, grape leaves, escarole, etc., mushrooms, veggies, cooked sweet potato, carrots, etc., and some fruit melon, berries, etc. I chop it up real small, (not mush...tiny pieces) then I add some soaked turtle brittle, or mazuri. I change things each week. They get this in the AM, and at night they get some worms. Two weeks before I stop feeding for hibernation, I give them canned Venison (a high quality dog food with sweet potato). In the Spring when they come up, I start them off with the Venison and gradually add some of the mix and eventually stop the Venison. Every couple of weeks during the Summer I'll add some Venison to the mix. All mine live outside except the hatchlings and young ones. Usually when they are about two or three they go out for good with the big kids.
They have a small pond that gradually slops and is deeper in the middle. Also on the other side is a large plant saucer for the smaller ones to soak or drink. All the way on one side is a hibernation cave that goes back about three feet. They go in there at night or when there is bad weather too.

 

[Saloli]

My list of foods should help. Though I have to update it I have a few new things. I feed my adults usually every other day but there is always prey in the pen. Franklin eats every day or every other day depending on what he eats.

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The amount of and food specifics vary by season. Though I use individual bowls for my colony. I used to use a communal plate for them but I have a food bully named Shelly. I am considering going back to using a communal plate for their fruit and veggies. I do sometimes scatter fungi (mushrooms and turkey tails) around the pen so they can look for them. I don't like giving them their food all the time. I like to have them use their hunting skills sometimes which helps to reduce boredom and thus the pacing that is very common with box turtles.

 

[turtlemann2]

i feed every third day or so, though this is mostly because my boxies dont get outside often enough due to weather and i have to carfully moniter weights, on each third day they are fed till their full

 

[yagyujubei]

I usually feed different things everyday. Canadian nightcrawlers, redworms, meal worms. Occasionally canned cat or dog food, mazuri, little balls of lean ground beef, blue berries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, tomatoes, softened reptomin. I just ordered some turtle brittle from nasco.Different ones eat different things.I have one female, who in three years, I haven't seen eat anything, but she maintains her weight, and she is eating something.

 

[terryo]

I think boredom in an important factor too. You really need a large enough garden (pen), with lots of plants, places to hide, caves, logs, etc. I notice that some always walk all the way to the other side to get to the pond, while others will just sit in the saucer on the opposite side. They are always searching for food. When I first made the garden I threw in over a thousand worms, crickets and pill bugs. There's also a compost pile of dried leaves that house plenty of bugs for them. Another thing I found is that if you have really good loose soil, plants will thrive and so will the bugs in the garden. When I first made the garden I mixed lots of peat moss, and compost in the soil to keep it loose.

I'm sure you know all this, but I'm just throwing in things I did.

 

[Tccarolina]

Food:

I feed daily, when I can. I find that keeping groups together makes a new one begin feeding on prepared food more easily. Females seem to adapt and acclimate better than males to feeding in captivity.

I feed a mix of Turtle Brittle (from Nasco), and Trout Chow (I buy in bulk from a local feed store).
I moisten with water and offer it every morning. When I think about it, I remove the food that night.

Each pen has about 2-5 square feet of everbearing strawberries, which they forage for themselves.

Maintaining some portion of the pen in leaf litter allows them to forage for worms, pillbugs, slugs, and what ever else they find.

I also offer snails, when I find them, to the individuals I feel need them. If I find a lot, I throw them all over the pens.

I usually get a 100 superworms and 2 cans of nightcrawlers every week or two. I feed these to any turtles that are new or don't seem to feed well. I try to feed them live food where they are, as they don't seem to like being moved, and that makes them less likely to eat it.

I like the concept of preparing salads of good things. Last year I made a huge batch and froze it in quart containers, like I had in previous years. But I added mushrooms, and the turtles didn't like it. I meant to make some this year, but haven't. Now I'm moving and so I probably won't get to it this year.


Some tips for new turtles:

If they are feeding well, keep them feeding well. You don't want them to shut down.

If they aren't feeding well, leave them alone, but try to feed them what they will take where they are. If the new one doesn't respond to superworms, but will take earthworms, feed him/her as many as he'll take as often as he'll take it, even if he'll only take a worm every several days, and sits listlessly the rest of the time.

Captivity is a MAJOR stress for a secretive, long-lived turtle. Handling is a major added stress, and will increase the likelihood of an ear infection or RI. If the turtle makes it through the first summer, they usually do OK. Your pen probably already has plenty of microbes capable of overcoming your turtles immune system, and stress is the factor that will allow that to happen, so stress is what you want to focus on, as well as getting him to eat. If he doesn't eat, vitamin A deficiency can occur after some months have passed.

-Make sure he can get sunlight to warm up and cook his immune system if he needs it, but make sure he doesn't spend all day in the sun. This would be an exception to the don't handle rule. Don't let him spend the night in a dry open area, this is asking for ear infections. Put him in humid plant cover or in the hide.

-Make sure you have a gram scale, and weigh every week or two. This would be the other exception to the don't handle rule. If the turtle has lost lots of weight since the last weighing, soak him, or put him in the water dish/pond. A stressed turtle often will not go looking for water, even if it is only 6 inches away.

-Ensure water is clean as best you can.

-Make sure you have a hide that is shaded. I ended up removing all my hides that are in full sun. Turtles spent the day there, and it was too hot and dry, which is also asking for an ear infection. So I removed them.

-Make sure you have hides. Don't make rock hides, they will scratch their shells all up. Use wood or natural logs. Hides do wonders for stress reduction, as long as they are in good spots. My hides are about 10 inches from the food bowl, and the hides have a leaf litter substrate. Box turtles feel safe when they are in leaf litter. They will find and use the food bowl sooner and more frequently if it is near their safe retreats.


Here's what I do when I get a new box turtle:

-open box, inspect turtle.

-weigh turtle. This is usually the lowest weight that turtle will ever have. They lose a lot of water in shipping.

-measure turtle. I use a 6 inch caliper, and measure shell length, shell width at middle, shell width at back flare, and shell height to the nearest 16th inch. In my excel spreadsheet I convert these to mm. If the turtle continues to grow, I will re-record these.

-hose off turtle, dry with paper towel, clean shell with baby wipes, dry with paper towel, then carefully "wax" shell with Nolvasan antibiotic ointment. Then I use paper towels to remove any of the white nolvasan from cracks. This is to treat for any shell rot, shell scratches, etc.

-see if turtle will eat an earthworm, if so, feed as many as it will eat. If not, try superworms. If not I move to the next step.

-soak turtle in quarantine pen, then leave him alone.

-if the turtle is gregarious and feeds well, is not shy, etc, I don't worry. If the turtle seems stressed, I do the above tips (some tips for new turtles).

-Males especially don't adapt well to captivity. Whether shy or gregarious, they usually spend the first season listlessly in a corner, or hiding a lot. Keep close tabs on them. If they begin to get sick, give them a day to make sure they didn't just eat a slug or some thing that might make them look sick, then address the illness immediately. They don't ever get better on their own, at least not in my experience.

I do much of my own health care, but it is not easy or cheap to set up. The best plan is to take the turtle to a good vet if it is sick.

This is kind of rambling, and I know you know much of this, but if any of it helps it'll be worth it.
Steve

 

[Neal]

Thank's everyone, I do appreciate all the additional information about general care as well. I've been in tortoise mode for so long your posts have reminded me of some thing I've forgotten.

Does anyone try other type's of commercial diets? Back in the day I used T-Rex box turtle food a lot, and always had good results.

In case you can't tell I am extremely giddy about this. Box turtles were, and always have been, my favorite type of shelled critters (the leopards are a close second though. ). Of course, in my environment it doesn't seem very practical...But I have made it work in the past and I am confident this venture will be successful.

 

[terryo]

I use Zoo Med box turtle food. Comes in a can and is jelled. I start off some babies with this after the hatchling stage. Also throw it in the mix sometimes. Has a great smell. I know Kristina has a recipe for something like this too, but forgot if it's for box turtles. I also use turtle brittle and Mazuri. It's going to be a challenge for you with that Arizona weather, but I know you will do great Neal, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

[Neal]

It's all about sprinklers, mud holes, ponds, and as much shade as possible.