Box Turtle petstore rescue
- Thread starter izzy2208
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My favorite substrate for boxies is coco fiber mixed almost equally with new Zealand long fibred sphagnum moss. Though the moss can be expensive. I keep this mixture just slightly damp and about 4 inches deep.
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what about if you mix it with topsoil? mine live outside so they have the soil and dirt. . and they love it because they bury them self in it
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Soil works great, I mix mine with moss, but just plain soil works too.
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I use spag peat moss for mine. Is great for keeping up humidity.
I use regular soil...dug up from outside in the yard, and I mix it with coco coir to loosen it up, for the inside younger ones. I get some leaf litter and crumble it up and sprinkle it on top. All this should cost you next to nothing (except for the coco coir, which is really cheap) I don't use any hide for the inside babies, only use lots of plants for them to dig under. A nice size plant saucer for drinking and soaking, a flat piece of slate for feeding...helps keep their beak's short. I only use a 5.0 long tube UVB, and no heat when they are inside as it's warm enough. If you need heat, you can use a 60 wt. heat emitter that gives off no light, only heat, but shut it off at night. I only use large glass tanks for inside, as I find they hold in humidity the best. Adult box turtles should only be outside, not inside. My inside vivarums are only for young ones that can't go outside yet. Just how I do things.....not written in stone.
terry, I've been wanting to add leaf litter. Can you tell me what leaves you use, from what kind of trees? And also, do you do anything to get rid of bugs, etc? Like dry the leaf litter out in the sun or anything?
I just go in the woods and chop off a few branches from any kind of tree....don't know what kind they are....and lay them in the sun and when they dry out I pull them off and crumble them up and spread them out. You don't even have to spend the money for the coco coir. Just mix the leaves up with the soil from your garden and it will be nice and loose for them to dig into. I make big bags of dried leaves in the Fall and leave them in my garage for when I need them. If you just try to mimic the forest floor, low light, plenty of plants and leaf litter, high humidity, some flat slate or stones....your turtles will be fine. This is why I always use glass vivariums for my hatchlings and younger turtles that are inside. You can mimic any environment ...dry or humid. Put some moss or flat stones around the water dish so they don't drag in any soil. I throw in a bunch of pill bugs in the leaf litter and they multiply. I also throw in some night crawlers (earth worms) NOT red wigglers, as they will eat anything that's green.
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