Eastern Box Turtle Care

[SeeBloom]

Hello. My name is Corey, and I recently purchased an Eastern Box turtle. I had a box turtle growing up, and am looking forward to sharing the experience with my two young boys.
I felt well prepared, but the turtle I purchased was much younger than I was expecting, so there is an extra level of paranoia that is setting in. I'd say the turtle is about 1.5-2inch in length. It's eating mealworms daily, no fruits/veggies though, and doesn't seem interested in the water. It burrows, so I've been having to dig it out to feed and such. My first question is, should I be doing this? I don't want to stress it out by pulling it out every day, but it seems to be the only way it will eat. Additionally, should I be doing the same for a daily soaking?

Many thanks in advanced!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

@DoubleD1996! or @Yvonne G might be able to help you

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, I think @jeff kushner also has a eastern box turtle.

 

[SeeBloom]

Awesome, thank you all! Wish I joined sooner!

 

[Ink]

Can you post pictures of the enclosure, lighting, and turtle? What are your temperatures too? Welcome to the forum.

 

[DoubleD1996!]

Hi. One of the greatest species on the planet.

I like to raise mine up for the first year of life in shallow water. It's not necessary, and you have to change the water every other day, but it keeps them from drying out.

I always say, you want a grape and not a raisin. The shell scoots should never look indented.

A nice humid environment works just the same; bog like. You could even just have a shallow area in half the cage.

Box turtles naturally hide as hatchlings because at this stage in life there shells are pliable and they are super fragile. They tuck away under leaf littler, logs, and other dead devree where it is super humid.

Box turtles are omnivores and eat a wide variety. Theyve even been documented feeding off deerr carcass on the side of the road. Don't worry about fruits and veggies right now. As of now, they are the little brats that won't eat veggies and only want things like the mealworms your feeding, earthworms, isopods, snails etc.

I don't see any harm in making sure the baby is eating. It just has to adopt to its environment. And if it's eating, it can't be too stressed, right?

Here's one of the three hatchlings I'm raising this year. I literally have them in an empty spring mix container with fake plants, a hide, lid in shallow water inside the greenhouse till late fall.

 

[Ink]

I also fed mine small crickets (from the pet store) in a high sides tub. My desert box turtle loves to hunt. This includes what @DoubleD1996! Feeds their box turtles.

 

[SeeBloom]

Hi. One of the greatest species on the planet.

I like to raise mine up for the first year of life in shallow water. It's not necessary, and you have to change the water every other day, but it keeps them from drying out.

I always say, you want a grape and not a raisin. The shell scoots should never look indented.

A nice humid environment works just the same; bog like. You could even just have a shallow area in half the cage.

Box turtles naturally hide as hatchlings because at this stage in life there shells are pliable and they are super fragile. They tuck away under leaf littler, logs, and other dead devree where it is super humid.

Box turtles are omnivores and eat a wide variety. Theyve even been documented feeding off deerr carcass on the side of the road. Don't worry about fruits and veggies right now. As of now, they are the little brats that won't eat veggies and only want things like the mealworms your feeding, earthworms, isopods, snails etc.

I don't see any harm in making sure the baby is eating. It just has to adopt to its environment. And if it's eating, it can't be too stressed, right?
View attachment 378916
Here's one of the three hatchlings I'm raising this year. I literally have them in an empty spring mix container with fake plants, a hide, lid in shallow water inside the greenhouse till late fall.

Awesome, thank you for some reassurances re: stress. I definitely need to get my humidity up. I'm around 80-85 in the tank, but humidity is around 40%. I've tried to bring it to the water, but it shows no interest. Will do the daily soaks for now.