Gnarly looking 3-toe, advice needed!

[terryo]

I have "Baby" ( my grandson named her) in a 40 gal breeder tank that is planted. Here's her picture. She was 2 in Sept. That's what I was told. I have a 5.0 UVB in a 20 gal fixture in the middle of the screen top, with a 60 wt. heat emitter in the dome fixture. The rest of the top is covered with clear wrapping tape.Your's is older and bigger, so you will need a bigger vivarium, when she's inside. I like the glass tank because it holds in humidity well. Just how I do it.
You can't see how small she is in the picture, but she's the same size as a hatchling I have that was born in Sept. '11.

As for Scooter, she's fine now as you can see in the bottom picture. They even had shirts made up with his picture.

 

[Herphiles]

I have "Baby" ( my grandson named her) in a 40 gal breeder tank that is planted. Here's her picture. She was 2 in Sept. That's what I was told. I have a 5.0 UVB in a 20 gal fixture in the middle of the screen top, with a 60 wt. heat emitter in the dome fixture. The rest of the top is covered with clear wrapping tape.Your's is older and bigger, so you will need a bigger vivarium, when she's inside. I like the glass tank because it holds in humidity well. Just how I do it.
You can't see how small she is in the picture, but she's the same size as a hatchling I have that was born in Sept. '11.

As for Scooter, she's fine now as you can see in the bottom picture. They even had shirts made up with his picture.

Omg she is adorable! Love that setup too! Jess loves making planted terraria for our crested geckos and she's already planning out how she wants to set up the enclosure for the little ttbt. To start off though my plan is to set something up that will be easy to clean and maintain (til we're sure she's out of the woods) so I'm thinking of converting a 41qt sterilite tub into her starter home with some tree fern bedding, a couple of good hides, and a UVB/heat lamp on one end with a UTH under one of the hides. Any potential issues with that type of setup or anything I should add?

 

[terryo]

I'm not a fan of the UVB/heat combination, because I like low light and warm humidity, but that's up to you. Heat should come from above IMHO, so I'm not a fan of the UTH either. But you have to do what you think is best for your set up. What is tree fern? Do you mean pine hay. I use the pine hay in the hibernation cave outside and put some around the vivarium too.....if that's waht you mean.

 

[Saloli]

Good luck. My little friend Shelly (who many of you have seen pictures of ) was kept in doors for about ten years if I remember correctly no uv/heat or even a terrarium and dry dog food. Though since being with me she has spent most of her time outdoors with as many bugs and things to eat as she chooses. So good luck.

 

[Herphiles]

I'm not a fan of the UVB/heat combination, because I like low light and warm humidity, but that's up to you. Heat should come from above IMHO, so I'm not a fan of the UTH either. But you have to do what you think is best for your set up. What is tree fern? Do you mean pine hay. I use the pine hay in the hibernation cave outside and put some around the vivarium too.....if that's waht you mean.

Haha yeah that's the snake breeder side of me showing through I guess, I'm so used to belly heat for everything! The tree fern mulch is a newish product from exoterra I believe, it's actually great for hi humidity enclosures it doesn't mold and holds moisture great!

I got all my supplies to set up her extended QT/hospital enclosure last night. Just need hides and bedding and it will be all set for her to come home and start getting healthy next week! I'll be sure to keep you guys updated with pics as she hopefully grows and gets better

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I had Tweezer, an Ornate who was deformed worse than that, and would only eat from tweezers. I had him for years, then I got sick and my son was feeding everybody. Everybody that is except Tweezer because he didn't know how and couldn't figure it out, and wasn't smart enough to ask me how. So I lost Tweezer, but I'm thinking you can give that guy a good life...all you have to do is try a little...

 

[Kristina]

Poor little guy

Just want to offer a little insight as to why he has no tail. It is an expression of the severe MBD that the little guy is suffering. It is quite common for box turtles with these kinds of growth deformities to have no tails, because their bodies absorb in an effort to get a little extra calcium.

Good luck with the little fellow!

 

[Herphiles]

Thanks for all the insight guys! So, the store owner said that he wasn't able to cover vet visits for her so we figured it would be best for her to get her home ASAP so she's actually gonna be coming home with Jess tonight! Got her extended stay quarantine tub all set up. It's pretty spartan right now, I want to make sure that it's easy to keep clean and sanitary for her. I cut a portion of the lid out so that she can get plenty of UVB and keep half of the tub pretty humid. We're using a UVB 5.0 bulb and heat is from a red lamp that's keeping a basking area around 90 degrees. I set up a humid hide for her with some beaked moss and the bedding is a mix of tree fern mulch and exoterra jungle mix that we've found works awesome for species that need high humidity

We will eventually have her set up in a nice planted enclosure and she's gonna get as much time outside this summer as we can give her! Any comments or suggestions for the enclosure? Oh and I am grabbing a piece of slate today as a feeding spot.

 

[wellington]

I don't know much about them, but looks good. You are some very nice caring people for taking the poor thing in. I wish you and her all the best of luck. It is nice she is finally going to be loved and happy

 

[Herphiles]

I don't know much about them, but looks good. You are some very nice caring people for taking the poor thing in. I wish you and her all the best of luck. It is nice she is finally going to be loved and happy

Thanks! We're really looking forward to adding her to our little family

 

[Hunahpu]

I can't believe someone would care for a turtle so poorly as to cause that severe of a deformity. I just don't get it. I saw a similar deformity quite a while ago in a boxie that was exclusively fed dog food. But, kudos to you for taking her in! I respect that you're keeping the enclosure simple right now, but it may be worthwhile to get a plant in there that can provide some cover. Perhaps a hosta or pony tail palm, just something so that she can hide under the leaves.

 

[Herphiles]

I can't believe someone would care for a turtle so poorly as to cause that severe of a deformity. I just don't get it. I saw a similar deformity quite a while ago in a boxie that was exclusively fed dog food. But, kudos to you for taking her in! I respect that you're keeping the enclosure simple right now, but it may be worthwhile to get a plant in there that can provide some cover. Perhaps a hosta or pony tail palm, just something so that she can hide under the leaves.

Yeah we are planning to set up some type of plants in there with her, how big do hostas get? It's not a huge enclosure and the walls are relatively low (about 6") so we wouldn't be able to fit a huge plant in there/there would not be room for it to really take root. I'm sure the girlfriend can come up with something though, she's pretty good about those type of things!

 

[turtlemann2]

looks great im sure it is 10 times better then what she had before

Maggie- that is terrible! im so sorry to hear about that ... poor tweeze

 

[Hunahpu]

Hostas can get fairly large, but they grow up and then out, with about 6" or so from the bottom of the leaves to the ground, so it doesn't take up a lot of walking space but provides a canopy of cover. I have one in one of my tables and its in a glass container that is partially buried in the substrate. Of all the plants I've tried over the years, it seems to have gone over the best.

 

[fbsmith3]

I have had luck with coleus and spider plants. My girls dig up everything else, but for some reason they seem to survive well.

I had them growing in their outdoor pen last summer and pulled them up for their indoor enclosure.

Honestly, I love the look of coleus, it's just so pretty. They never eat the plants they just dig under and uproot them.

 

[lynnedit]

Your enclosure looks very nice, and it is far better than anything this guy has seen. You could even throw a pile of leaves in one corner. As far as house plants, Spider plant (more grassy) or Pothos (more viney) would work, in addition to the coleus and hosta. Hostas are all different sizes, but could be move outside when it gets large.

 

[fbsmith3]

Thank you, I only show 1/4 of the enclosure. They also have a pool surounded by moss and leaves. The moss and leaves keep the dirt out of the pool. Every day I water the plants with the old pool water and refill the pool with water that sat for more than 2 days. Houseplants have been verry full all winter. I never considered box turtle fertilizer would be better than miracle grow.

 

[Herphiles]

Thank you so much for all the tips guys! We will definitely have a really nice planted enclosure set up for her soon!

She came home last night and has been exploring her new home! She's very active and very alert! As soon as I turned on her UVB lamp this morning she came out of her hide and just started soaking it up!

I think with some good nutrition and lots of uv she will be just fine oh one question I see on a lot of the diets that snails are good for them, are aquatic snails ok? Jess always has em at the pet store.

 

[Kristina]

Yes, aquatic snails are fine. I feed mine Ramshorns all the time.

Glad to see her in her new home

 

[turtlemann2]

she looks so much happier!