Hatchling: Eastern or 3-Toed?

[Natescribner6]

Hello! First let me say that this forum has been nothing short of a godsend. I know it may be frowned upon, but I work in the pool industry in NJ & during late October of 2022 (or so) I found this little beauty in one of the skimmers in the baby pool. The skimmer basket was cracked & frankly it’s a wonder that she didn’t get sucked through the pump (going to try an add some pictures here from that day).


Anyways, I decided to keep her & initially was planning on having her til next spring, since it was quite cold out, then releasing her at or around that pool. Fast forward a few years, & of course I wouldn’t be posting here if I didn’t still have her. I will say it has been a huge learning experience for me, and that it was not an easy process. It took her quite some time to get used to her new environment, and I think moreso than that, getting used to me as her new caretaker.



Alas I will not go into too much detail about everything, but there were a few questions that I had, just wanted to see if anyone here would be able to provide any insight. Again thank you all, you guys on this forum have some exceptional information!!



Questions:

1. I have been back and forth about whether she is an eastern box, or a three toed. She has 3 toes, or so it seems, but I feel like at this stage all the images I can find of either species look pretty similar.
2. More recently, I have been feeding her the worms in her water bowl. She loves to season her worms with dirt for some reason whenever I put it on a stone plate so I have been instead feeding her in the water. Is this OK / is getting the worms “dirty” OK?
3. I try to feed her a diet consisting primarily of live food (protein), but also mix in fruits and veggies (more veggies than fruits); but I was wondering about any vitamins. I do have a cuttlebone that she gnaws on every other day, and occasionally dust the worms with calcium. Are there any other vitamins that I should be sprinkling in here or there?

I hope this is the right place to put this & again thank you guys so much!

 

[DoubleD1996!]

A picture of the plastron might help with ID, but sounds like three toe.

The dirt is perfectly fine. Box Turtles ingest a lot of it naturally and it doesn't seem to harm them.

Sounds like a great diet. Variety is key you could add some D3 calcium to meals every once in a while. Other than that she looks great.

 

[mark1]

double d is a good source of solid info, imo..... i already wrote this so i'm pushing reply

my guess would be an an eastern, TCC, if it is three toed TCT, it'd be someone's escaped pet.....

they mostly eat bugs, and worms...... they eat fruit more than vegetables, strawberries, blueberries, sweet potato, frozen bil jac dog food, beef liver, chicken liver, is some of what i'd feed .....you should try and get him to eat some sort of commercial fish pellet food, i've used floating pellet food for gamefish, koi, and cichlids, mostly hikari cichlid gold, softened by soaking, the floating pellets seem to soften better..... vitamins? i would try not to, a good diet and the sun is better...... i do use vionate occasionally on some turtles that need kept in the house 7-8 months a year, i put it on cut up unripe bananas, shake it in a plastic bag, they eat it.......vionate is not a very "potent" vitamin supplement.....

you live in a good climate for either TCC or TCT, if you can make him a suitable pen and keep him outdoors, it'd be better for him, and easier for you

 

[Ink]

Does it have 3 toes on the hind legs