...and now I do. Last fall we found five baby box turtles in the garden. While we knew this was a small number, we did not find any more and come early November, all the turtles went down under the hay and in the hide box for the long winter. The five tiny babies, all around 6 - 8 grams, came home wth me and were placed in a 29 long for the winter. They were fed a diet of berries, bananas, salad greens (not much of which was eaten) red wigglers, wax worms, meal worms and crickets (none of which ever escaped, lol) and only went under for about two weeks in January. I am not sure why they did it, but they did.
Then, as they will every year, everybody started to wake up and we pulled all the hay and started prepping the garden for spring. We found four babies that had managed to stay hidden all winter in the garden. Unfortunately, two of them did not make it, but, two did. And here are the pictures of baby box turtles and how different they are when over wintered outside compared to inside.
The smallest and the biggest are from the same clutch. Their mother is an Ornate/Three Toed LTC (20 years) and their father is a Three Toed LTC (also 20 years) both turtles rescues from a flood back in 1993 or 1994. They weigh in at 5 grams and 32 grams. There are two more from this clutch but the tiny one was buried and the bigger one (who is way more colorful) was given to my PetSmart manager as a going away present.
The one in the middle with the zipper deformity, is a Three Toed and from the same time frame as the other two. Both his parents are LTC Three Toed from rescued pets no longer wanted, also from 1993-1994 time frame. I included him in the picture to show how much smaller the Three Toed babies can be. He is just under an ounce at 22 grams. His two siblings are 26 and 28 grams and just slightly bigger.
One day I will get a good camera that will allow me to take much better shots than these. I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures anyway.
Then, as they will every year, everybody started to wake up and we pulled all the hay and started prepping the garden for spring. We found four babies that had managed to stay hidden all winter in the garden. Unfortunately, two of them did not make it, but, two did. And here are the pictures of baby box turtles and how different they are when over wintered outside compared to inside.
The smallest and the biggest are from the same clutch. Their mother is an Ornate/Three Toed LTC (20 years) and their father is a Three Toed LTC (also 20 years) both turtles rescues from a flood back in 1993 or 1994. They weigh in at 5 grams and 32 grams. There are two more from this clutch but the tiny one was buried and the bigger one (who is way more colorful) was given to my PetSmart manager as a going away present.
The one in the middle with the zipper deformity, is a Three Toed and from the same time frame as the other two. Both his parents are LTC Three Toed from rescued pets no longer wanted, also from 1993-1994 time frame. I included him in the picture to show how much smaller the Three Toed babies can be. He is just under an ounce at 22 grams. His two siblings are 26 and 28 grams and just slightly bigger.
One day I will get a good camera that will allow me to take much better shots than these. I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures anyway.
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