I'm new here and need advice

Jimbo11

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Someone gave me this box turtle that they found crossing a busy interstate in a busy metropolitan area and don't remember exactly where it was. I wouldn't put a turtle or any creature back along a busy interstate any how.

I've had tortoises in the past and my ex-wife still has one that we found just north of Little Rock Ark on US 67 back in 1991. I'm surprised that this turtle has survived this long ( 91 - 2018 ) and is still thriving without the by the book... no shelter, no uv light and eats pretty much anything and roams her apartment freely. I suppose he has extrodinary adaptation skills.

I don't want another tortoise/box turtle, mostly because he won't eat! I don't wish to watch him die of starvation and I'm very frustrated with attempting to feed him everyday with no results. I've tried earthworms, raw meat, strawberries, banana, tomatoes, canned cat food and moistened cat kibble.

I was just about ready to take him to a wooded area near a stream and a few lakes. I surveyed the area using Google satellite imaging and see no threats. Very few farm houses and a couple of rural back roads nearby, but that's it.
Then I read in multiple Google sites that a box turtle ( or any type of turtle ) will spend it's entire life searching for that 2 - 3 acre homing range where it was born and more often than not, they don't make it.

Now would be the perfect time too, because he still has a few months to store away the calories and nutrients he needs for hibernation and has only been in captivity for 2 weeks or less.

I need advice here! Is it even possible that this box turtle will survive if I release him in that heavily wooded area??

I know it's possible that he may overcome the obvious environmental stress that he's going through and start eating, but it's not looking good.20180704_083100.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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That's a beautiful eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). Wild box turtles are notoriously hard to acclimate to captive life. All he wants to do is get back to his territory. Chances are pretty good that if you release him anywhere besides near where he was picked up, he's going to spend the rest of his life trying to get back there - crossing busy streets, etc. You don't have to put him on the busy street, but off to one side or the other.

I don't know the rules in Illinois, but most states say it's illegal to pick up native box turtles. My vote is to put him back where he came from, in a safe place.
 

Jimbo11

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That's a beautiful eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). Wild box turtles are notoriously hard to acclimate to captive life. All he wants to do is get back to his territory. Chances are pretty good that if you release him anywhere besides near where he was picked up, he's going to spend the rest of his life trying to get back there - crossing busy streets, etc. You don't have to put him on the busy street, but off to one side or the other.

I don't know the rules in Illinois, but most states say it's illegal to pick up native box turtles. My vote is to put him back where he came from, in a safe place.
Thank you, but I don't know where he came from exactly. Somewhere along 1-255 which runs North/South, spanning quite a few miles on the east side of the Mississippi across from St.Louis. Heavily urbanized area with lots of traffic and people. I just wondered if he might survive in a new area. I'm going to give him a few more days to start eating, but after that if won't eat, I have to do something with him.
This would be the first boxie that I've ever had that flat out refuses to eat?
When I first got him, I'd place him in a big tub of water and he did poop in it, like all the rest do, so he was eating something, but no poop since. He's on empty.
 

Jimbo11

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Thank you, but I don't know where he came from exactly. Somewhere along 1-255 which runs North/South, spanning quite a few miles on the east side of the Mississippi across from St.Louis. Heavily urbanized area with lots of traffic and people. I just wondered if he might survive in a new area. I'm going to give him a few more days to start eating, but after that if won't eat, I have to do something with him.
This would be the first boxie that I've ever had that flat out refuses to eat?
When I first got him, I'd place him in a big tub of water and he did poop in it, like all the rest do, so he was eating something, but no poop since. He's on empty.
This is his enclosure. I am trying to do the right thing with his indoor environment. There's shade, places to borrow, flat paving stones, water and food and when he sits on top of the shade part ( the little cave covered with wood and rock ) he can get some sun from the window right above, plus I take him outside in a separate container for some real sun. Just needs to eat is all....20180722_192505.jpeg20180722_192420.jpeg
 

wellington

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That's not a proper enclosure for him. If you want to try and get him too eat try setting up an enclosure outside for the rest of the summer. He needs a bigger space with a bigger water area and lots of plants for cover and humidity. Kinda swampy/woodsy coverage.
If you'd rather not keep him see if you can find a wildlife rescue near you. Like Yvonne said, just letting him go in any area, he will spend his life trying to get back where he belongs.
 

Jimbo11

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That's not a proper enclosure for him. If you want to try and get him too eat try setting up an enclosure outside for the rest of the summer. He needs a bigger space with a bigger water area and lots of plants for cover and humidity. Kinda swampy/woodsy coverage.
If you'd rather not keep him see if you can find a wildlife rescue near you. Like Yvonne said, just letting him go in any area, he will spend his life trying to get back where he belongs.
That's what I thought. I knew I'd catch some critism for that. I go through the trouble of buying an xtra large container, wasted a huge bag of hardwood moss, because someone said it contained toxins ( and it stinks ) so I removed it and went with dry leaves, which also stink, yet I know people that have box turtles that burrow in clothes piles, or wherever and come out to eat drink and sun etc. They've had them for many years. I live ( rent ) a mobile home and don't have the luxury of building a proper/elaborate indoor or outdoor enclosure in my small yard and home.

I've also Googled Reptile/Turtle/Rescue, got a few numbers that turned out to be local veterinarians that used to at one time treat reptiles, but have nothing to do with saving them and dont know anyone who does and a few Turtle/Reptile/Rescue sites that make it plain and clear that they are not taking in unwanted turtles. Also called Petsmart, PetCo and nobody knows squat, although they're listed as reptile rescue when I Google it.

I once found a rather large boxie in my Grandmother's yard in Poplar Bluff Mo, way back in the late 1960s when I was still in grade school. Brought it back to Illinois, but it got loose somehow after a year or so. Turned out it had been living in my Mom's garden for a few good years. Found it a few years later and just left it be. Hibernated there and ate slugs and whatnot, for who knows how many years, so I'm not 100% convinced that ALL box turtles wander aimlessly for years in search of their birthplace.
 

wellington

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The people that don't take proper care of an animal
like letting them live in a pile of clothes is not someone that you want to copy. That's animal abuse and neglect.
I wasn't trying to give you grief about the enclosure either. If your not keeping the turtle then it will do until you can find a home for it. If you were too keep him, he would need a proper enclosure for long term.
Most likely no one here is going to tell you it's okay to just let it go any place. There is years and years of tortoise and turtle experience on this forum. Yvonne being a long time turtle/tortoise owner and rescue, I'm guessing she knows more.
Not sure what else to tell you. There is a wild life rescue in Chicago if you want to make the drive in.
 

Jimbo11

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The people that don't take proper care of an animal
like letting them live in a pile of clothes is not someone that you want to copy. That's animal abuse and neglect.
I wasn't trying to give you grief about the enclosure either. If your not keeping the turtle then it will do until you can find a home for it. If you were too keep him, he would need a proper enclosure for long term.
Most likely no one here is going to tell you it's okay to just let it go any place. There is years and years of tortoise and turtle experience on this forum. Yvonne being a long time turtle/tortoise owner and rescue, I'm guessing she knows more.
Not sure what else to tell you. There is a wild life rescue in Chicago if you want to make the drive in.
I'll take him outside in a smaller container ( all I have ) for a few hours in the mornings, with a larger water pan ( the one I'm using now is about 2 inches deep and aprox 10-12 inches in width...about what most sites recommend ) but I'll give him a larger dish when he's outside. Something he can put his entire body in, if he wants and I do regularly mist spray him. That container in the pic is the largest they sell at Wal-Mart and I barely have room for that. It's longer and just as deep as my bathtub. I know, because I washed all that moss residue out of it yesterday. I can only do this outside ordeal a few times and cross my fingers and hope like hell that he'll start eating! If that miracously happens, then I will work on a better habitat for him to live in and give him plenty of outside time, weather permitting of course. I do want what's right for him as I would every living creature, but driving to Chicago is out of the question. I can barely drive to St.Louis with my disabilities and I'm not even going to try to explain all of that.
I thank you for your time and responses, Wellington.
 

D Nickerson

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It's best putting him back. There are a lot of box turtles in this area. Whenever I see one on the road I'll
stop and put him in the ditch in the direction it was heading.
 

daniellenc

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Just release him close to where he was found and be done with it. They require so much room and you’ve given it an honest try with the resources you have.
 

wellington

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It's best putting him back. There are a lot of box turtles in this area. Whenever I see one on the road I'll
stop and put him in the ditch in the direction it was heading.
He doesn't really know where that is. That's the problem of he would have brought him back.
 

wellington

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Just release him close to where he was found and be done with it. They require so much room and you’ve given it an honest try with the resources you have.
He doesn't really know where that is. That's the problem. You cany just dump them any place. They will look spend their life time trying to get back too their territory. If you read the thread, he didn't pick him from the wild someone else did.
 

Jimbo11

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Thank you. He is being taken into a heavily wooded area as we speak and believe me, he wants to go badly. He perked right up when I took him outside a little while ago. Now I'm in my jeep parked and ready to head down this hiking trail and off into the woods.
 

Jimbo11

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Thank you. He is being taken into a heavily wooded area as we speak and believe me, he wants to go badly. He perked right up when I took him outside a little while ago. Now I'm in my jeep parked and ready to head down this hiking trail and off into the woods.
I wish him the best and God speed.IMG_153236708349F.jpeg
 

orv

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I wish him the best and God speed.View attachment 245942
JIMBO: Thank you so much for doing the right thing. Clearly you struggled, wanting to do the best you could, with limited resources. Gosh . . . I'd enjoy having an Aldabra tortoise, but living in the dry desert of California, and not having acres upon acres of tropical habitat limits what is practical for me to enjoy. I now watch our California Desert Tortoises thrive in the habitat I am easily able to provide. I hope that you'll soon be able to find the proper animal for you to share your talents and love with. Again, thank you for putting that boxie's needs before your own.
 

Jimbo11

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JIMBO: Thank you so much for doing the right thing. Clearly you struggled, wanting to do the best you could, with limited resources. Gosh . . . I'd enjoy having an Aldabra tortoise, but living in the dry desert of California, and not having acres upon acres of tropical habitat limits what is practical for me to enjoy. I now watch our California Desert Tortoises thrive in the habitat I am easily able to provide. I hope that you'll soon be able to find the proper animal for you to share your talents and love with. Again, thank you for putting that boxie's needs before your own.
Thank you for taking my situation and considering the circumstances. I have 4 cats to care for in addition to a few strays outside that I feed, so I do have pets. I'm not allowed to have dogs
This is his last pic. He's free now with acres and acres of wild brush to roam. I must get home asap and shower good, as I encountered many 3 leaf plants in that thick brush!

20180723_124648.jpeg
 

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