Is this a suitable habitat? Please comment!

[NewTurtleMommy]

I have brought my newly rescued Boxie in for the winter. He is residing in his new Rubbermaid enclosure, and I was hoping I could get some feedback and/or suggestions. He has a UVB light on one end, and a basking light on the other. My ZOO MED basking light burned out (after 3 weeks!) so currently I have a regular run of the mill 75 watt light bulb until I can get to the pet store. Is this adequate? He has his log hide, a plant, and his water for soaking which is in a plastic shoe box type container. I have tried several different water containers but this is the only one he seems to like. I have included some pictures, and excuse the quality as they are off my phone. Please any comments and/or suggestions are welcome and appreciated! I just want to make sure he is healthy and happy.

 

[terryo]

I would love to see your enclosure, but I can't open the pictures for some reason. Could you post them in a different way?

 

[NewTurtleMommy]

For some reason I cannot post pics! I emailed them to myself from my phone and I have posted before, but now its not working!

 

[Kevin Kelly]

Where do you live? You said you brought him in from outside; do you have an outdoors enclosure? The reason I ask is that if he is native to your area he will and can survive outdoors. Box turtles hibernate during the winter and now is when they are going into hibernation.

 

[Kristina]

NewTurtleMommy, did you save the pictures to your hard drive from your email? that is the first step, and then you can either upload them to www.tinypic.com, or www.photobucket.com

tinypic doesn't require an account.

Or, you can add them to your thread as an attachment.

Here is the picture posting tutorial

http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-to-post-pictures-in-your-forum-posts--5245

 

[NewTurtleMommy]

I live in Texas. I was told by numerous people (most on this site) that you should not hibernate your turtle if you just got him as you dont know his health history-I was also told if you are not planning on breeding there is no reason to hibernate. Is this not correct?

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't know if you forgot to include the pictures or if they just didn't show up, but no pictures.

You say you have a UV light at one end and a basking light at the other. If the UV light is the kind that puts out heat you don't need the basking light. One light/heat source is fine for box turtles. They really like to hide, and love to be under plants. So some artificial plants or even real ones would be nice in the habitat. They also like to wade, so a waterer big enough for the turtle to get into is good.

You are correct in thinking that a new-to-you turtle/tortoise should not be allowed to hibernate.

How is the turtle doing? Has it settled in and been eating and acting normal?

 

[terryo]

Everyone does things differently. If I get a turtle in the Spring, and it stays outside all Summer, and is old enough, and in good health I hibernate. If I get one towards the end of the Summer, I'll keep that one in for the Winter. I always hibernate if they are in good health. I keep the younger ones inside(up to three years). Some people don't hibernate at all. This is just what works for me. This year I'm hibernating some three and four year olds for the first time, and I'm really nervous about it. There is always a risk, but I just like to keep things as natural as I can. It's all a matter of choice.

 

[Kevin Kelly]

I live in Texas. I was told by numerous people (most on this site) that you should not hibernate your turtle if you just got him as you dont know his health history-I was also told if you are not planning on breeding there is no reason to hibernate. Is this not correct?

Texas is where we live also. We have nine boxies that vary in age from three years old to unknown adult ages. All of them were found locally except one and he came from Kentucky. That said this is there natural environment. So we were able to create a habitat for them that is natural. We allow them all to hibernate; but we know they are healthy enough to. This is why I asked about hibernation vs. keeping him indoors. And I wasn't sure if you knew they did.

If you haven't had him long enough to know how strong his health is then no you shouldn't allow him to hibernate. Once they are in hibernation their body slows down to the point their heart will only beat enough to keep them alive. They won't have enough strength to open their eye's. If they are not in peak health prior to hibernation; the risk of them not waking up is too high.