Just curious. (food for box turtle)

[DaniH]

Whenever I’m looking up if something is good to feed a box turtle I get tons of things for tortoises rather than box turtles so my question is. Are things that are good or ok for a tortoise to eat good or ok for a box turtle to eat?
I’m sure in lots of ways there are differences in what they can eat but generally are the things the same in like if it’s ok to feed a tortoise it’s not going to hurt my box turtle?

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

One difference is food preferences for different ages. Mature box turtles are going to consume, on average, more plant matter then baby's. I have only heard chelonian veterinarians suggest that box turtles should never be given injection of vitamins to boost them if they are recovering from illness.

You bring up a good point with your question. On plant matter I think tortoises from different parts of the world have better tolerance for plants with compounds (secondary compounds) that might make other tortoises from other parts of the world ill (toxicity). This is a situation where being more cautious, than not, would be a good idea. Remember box turtles are more closely related to red eared sliders than even north American tortoises.

I think most grocery greens should be okay as well as squashes. Plants that have ended up in grocery stores have been selected for fewer secondary compounds (among other traits) than their wild counterparts.

 

[ColleenT]

http://www.boxturtlefacts.org/Feeding_North_American_Box_Turtles.pdf