Meet Fred, how's she look?

[mrvinnie]

Hi All! New to the forum and hoping for a general critique of Fred's home. The substrate is a mix of coco coir and ZooMed New Zealand Sphagnum moss and ZM Terrarium moss.

Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

I know you said you brought Fred home after living with your folks for 30 years, and that you live in an apartment, so you probably don't have much room, but that little enclosure is really too small for a full grown box turtle.

Did Fred live outside at your folks' house? She's going to be pretty unhappy confined to such a small space.

The habitat you set up is very pretty, and looks like a great place for a box turtle to live, but it's just too small. Once you put in a plant saucer in the place of that waterer you have, there will be even less room.

I can't know for sure, but it looks like (the reflection in the water) you're using one of those spiral-shaped compact fluorescent bulbs. I don't like those. Some of them have been known to cause burned eyeballs in young tortoises. Also, having a red light on during the day sometimes causes them to eat their substrate (it changes the way the substrate looks and makes it look like food).

I can tell that Fred means a lot to you and you are trying to do right by her. See if you can find a large plastic tub like this:

 

[AJK Aquaria]

Howdy

The corner setup may look nice, but just like a corner style aquarium, they offer little space. What type and wattage bulbs are you using. Substrate is fine and I like those plants(sanseveria?).

Welcome to this forum. I'm new here as well

PS- didn't see Yvonne's post...

 

[mrvinnie]

Thanks for your response! She lived indoors in a small plastic tub before. Her previous home was far from ideal. Photos of this enclosure make it look smaller than it is. It's long side is 4 ft. And the other sides are almost 3ft. How big is the container you suggest? Space is tight in the apartment so it would be hard to get a bigger one. She's been in here for a year now and seems content. She basks, bathes, burrows, and eats and sleeps well. I'll definitely build her a bigger one when I inevitably move apartments.

As for the light, I did read that the coiled cfls are bad so this is a zoomed reptisun 5.0 with the two long single coils. I'll likely build a ledge into the pen so I can run a hood light over it, but I think I read the bulb I have is ok, but if I'm wrong please let me know! She had one eye completely shut a year ago and now it's much better, I'm assuming because the controlled humidity and uv over the last year.

The red light is because the basking/heat lights I tried before made her run around until I turned them off and then she'd mellow out. On a whim I tried the red heat about 6 mos ago and she's seemed to prefer it. Basks for hours sometimes, minutes other times, and the uv gives a lot of clear light for most of the space. She also goes into her shaded corner regularly.

I definitely need to have her beak trimmed. In planning her first vet visit within the next month. I clipped her nails slowly over the year and I've been filing her beak down but it's slow going.

Thanks again! I appreciate all advice and suggestions!

 

[AJK Aquaria]

I see you're in ChiTown. I can recommend a vet for the beak trim and eye issue in the west burbs if you don't have one already.
Take care...

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome.
I wonder if the eye issue is related to the ReptiSun coiled cfl?
It's been about a week since the last coiled bulb/eye issue.

 

[mrvinnie]

I'd love a vet recommendation. I've heard good things about the herp care at Animal House of Chicago and they're a few blocks away. Have you heard of them? I'd definitely travel out to the burbs if its a better doc. Thanks!

 

[mrvinnie]

Her bad eye is likely because at her previous home she didn't have any uv or heat for years. I'm surprised she's as generally healthy as she is but she's had heat and uv for a year now and its much better. It was previously completely shut. I'm going to switch to a hood uv light since it seems universally preferred but like I said before, I've been using a bulb with two long coils, not the corkscrew style which I believe is the one that hurts young boxies. Also, Fred has lived with my family for 20 years, and was probably at least 5 at the shop, so she's a bit older than the ones that i've read get hurt.

Also, does anyone have any references for info on older eastern box turtles? There's so much out there on hatchlings and raising young ones, but I'd love to read info specifically on turtles over 20 years old.

 

[AJK Aquaria]

I'd love a vet recommendation. I've heard good things about the herp care at Animal House of Chicago and they're a few blocks away. Have you heard of them? I'd definitely travel out to the burbs if its a better doc. Thanks!

No I'm not familiar with place, but I've never lived in the city. Nice that it's close, for sure.

The place I've gone over the years is Danada Veterinary in Wheaton. Dr. Wallach. It was nice to see her listed on this site when I was poking around last week.

 

[lisa127]

Thanks for your response! She lived indoors in a small plastic tub before. Her previous home was far from ideal. Photos of this enclosure make it look smaller than it is. It's long side is 4 ft. And the other sides are almost 3ft. How big is the container you suggest? Space is tight in the apartment so it would be hard to get a bigger one. She's been in here for a year now and seems content. She basks, bathes, burrows, and eats and sleeps well. I'll definitely build her a bigger one when I inevitably move apartments.

As for the light, I did read that the coiled cfls are bad so this is a zoomed reptisun 5.0 with the two long single coils. I'll likely build a ledge into the pen so I can run a hood light over it, but I think I read the bulb I have is ok, but if I'm wrong please let me know! She had one eye completely shut a year ago and now it's much better, I'm assuming because the controlled humidity and uv over the last year.

The red light is because the basking/heat lights I tried before made her run around until I turned them off and then she'd mellow out. On a whim I tried the red heat about 6 mos ago and she's seemed to prefer it. Basks for hours sometimes, minutes other times, and the uv gives a lot of clear light for most of the space. She also goes into her shaded corner regularly.

I definitely need to have her beak trimmed. In planning her first vet visit within the next month. I clipped her nails slowly over the year and I've been filing her beak down but it's slow going.

Thanks again! I appreciate all advice and suggestions! View attachment 180147

The square footage of that triangle.....3 ft by 3 ft by 4 ft.....is about 4.5 square feet. I would easily double that space if possible.

As for the heat lamp, i agree the white light was probably too much for her. I use black or moonlight reptile heat lamps. I like them better than the red ones.