Need Help Please, New Owner

[Rebecca84]

Hi, I have rescued a Turtle/Tortoise. I need help identifying her, so I can properly care for her. If anyone can please help, it will be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Rebecca

 

[Rebecca84]

This is her playing outside

 

[johnsonnboswell]

It's a three toed box turtle.

Please tell us about the rescue.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

 

[Rebecca84]

Thank you for the help fellow reptile lovers Well, my little sister purchased her a while back and she is not responsible so I decided to intervene. She did not give the poor girl proper living or feeding conditions and I could not let that continue. So, Olive is now a member of my household. She is the sweetest little thing and I'm saving up money so I can build her a nice enclosed outdoor habitat. I'm sure when that time comes here in the near future I will have plenty of questions about that lol.

 

[Gillian M]

Thank you for the help fellow reptile lovers Well, my little sister purchased her a while back and she is not responsible so I decided to intervene. She did not give the poor girl proper living or feeding conditions and I could not let that continue. So, Olive is now a member of my household. She is the sweetest little thing and I'm saving up money so I can build her a nice enclosed outdoor habitat. I'm sure when that time comes here in the near future I will have plenty of questions about that lol.

Go ahead and ask all the questions you want to ask!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Rebecca and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and beautiful Olive.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
for some general information and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/box-turtle-care-sheet.93937/
for some more specific care information.

 

[Rebecca84]

Does the 3 toed box do well in Texas? I worry about the 100 degree weather. As of right now I let her hang out in a Plastic pool under a pergola. So she get some light but not direct. At night I bring her inside and keep her in a small 10 gallon tank which is what my sister had her living in. When I'm gardening I let her run around and play but I dont want to lose her. So, thats why I have a GoFundMe account to raise 100 dollars for her outdoor enclosure

 

[Rebecca84]

Hello, Rebecca and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and beautiful Olive.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
for some general information and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/box-turtle-care-sheet.93937/
for some more specific care information.

Thank you for the links! Makes life easier with 2 kids under 2 running around.

 

[Careym13]

Welcome to TFO!! Glad to hear you are giving this turtle a better life!

 

[Rebecca84]

Thanks all for the information already. I have already learned some valuable information

 

[Angel Carrion]

An indoor enclosure at least 12 inches deep with at least 12-13 square feet of floor space is best. Outdoor enclosures are 100% better.

Sphagnum moss and milled coconut husk fiber (coco fiber/coir) or peat moss mixed together is a good moisture retaining substrate. It needs to be about 6 inches deep throughout the enclosure. Humidity needs to be between 70-90% in the enclosure. Using an accurate hydrometer is the best way to measure the levels. Having a water dish under the heat lamp is a way to keep humidity up, just make sure the water doesn't get too hot for the turtle. The moistened substrate will also keep humidity up. The water dish needs to be big enough that the turtle can soak on his own, but shallow enough that he doesn't accidentally flip over while trying to climb in or out. Misting the enclosure is another good way to keep humidity up.
Temp ranges; 80ish F on warm side, 70-75 F on cool side, 85-90 F for the basking spot. Nighttime temps should not go below 65 F.

Heat lamp UVA and a UVB bulb will be needed, or you can get a mercury vapor bulb which produces heat and UVB. If you get a heat lamp and UVB bulb separate of each other, make sure to not get a coil bulb. Those can damage turtle eyes and cause blindness. A UVB bulb should be replaced every 6 months, but a mercury vapor bulb can be replaced every 12-18 months. The lamps need to be 16-18 inches above turtle so as to avoid burning them.
Using a digital temp gun is most useful in reading the temps accurately. I got mine off amazon for 12-14 bucks.

Food items and how much
Animal matter: 50% of meal -- crickets, earthworms, feeder fish (not goldfish - may make them sick, like upset stomach or something), Dubai roaches (yum!), mealworms (as a treat), grasshoppers, sow bugs, katydids, isopods, june bugs, slugs (but not banana slugs), terrestrial snails, waxworms, various grubs, superworms (zoophobas), blood worms, carrion, beefheart, gastropods, spiders, cicadas, silkworms, millipedes, pill bugs, butterfly larvae, preying mantids (remove spiked forelegs first), boiled skinless chicken, boiled eggs with shell, cooked lean ground beef, nightcrawlers. Can feed a pinkie or fuzzy once a month. Freeze in freezer bag for 72 hours at least to kill any parasites. Thaw in tepid water before serving. Never use microwave to defrost! NEVER FEED EASTERN TENT CATERPILLARS
Vegetables: 20% of meal -- pretty much all squashes, bell peppers (not often), carrots, corn on the cob (boiled, not often), green beans, okra, opuntia cactus pad & fruit, peas in the pod, various pumpkins, sweet potatoes, zucchini.
Greens: 10% of meal -- bibb, various kinds of clover, collard greens, dandelion greens & weeds, escarole, kale (not often), mustard greens, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, turnip greens, watercress, pesticide-free field-collected weeds & leaves (I suggest only picking those you can identify).
Fruits: 10% of meal -- apples, apricot, figs, banana (mainly as a treat), all berries, grapes, kiwi, all melons, peach, plum, tomatoes (never feed any other part of the tomato plant- not safe)
Fungi/mushrooms: 10% of meal -- chanterelle, fried-chicken mushrooms (yeah, that's a thing), meadow, morel, oyster, puffball, russulas, shaggy inkcap. (Yes those are all different mushrooms). Do not offer Portabello mushrooms. Can't remember why.

Once a week, lightly dust meal with a calcium supplement with Vitamin D3 and a vitamin supplement. I use Rep-Cal Phosphorus-free Calcium with Vitamin D3 (the phosphorus-free info is important) and ZooMed's Reptivite. Leaving a cuttlebone in the enclosure will give the turtle the opportunity to free-serve calcium as they need
Do not offer cat food as most commercial cat foods produce acidic urine, which will increase the excretion of calcium in the urine.This can and most likely will cause a calcium deficiency in reptiles and can lead to metabolic bone disease, shell deformities, and soft tissue calcification. Using a low-fat wet dog food can be done if the turtle will not eat anything you offer to entice them to start eating.

Dealing with a reluctant eater: Box turtles are most active in the mornings, evenings, and after it rains. Try misting the enclosure before feeding & offer meals in the morning after the turtle has had time to warm up but before the day becomes too hot. If the turtle continues to not eat, try overripe brightly colored fruits like strawberries and cantaloupe (those are my guys favorites) and bananas. Also, turtles are naturally attracted to moving food. If your turtle will only eat live foods, try cutting up a nightcrawler or two and mixing it with some veggies and fruits so that the wiggling in and on the meal will attract them. As they try to eat the nightcrawler, they will likely accidentally grab the greens and such. After doing this for a while, reduce the amount of nightcrawlers until the box turtle consistently eats the veggies and greens.

How to get shy turtles out to eat: feed underneath foliage and keep activity in the area to a minimum as much as possible while eating.
Be sure to offer a wide variety and change things up. Turtles become bored being offered the same foods every meal.

Feeding frequency:
Hatchling to 1 year old, or underweight turtle - one to two days
one to three years old, or recovering from illness - two to three days
three years and older - three to four days
overweight - four days

Feed on a flat plate, plastic lid, flat rock, or paper plate. Be warned: turtles may try to eat the paper plates. Flat rocks are best generally because the rock will help file the beak and keep the nails trim.

Gut-loading insects: Crickets and mealworms (and others) can be gut-loaded two days before use. Feed them a high-calcium invertebrate food - sweet potato, high quality tropical fish flake, or low fat dry dog food. To provide the insects with moisture and added nutrients that will be passed on to the turtle, offer the feeders leafy greens like turnip greens or dandelion greens.

All invertebrate food items (except earthworms) should be lightly dusted with the calcium supplement just before serving. You can do this by putting some of the supplement powder in a sandwich bag then put that meal's insects in, close the bag, and gently shake to coat them in the supplement. Place in front of the turtle. If the feeders are moving around too much, the dust will fall off. It is best to offer them using forceps or by incapacitating them while still being able to move enough to draw the turtle's attention.
Make sure to mist the enclosure at least once a day.
I think that's it right now unless you want me to go into medical stuff.

 

[Rebecca84]

Great Read^^^^

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Rebecca
Welcome to the TFO from AZ

 

[Angel Carrion]

Olive is very cute.

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[johnsonnboswell]

That's indeed a rescue. Well done.

You can use cinderblocks to make an enclosure. The great thing about them is that you can rearrange them and expand easily. Raised garden beds are also good.

Ditch the 10 gallon tank and get something larger. A 50 gallon Rubbermaid tub is cheap.

 

[Rebecca84]

I wanna go all out Johnsonnboswell. Prob raised with all the other necessity's. I want her to love her home. I just may look at cinderblocks now.

 

[Rebecca84]

Olive is very cute.

she is so very cute and so sweet. i can not believe my 18 year old sister would treat that sweet little thing so bad. Broke my heart. I can already tell she likes me because I feed her well and my son and I even hunt earthworms for her. Boy does she like that.

 

[Rebecca84]

so for sure she is a 3 toed box turtle? sorry to offend anybody but sometimes its really hard for me to tell who is who in the tortoise/turtle world