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i have just aquired a hatchling eastern box turtle. as of now his temp is at 80 and his humidity is at 75%.. is this where it needs to be or should i make some changes..
new hatchling eastern. temp and humidity.
- Thread starter mtdavis254817
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Sounds very good to me. I keep my hatchlings in a planted vivarium. I find this holds the humidity much better than a table. I don't put a hide in with the hatchlings, but on one side I usually put plenty of moss or leaf litter to dig under. Low light, warm humidity, places to dig under....makes for a great boxie enclosure. What are you feeding him?
Welcome to the forum, and post some pictures....always love boxie pictures.
Welcome to the forum, and post some pictures....always love boxie pictures.
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terryo said:
right now the only thing i can get him to eat is grub worms and super worms. i put a cut up night crawler but he was just curious not really eager to taste it. another question. right now he is in a planted vivarium as well, but my prob is the 75 watt spot light i am useing for his heat source. since it is a spot light it only gets warm directly under the bulb, but every were else it is in the low 60 degrees. what i did today during luch is i bought 2 50 watt round bulbs. i am hoping that will spread the heat out some. i was even thinking about just adding 1 50 watt instead of replaceing the spot light. that way he will still have a basking spot and the rest of his area will remain warm.. what do you think... thanx for takeing the time to help..p.s. when should i get him on veggies. i am going to dip his super worm in some squash baby food to get him interested in the taste and color of his veggies..
Box turtle hatchlings spend all of their time hidden under leaf litter. Easterns are native where I live, and you will never see a hatchling in the wild. They don't bask, but just get a little dribble of sun that comes through the trees, if they come out of their hiding spots. Adult boxies will come out in the early AM to feed or soak in a spof of water that they are near, and they for most of the day will hide under the leaf litter too, and then come out in the late after noon again to eat.
So.........this is what I do with hatchlings. I keep a small long tube UVB 5.0 on one side of the viv, on top of a screen to filter out the light. If your house is cold you could keep a night light (blue) on the other side. LOW light, warm high humidity. I put lots of moss, and leaf litter on one side of the viv. for them to hide under.
I usually throw in a lot of pill bugs, which will multiply and they love searching for them. Red wigglers are a good worm to feed hatchlings...cut in half....as they are small and easy to catch. You could mash up a bit of sweet potato, and chopp up some greens.....dandelion, escarole, etc. and mix it up. Sometimes they will nibble on that. For the most part, they really look for little bugs at that age. By the way...how old is your hatchling, and could you post some pictures? Hope this helps.
So.........this is what I do with hatchlings. I keep a small long tube UVB 5.0 on one side of the viv, on top of a screen to filter out the light. If your house is cold you could keep a night light (blue) on the other side. LOW light, warm high humidity. I put lots of moss, and leaf litter on one side of the viv. for them to hide under.
I usually throw in a lot of pill bugs, which will multiply and they love searching for them. Red wigglers are a good worm to feed hatchlings...cut in half....as they are small and easy to catch. You could mash up a bit of sweet potato, and chopp up some greens.....dandelion, escarole, etc. and mix it up. Sometimes they will nibble on that. For the most part, they really look for little bugs at that age. By the way...how old is your hatchling, and could you post some pictures? Hope this helps.
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no...the picture didn't show up.
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Very cute hatchling, and your set up looks good, from what I can see of it. I wouldn't use a strong light on him. They don't like bright lights. I have a hatchling in a 40 gal. now that I use a low wt. heat emitter on one side 24/7. If it's too high a wt. your viv will dry out and it would get too hot in there. Can you post a picture of the whole enclosure? I mist the plants in there twice a day. That also stimulates their appetite. I feed my hatchlings in a little tub with some warm water in it. I get frozen blood worms, and take off a little chunk and defrost it with warm water. Hope this helps a little.
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