new owner. all info welcomed please!

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

I dnt think the nail picture came through so I'm uploaded it again ..

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

Nails

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

sorry for such a late response

Eric Phillips · Aug 12, 2015

If she is not a wild she was pretty well kept by the previous owner. According to the pictures you've provided, she looks pretty healthy. I'm still leaning she is a wild. A girl her size needs atleast about 16 square feet of space to roam around IMO (4' x 4'). Obviously, you've created a home for her in the short amount of time and it looks great. However, if you have the space either inside or outside, I would lean towards expanding her domain at some point. Good Luck, you got a cute Eastern there!

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
She is in a 60 gallon aquarium with the bottom blocked out I have a potters plant I buried halfway for her to hide and her floor is a combo n of the sphagnum moss coconut fiber and the dry mulch on the other side . She has a saucer from the bottom of the planter for soaking .I bought I believe it's a 28 inch uvb and then a basking light as well . I'll post more pictures of her now . I do not have a measuring tape to measure her but I think she's 6 or 7 inches I'm not the best with estimating tho

Do you know how long & deep the tank is? Bigger is better.
When you say "and the dry mulch on the other side", do you actually mean it's dry? All the substrate should be moist and the humidity needs to be between 70-90% throughout the enclosure.
If she's 6-7inches then she's an adult. Her wanting greens and veggies is good. Keep feeding her food from the list provided. Also I don't think easterns get that big to chances are she's more like 4-6 inches but either way that's typically adult size. It's all good, I completely fail at estimating size and such just from looking at something.

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
as I live in a subdivision with the house is fairly close to each other I can't have an outdoor enclosure but I do take her outside for a few hours a day and we watch her walk around I know its not an outdoor enclosure but I do try to take her outside to get natural sunlight along with the UVB and UVA light I have inside the house I spent a lot of money on this little girl lolI've been doing my research since I've got her there's just a lot of different information out there

Be careful when taking her out. Do you know if the subdivision lawn care workers spray with fertilizer or pesticides? If so, then letting her walk around outside in the grass is a bad idea. If you lay down a couple blankets or towels on top of each other and have her walk on that, it should be fine, but not in the grass.
If they don't spray, then keep doing what you're doing.

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

I spray the tank with distilled water several times a day and as dry mulch I ment dry as compared to the coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. The whole tank gets misted .I do have a ruler as its back to school time lol so I measured the length of the tank is 36 inches and 20 inches tall ? I'm So horrible At measurements I'm an insurance coordinator for an orthodontist office not really Good with numbers lol

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

Eric Phillips said:
If she is not a wild she was pretty well kept by the previous owner. According to the pictures you've provided, she looks pretty healthy. I'm still leaning she is a wild. A girl her size needs atleast about 16 square feet of space to roam around IMO (4' x 4'). Obviously, you've created a home for her in the short amount of time and it looks great. However, if you have the space either inside or outside, I would lean towards expanding her domain at some point. Good Luck, you got a cute Eastern there!

I agree with what Eric said. I do think she was either very well cared for and escaped (because who would release a turtle they've been taking care of so very well?) or she is wild. Most likely she is wild, honestly.
Again, I agree. At very minimum she needs a 4'X4' enclosure, but even bigger is much better. Just do what you can and "size up" when you can. So far you're doing very good and obviously want to do your best, so that right there is half the battle. I'll share some pictures of indoor enclosures I've saved for ideas with you so you can see examples and get ideas as well.

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

I only let her out in my yards which is definitely untreated I do not have the extra money to keep up with my lawn like the SmithS lol ihave dandy lions and all the other wEeds that my neighbors can't stand but to me a house is what's on the inside not on the outside I do take a blanket out though because I do not like buggs so I won't sit directly on the grass lol

johnsonnboswell · Aug 12, 2015

To measure her, place her on a ruler & measure the length of her plastron, not across her shell.

What kind of bulbs are you using? Specifics please. Some are useless, some are outright dangerous. Pet stores sell useless stuff and give bad advice all too often. Very often items need to be returned or exchanged, or we just pay to gain experience.

Your new turtle does not care how much money you spent. She wants an environment as natural as possible. Her previous home was at least the size of a football field, maybe larger, had sun and rain and all kinds of foods, places to hide and nest and hibernate. Rather than protecting your investment in equipment, protect her.

Lexiii · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
I only let her out in my yards which is definitely untreated I do not have the extra money to keep up with my lawn like the SmithS lol ihave dandy lions and all the other wEeds that my neighbors can't stand but to me a house is what's on the inside not on the outside I do take a blanket out though because I do not like buggs so I won't sit directly on the grass lol

I'm a Smith and my lawn looks like crap.

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
I spray the tank with distilled water several times a day and as dry mulch I ment dry as compared to the coconut fiber and sphagnum moss. The whole tank gets misted .I do have a ruler as its back to school time lol so I measured the length of the tank is 36 inches and 20 inches tall ? I'm So horrible At measurements I'm an insurance coordinator for an orthodontist office not really Good with numbers lol

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
I only let her out in my yards which is definitely untreated I do not have the extra money to keep up with my lawn like the SmithS lol ihave dandy lions and all the other wEeds that my neighbors can't stand but to me a house is what's on the inside not on the outside I do take a blanket out though because I do not like buggs so I won't sit directly on the grass lol

Haha okay I didn't know if you or the development your house is in hired people. Do you know if your neighbors spray? If someone near you does, it can run down either on the wind or as liquid run off into your property.

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

I truly AM an animal and reptile lover so I'm not concerned with what I spent on her as much as I am about her being happy and healthy I don't have the heat light that I bought but I have the box from the UVB and UVA lie I can attach any suggestions as you're willing to give would be great I

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

and as far as her needing a bigger setup can you buy those setups of the pictures you posted or where can I go about getting One?

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

and as far as the pet store being useless I totally agree because they told me that I don't have a turtle that I have a tortoise so I was under the impression that turtle swim underwater and tortoises walk on land but clearly I have an eastern box turtle which doesn't swim underwater

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

wich is also another reason why I posted and didn't just go to the pet store

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
and as far as her needing a bigger setup can you buy those setups of the pictures you posted or where can I go about getting One?

You can buy one, it will be expensive and possibly hard to find one suitable since most I've seen up for sale were primarily for hatchlings with the intent of housing outside once grown. I can look around for you if you like. You can try craigslist, eBay, and there is a forum section where people post stuff they want to sell or give away and sometimes it's awesome looking tort tables they either bought or custom built.

krystynefox said:
and as far as the pet store being useless I totally agree because they told me that I don't have a turtle that I have a tortoise so I was under the impression that turtle swim underwater and tortoises walk on land but clearly I have an eastern box turtle which doesn't swim underwater

Box turtles can and sometimes do swim, but they're not built for endurance swimming and usually only swim when there is a good reason. I've only ever heard of a couple that did it because they enjoyed it.

krystynefox said:
wich is also another reason why I posted and didn't just go to the pet store

Yeah, it's a good thing you did. Pet stores tend to suck. Sometimes you get a good one or a knowledgeable worker, but 9/10 either don't know what they're saying or are just trying to sell sell sell. I had one Petco worker tell me my VERY obvious MALE EBT was a female. This guy was supposedly the expert. *eye roll*

Angel Carrion · Aug 12, 2015

krystynefox said:
I truly AM an animal and reptile lover so I'm not concerned with what I spent on her as much as I am about her being happy and healthy I don't have the heat light that I bought but I have the box from the UVB and UVA lie I can attach any suggestions as you're willing to give would be great I

ReptiSun UVB is good. As a basking lamp I used to use ZooMed Repti-Basking UVA bulb. Now I have a mercury vapor bulb, but that's my personal preference.

krystynefox · Aug 12, 2015

I'm
going to look online for a bigger home and when we say expensive do we mean like a thousand dollars or a few hundred dollars. I have a bOnus check from work coming up this FridayI have a few hundred dollars I could spend on a new home now. also with the UVA and UVB light that I have can I plant live plants in there like petunia or will they not grow the pet store told me not to plan anything real as she would just eat it but I would like to make her feel as much at home as possible

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