New to me Box Turtle needs TLC

Rover15

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Hi all, I'm looking for advice.

I caved and bought this older box turtle from a pet store. I've been looking for eastern box turtles or ornate box turtles for a while, but not many breeders in Canada. I've owned box turtles in the past (over 5 years ago) so I know what he requires and needs for care, but this guy needs some extra TLC.

the store said he was brought in from a long time customer and said he is roughly 15 years old. his shell is in rough shape (1st 3 pictures are the ones the store posted), but he is very active watched him for about an hour in the store, and since he has been home he has been on the move.

the 4th and 5th pictures are ones I took in the store of the setup he is housed in and just of him.

my questions for everyone, what can I do to better his shell at this point?

can I completely redo his enclosure without causing stress?

lastly, I'm posting a picture of his nails I've never seen nails this bad before I would really like advice on what to do, in the past I just made sure there were lots of different places for my box turtles burrow in and rocks for climbing so I'm not sure what to do once they are this bad, I assume trim them but once he is picked up he tucks his feet right away.

any and all help appreciated thanks in advance

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Millerlite

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Hi all, I'm looking for advice.

I caved and bought this older box turtle from a pet store. I've been looking for eastern box turtles or ornate box turtles for a while, but not many breeders in Canada. I've owned box turtles in the past (over 5 years ago) so I know what he requires and needs for care, but this guy needs some extra TLC.

the store said he was brought in from a long time customer and said he is roughly 15 years old. his shell is in rough shape (1st 3 pictures are the ones the store posted), but he is very active watched him for about an hour in the store, and since he has been home he has been on the move.

the 4th and 5th pictures are ones I took in the store of the setup he is housed in and just of him.

my questions for everyone, what can I do to better his shell at this point?

can I completely redo his enclosure without causing stress?

lastly, I'm posting a picture of his nails I've never seen nails this bad before I would really like advice on what to do, in the past I just made sure there were lots of different places for my box turtles burrow in and rocks for climbing so I'm not sure what to do once they are this bad, I assume trim them but once he is picked up he tucks his feet right away.

any and all help appreciated thanks in advance
Hello. The turtle is older then 15. Probably fairly old overall. I wouldn't worry much about the shell. I would just get a good enclosure set up. Use soil and like a moss to help with humidity. Make it deep enough for the turtle to dig down into it. You will need a fairly big enclosure as box turtles tend to require a lot of room for their size. Outdoor is best of possible. Aim for as big as you can go they will use every inch of the space. Add live plants and hides. They do like to soak so I recommend a fairly big water dish. One big enough for the turtle to fully go into and soak. Not deep enough where the turtle would have to swim. I use paint trays and also saucers for planters work well. A good diet of worms and insects about 70 percent. The rest will be veggies and fruit. The nails arnt too bad. They are long claw like that because that's a male 3 toed box turtle. The males have long back nails to hook into the females while mating. You can trim them a little I'm you want. His back legs do look skinny which means he's probably a little under weight, he will fill out soon tho with good care.

Kyle
 

Rover15

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I have coco fiber mixed with the wood chips in his setup now, ill be getting moss next week, and im trying to source some box turtle friendly plants.

Once our weather gets better ill be building an outdoor enclosure for him.

He has been a pet for so long i assume hybernating might not be the best for him so ill bring him in over winter.

Later today im going to try and get a picture of his tale and under shell because im not sold that he is a he lol which would mean his back nails are worse then if it was a male
 

Hutsie B

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he is a very old turtle by his looks. Is he eating well? That is the biggest thing, if he is eating for you that is more than half the battle. Give him a variety of foods and a nice home and he will do fine. good luck and welcome to the forum.
 

Rover15

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he is a very old turtle by his looks. Is he eating well? That is the biggest thing, if he is eating for you that is more than half the battle. Give him a variety of foods and a nice home and he will do fine. good luck and welcome to the forum.

LONG REPLY SORRY IN ADVANCE LOTS MORE QUESTIONS


I've been a part of the forum for many years lol, just wasn't active after I rehomed my box turtles and tortoises for a few years but thank you.

He does eat. For the first week, I would give him the pellets as that is what the store and previous owner feed him. every morning i would clean his feeding dish and soak some pellets and dried mealworms and cranberries. and would place it in between his too hides which he could see from his humid hide. he would normally come out eat and retreat back to one of his hides.

I started offering greens with the pellets and he would eat around them. this past weekend I only offered spring mix I would put fresh spring mix in the morning, and replace them with fresh ones before bed. Today after not eating at all Saturday and Sunday we saw him eat the spring mix today, not much but was out and ate.

I have sprouts of lettuce (i can't remember what kind off the top of my head) that are growing in his enclosure, and I planted Parsley(hasn't sprouted yet) in there as well in case he did want to eat. There may or may not be 2 slugs and a worm or two from the yard left in there as well.

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here is a picture of his belly, it is slightly concave still no good tale picture but tomorrow when I soak him I'll try again.

side question, If I continue to pull him out of his hide to soak him every 2-3 days will this make him continue to hide?

My temps are a little higher on the cool side then I'd like 24-25c/75-77f but I'm still tweaking it. the humidity doesn't drop below 50% when I spray it is up around high 80s, for around an hour, he has a humid hide that is 90-95 where he stays a lot of the time but it is 30c so 86f so I worry that he can overheat. When I first got him he was fairly active but he was on just woodchips and was very dry they also didn't use the heat mat. I feel that now that I'm getting his temps and humidity where they should be he is less active so I'm hoping it is just because its a new environment and because his light cycle is different (the store hours are 10am-7pm, I have been keeping his lights on from 8am-10pm.
 

Hutsie B

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Sounds like you are doing the right things. I imagine he is content if he is staying in his hides and sleeping. Sounds like he is eating great and that is good news. I can't think of anything else you can do. Looks like a male and if his eyes are red or orange he is a male.
 

Rover15

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Sounds like you are doing the right things. I imagine he is content if he is staying in his hides and sleeping. Sounds like he is eating great and that is good news. I can't think of anything else you can do. Looks like a male and if his eyes are red or orange he is a male.
Thanks,
 

ColleenT

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to sex the turtle, show us a pic of the tail from the underside. Yo can't tell by the eyes. I have a male with brown eyes.
 
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