Newly hatched Box Turtles eating paper towel??

[xChadN]

I'm still waiting on my newly hatched boxxies to fully absorb their yolk sac before i move them into their enclosure, however when i took them out to give them a soak just now i noticed one of them had nibbled a very tiny piece of paper towel that i had them on. I don't want them to eat much more, so is there anything else i could put at the bottom of the plastic shoe box until they've fully absorbed their yolk?

 

[wellington]

@Tom

 

[TammyJ]

How about some lettuce or pumpkin vine leaves, or some other natural large vegetable leaf that they can safely nibble?

 

[xChadN]

How about some lettuce or pumpkin vine leaves, or some other natural large vegetable leaf that they can safely nibble?

I do have lettuce, i'll try that! Thank you so much.

 

[TammyJ]

I do have lettuce, i'll try that! Thank you so much.

Make sure it's not cold from the fridge.

 

[xChadN]

Make sure it's not cold from the fridge.

Thank you. I washed it off just now and stuck it in the incubator to let it warm up for a little bit before i put them on it .

 

[Sarah2020]

If you read Toms thread re hatchlings or oast threads he adds all sorts of leaves and flowers to get them familiar from the beginning with variety. Leaves a great idea it must be hungry 😋

 

[Tom]

I'm still waiting on my newly hatched boxxies to fully absorb their yolk sac before i move them into their enclosure, however when i took them out to give them a soak just now i noticed one of them had nibbled a very tiny piece of paper towel that i had them on. I don't want them to eat much more, so is there anything else i could put at the bottom of the plastic shoe box until they've fully absorbed their yolk?

I use paper towels on day one of them coming out of their egg. By day two I start using other things for just this reason. I use broadleaf plantain leaves, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, collard greens, squash leaves, romaine leaves and whatever other flat edible leaves I can get my hands on. I try to use something different every day, and this really helps get them eating a wide variety of "natural" greens, which can be very difficult with baby box turtles. It is in these first few days and weeks after hatching that babies learn what is food.

Using these safe, edible substrate leaves makes it so that there is no hurry to get them out of the order box. I leave them for two weeks sometimes. I also add in lavatera flowers, gazanias, hibiscus, rose of Sharon, hollyhocks, dandelions, and about two dozen different weeds for them to nibble on.

If you do this, it makes a baby thing that everything is edible. When I finally move them to an enclosure, they tend to nibble everything. Because of this, I place edible leaves all over the enclosure for their first couple of days. They can't take two steps without walking into more food. This minimizes the substrate nibbling and gets them realizing the difference between food and non-food items. After a week or two, I just have food in the food bowls.

 

[xChadN]

I use paper towels on day one of them coming out of their egg. By day two I start using other things for just this reason. I use broadleaf plantain leaves, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, collard greens, squash leaves, romaine leaves and whatever other flat edible leaves I can get my hands on. I try to use something different every day, and this really helps get them eating a wide variety of "natural" greens, which can be very difficult with baby box turtles. It is in these first few days and weeks after hatching that babies learn what is food.

Using these safe, edible substrate leaves makes it so that there is no hurry to get them out of the order box. I leave them for two weeks sometimes. I also add in lavatera flowers, gazanias, hibiscus, rose of Sharon, hollyhocks, dandelions, and about two dozen different weeds for them to nibble on.

If you do this, it makes a baby thing that everything is edible. When I finally move them to an enclosure, they tend to nibble everything. Because of this, I place edible leaves all over the enclosure for their first couple of days. They can't take two steps without walking into more food. This minimizes the substrate nibbling and gets them realizing the difference between food and non-food items. After a week or two, I just have food in the food bowls.

Thank you so much for the advice Tom, i appreciate it! Very useful information.