Good afternoon, I am writing to share my latest family member. I had been tossing around the idea of getting one of these guys for so long and am glad I bit the bullet and did. It is full of personality and active. It loves earthworms and pellets as well as wax worms (occasional treat). I will try it on live crickets next. Meet the unnamed North American Wood turtle. Setup is simple, 40 breeder with heat lamp running off of a herpstat 1 and an Arcadia uvb lamp. I have water hyacinth and a big piece of mopani wood. I am also using a whisper 300 to drive dual 28” bubble wands. I am changing water every other day and feeding 2-3 red wigglers a day in conjunction with its pellet food. It always acts hungry! I am afraid of over feeding. Carapace is maybe 2 inches at this point and I know it is still growing.
NOT A BOX TURTLE
- Thread starter Andy27012
- Start date
Awesome!
I would:
1. Run the heat lamp on a timer, not a thermostat. You don't want the sun turning on and off all day. Adjust the basking temperature by raising or lower the bulb, or use a different wattage bulb.
2. Add lots of LED lighting to make it look bright and "sunny" during the day. These can run on the same timer as the basking bulb. Screw-in type bulbs or strip lights can both work.
3. Only run the UV tube for a few hours mid day. This is another reason for the bright LEDs. Suspend the UV tube over the tank. Resting on the sides that way will eventually result in one of several big problems.
