My god its amazing where people can live these days, lol. When we hit high temps in the 20's, our city shuts down! We are currently in the 50s mid day and lows have been in the 30's last few days. Going forward, our lows will be in the 50's and highs in the 70's until the next cold snap. I'm hoping to pick up the timber tonight, I've been having to work late and that is holding me up. But now I see rain forcasted for the weekend so I wont be making much progress for at least another week. I figured at this point, the turtle will not hibernate so the tortoise house gives me a place to keep him in the garage when we get with those random nights in the 30's and 40's. In the meantime, as long as my kids are not outside running around and the temps are at least in the 50s, I don't mind letting him out in the yard.
Please help me assess this box turtle
- Thread starter clsanchez77
- Start date
My god its amazing where people can live these days, lol. When we hit high temps in the 20's, our city shuts down! We are currently in the 50s mid day and lows have been in the 30's last few days. Going forward, our lows will be in the 50's and highs in the 70's until the next cold snap. I'm hoping to pick up the timber tonight, I've been having to work late and that is holding me up. But now I see rain forcasted for the weekend so I wont be making much progress for at least another week. I figured at this point, the turtle will not hibernate so the tortoise house gives me a place to keep him in the garage when we get with those random nights in the 30's and 40's. In the meantime, as long as my kids are not outside running around and the temps are at least in the 50s, I don't mind letting him out in the yard.
Lyles
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- Sep 29, 2014
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- 39
That's a very nice male Gulf Coast. Take some nail polish and an old toothbrush and work it off him, I can tell he has some really nice patterns underneath.
Its chipping off slowly but surely.
Like gradually unwrapping a Christmas gift
Looks like he will have a good looking shell when all is done. Great Job!I emailed some photos to a friend of mine who works with birds and reptiles. He believes it is a Florida Box Turtle. He said he could not definitively determine if it was a Florida Gulf hybrid because of the paint on the shell.
I set up his new temporary home today as so far he seems to enjoy it much more! I went with the Zoo Med tortoise house. Its a 2'x3' enclosure, but I can keep it outdoors when the weather is good, and bring it in when the weather is not so much good. I have a water dish large enough for him to climb into it now and 2" of reptile bedding, some kind of shredded bark.
Feeding wise, he has refused to eat since I got him. However, after much reading, I offered him a tablespoon of cat food; it was shredded salmon and shrimp feast. He wasted no time on it! Now that I know what works, I need to figure out how to transition him onto a better diet. I am thinking of cutting the cat food with some carrots, beets and other colored veggies and then adjusting the ration over time. I also bought a can of snails to experiment with.
I also threw in a calcium 'Tortoise' block. I will monitor that to see if he chews on it.
As a bonus, I caught a few crickets in the yard and threw them in the tortoise house. They burrow around pretty well but do not seem to be able to jump out. I will be watching to see if they get hunted down.
After thanksgiving, I will set an appointment with the local vet.
I set up his new temporary home today as so far he seems to enjoy it much more! I went with the Zoo Med tortoise house. Its a 2'x3' enclosure, but I can keep it outdoors when the weather is good, and bring it in when the weather is not so much good. I have a water dish large enough for him to climb into it now and 2" of reptile bedding, some kind of shredded bark.
Feeding wise, he has refused to eat since I got him. However, after much reading, I offered him a tablespoon of cat food; it was shredded salmon and shrimp feast. He wasted no time on it! Now that I know what works, I need to figure out how to transition him onto a better diet. I am thinking of cutting the cat food with some carrots, beets and other colored veggies and then adjusting the ration over time. I also bought a can of snails to experiment with.
I also threw in a calcium 'Tortoise' block. I will monitor that to see if he chews on it.
As a bonus, I caught a few crickets in the yard and threw them in the tortoise house. They burrow around pretty well but do not seem to be able to jump out. I will be watching to see if they get hunted down.
After thanksgiving, I will set an appointment with the local vet.
The cat food ideas should work well. I got my box turtle eat by mixing a bunch of different grains, vegetables, and fruits with canned dog food. It was venison and sweet potato variety. I just keep cutting back on the amount of the dog food now. It's working fairly well. I still throw in some worms now and then though.
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Also try salmon and other fish. I cook mine with dill, no added fat or salt. My turtles love it, baked or grilled. Lemon optional. Try shrimp. Cat food is good when they aren't eating, but you can also give them the main ingredients without all the additives.
Thanks. The cat food is only temporary as he was not eating when I first got him.
I picked up some turtle food pellets and some canned red bananas. I cut the cat food in half last night, added a few of the turtle food pellets and half a teaspoon of the red bananas. Also, the cold weather is chasing the **** roaches and crickets out of the ground. I added a few of these as well. He ate all his food and two dead cockroaches. I did not kill the crickets and they burrowed in the mulch. I guess I will never know if he has/will hunt them down.
Now that I have had him eat two meals, I will phase the cat food out and phase some veggies in.
Also, he has taken very well to his new enclosure. He hides most of the day in the pen. But is active in the mornings and evenings. Also, we had a decent rain last night that he seems to have enjoyed. At noon today, he was on his log sunbathing. I have also seen him in little pool twice. Over all, I am very pleased with his turn around.
I hope to schedule the vet appointment soon, but it will be after Thanksgiving.
Thanks for your help and I will keep you all posted.
I picked up some turtle food pellets and some canned red bananas. I cut the cat food in half last night, added a few of the turtle food pellets and half a teaspoon of the red bananas. Also, the cold weather is chasing the **** roaches and crickets out of the ground. I added a few of these as well. He ate all his food and two dead cockroaches. I did not kill the crickets and they burrowed in the mulch. I guess I will never know if he has/will hunt them down.
Now that I have had him eat two meals, I will phase the cat food out and phase some veggies in.
Also, he has taken very well to his new enclosure. He hides most of the day in the pen. But is active in the mornings and evenings. Also, we had a decent rain last night that he seems to have enjoyed. At noon today, he was on his log sunbathing. I have also seen him in little pool twice. Over all, I am very pleased with his turn around.
I hope to schedule the vet appointment soon, but it will be after Thanksgiving.
Thanks for your help and I will keep you all posted.
You will know soon if he hasn't found the crickets. They will start chirping. When I had that happen I just put my box turtle in the general vicinity of where I heard the chirping. Half hour later no more chirping
I'm glad to hear he's eating.
My box turtles also love grasshoppers, hornworms (caterpillars), and beetle grubs that are down in the soil near the roots of plants. I bought a good quality butterfly net just for catching grasshoppers. It has a long handle, and really helps to catch those hoppers. I freeze the grasshoppers, then remove the big legs and defrost them before I feed them to the box turtles. The beetle grubs I will usually run across when digging in the garden. This is a picture of them:
http://www.thegardeningblog.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Fruit-beetle-grubs.jpg
The hornworms I buy online. They are caterpillars that eat the tobacco plant. I buy a couple of containers of the blue ones, feed the blue ones to the turtles, and as the caterpillars run out of food I start giving them kale or collard greens. When they eat the greens, they turn green, and the turtles respond as if they're getting a different food from the blue ones. They do like variety.
My box turtles also love grasshoppers, hornworms (caterpillars), and beetle grubs that are down in the soil near the roots of plants. I bought a good quality butterfly net just for catching grasshoppers. It has a long handle, and really helps to catch those hoppers. I freeze the grasshoppers, then remove the big legs and defrost them before I feed them to the box turtles. The beetle grubs I will usually run across when digging in the garden. This is a picture of them:
http://www.thegardeningblog.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Fruit-beetle-grubs.jpg
The hornworms I buy online. They are caterpillars that eat the tobacco plant. I buy a couple of containers of the blue ones, feed the blue ones to the turtles, and as the caterpillars run out of food I start giving them kale or collard greens. When they eat the greens, they turn green, and the turtles respond as if they're getting a different food from the blue ones. They do like variety.
