Substrate and messy water?

Joined
Apr 18, 2019
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2
Location (City and/or State)
Sunnyvale
Hi!
I first want to say...I'm new at this. Any advice is helpful at this point.
Circumstances lined up in such a way that I became an inexperienced and last minute box turtle owner a few months back.
Some basic and constant Googling has helped us so far, but she continuously throws new things at me!
My most current situation is constantly filthy water. I'm changing it 4 times a day, and no sooner than I change it does she soak again. I think there is a problem with my substrate...is it bothering her, or is it simply filthy?

She went through a very long period of hardly using her water at all. She was quite inactive, I determined a period of brumation? Now she is constantly in the water, soaking for an hour at a time easily, several times a day.

Is this normal?

I use a Eco Earth's coconut substrate. She gets wet and then it sticks to her, I can't imagine that's comfortable, but the problem is that she gets her water to be absolutely repulsive. I don't want her drinking it! The substrate also gets all over her food constantly, though I have staggered her rocks so the food is elevated a bit, but I heard it's really not good for them to be ingesting much of that stuff.

She is in an indoor enclosure. I live in an apartment and cannot do a permanent outdoor habitat, though she goes out plenty. It is 6 feet by 2 feet with hideaways and climbing areas in various temperature zones ranging from 70 up to 100, she has basking spots and a thick layer to dig in. So I can't imagine that temperature is an issue. As her humidity is at 45% most often.

My questions are:
Is she bathing so much out of discomfort or health problem, or is this normal after a period of brumation?

Is it okay that she eats food when it gets covered in substrate?

Is there something I can do to keep her food and water clean? I heard that Eco Earth coconut fiber was great for box turtles, but should I be using something else for ground cover instead?

Thanks!
 

JoesMum

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Hi

If you post photos of your enclosure and lighting it will help us to help you.

The usual mistake people make is to put food and water dishes at the edge of an enclosure. Tortoises and turtles patrol boundaries of their world checking for intruders. They are very territorial. Anything in the stomping path will get marched through and substrate dragged into it.

You need to make sure that the floor area is as big as possible and that things you don’t want trampled are in the middle.
 

Tom

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Box turtles love the water. This is normal and good.

The problem is the substrate. Coir is safe, but its very messy. Fine grade orchid bark works much better.
 

ColleenT

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I had similar issues with them soaking in the enclosure in the house. I am happy i was able ot build a huge outdoor enclosure. This helped a lot and the water still gets a bit dirty, but not as bad. Good luck.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi and welcome!

If you move the waterer away from the edge of the enclosure it helps a bit, but the best way to clear up the problem is to change the substrate, like Tom suggested.
 
Joined
Apr 18, 2019
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Sunnyvale
Thanks to all, that's helpful. I moved the water and food rock away from the edge, I will look for the orchid substrate.

And her soaking for several hours a day is standard? She's just started doing that recently.
 

xBapes

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Feb 18, 2018
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Cockeysville, MD
Box Turtles love to soak themselves. I catch mine doing it throughout the day, it’s nearly impossible to change the water all the time so I at least change it daily..unless he soils in it. I don’t use orchid bark as my substrate. I use peat moss, soil, and cypress mulch blend that works well. Even if Iggy gets in the water it doesn’t seems to float like the Eco Earth coir does. He’s able to drink without the mud effect of the coir in the water. My substrate choice is more of a preference and Iggy seems to like it more than just bark or mulch. He likes to dig in the dirt [emoji23]
 

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