I've never had a turtle, but have been interested in them for most of my life. Now that I'm 62 years old, disabled (in a power wheelchair), I suddenly find myself adopting four turtles! I knew about these four turtles, who were being kept in terrible conditions. I was pretty sure I could get them (away from the bad situation), but had little idea of what turtle keeping entailed. So I:
- Bought nine different 'general turtle' and 'box turtle' books from Amazon.
- Read everything I could find for three-to-four weeks, using Google search (tons of stuff).
- Found this and other forums and started lurking, reading, studying, etc.
- I even searched and found that the only Vet I can find who specializes in reptiles in our State - just happens to be located nine blocks from our home.
After a month of studying all the 'turtlology' I could find, my wife and I decided we could handle it, and in fact found ourselves getting excited about the prospect of giving these guys a better life. So we did it! We bought a large plastic child's swimming pool (an idea from a forum) for a temporary home for them. We covered the bottom with untreated hardwood mulch, added several flat rocks, one cinder block, two flower pots for hides, and two water containers (ceramic pot dishes). We mist the mulch as necessary to keep it from drying out. And, as I had thought, had no trouble removing the turts from their 'doom and gloom' living conditions and brought them home. We've had them for a month now, with no problems. They began eating well from the first day, and we've witnessed no 'arguments' at all. Our little family consists of:
Bubba - a large Three Toed male, with a dramatically marked carapace, and pretty colorful face and neck. No idea of his age, but he looks big, old, and a bit weather beaten.
Pewee - a smaller Three Toed male, with a very nice dark green shiny carapace without much marking, but he has a very colorful face and neck. He looks to be about 3/4 the size of a full grown box turtle.
Olivia - a small Three Toed female, who is ugly as mud, but she seems to be healthy and full of personality. She has the drabbest plain shell, and no color at all anywhere. She's about the size of Pewee, and looks like her carapace has had some (now healed) damage, but it remains very flat on top with what looks to be healed cracks.
Betty - an absolutely gorgeous female Ornate Box Turtle, with a beautiful carapace and very colorful head and neck. She's big! Our largest turt, a little bigger than Bubba, and has very flashy markings all over.
They all look thin, no doubt from the horrible conditions and lack of proper diet, but they're all working on filling out their figures, wolfing down most everything we give them. We have virtually no information about their history, only that they were initially collected from the wild, one by one. They've been together for a good while.
We're feeding them on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays, with a different mix each feeding. They get a mix of chopped raw vegetables, meat (worms, crickets, etc.), some fruit, commercial turtle food, and vitamin supplements. We also toss in some grass, weeds, flowers, and leaves occasionally. All but Betty will already take food from our hand, in just a month. We feed them just before sundown. They're usually buried in the mulch, but pop up and come running when they hear us. Each has their own separate flat rock where they get their own portion. It's cute to see them all chowing down on their own rock. We've gradually learned how much they'll eat, and give them what they'll clean up in an hour. Anything left over goes away.
We're now having a permanent facility being built for them (after reading much on the subject). It will be a large 18' X 4' rectangle, with two dividers, giving us the ability to let them have the run of the whole habitat or closing off any section. We're planning to remove the sod/grass from the middle 8 X 4 foot section, digging down 12 inches, then mixing hardwood mulch with the dirt. On each end there will be an additional 5 X 4 foot area where we'll leave the grass. We'll put a large recessed water container on each end, in the grassy sections, and surrounded by flat stones. Right now they get their water dishes filthy as soon as we clean it, dragging the mulch in them. Hopefully, having the 'water holes' away from the dirt and mulch will keep them a bit cleaner. Most of the hides, basking rocks and caves will be in the center bare dirt area.
The two dividers between the three areas will each have a 'turtle size' hole/door, to allow them to go from section to section if desired. These turtle doors will allow us to close off either or both end sections at any time. Initially we'll use cinder blocks as 'doors'. We'll place the cinder blocks on their sides against one side of the divider, aligning the holes in the blocks with holes in the divider, to allow access. To close a section we'll simply rotate the cinder block 1/4 a turn, to put the closed side next to the divider. When the 'doors' are open, they'll have a full 18' X 4' habitat, with 8' of bare dirt and 10' (two five foot areas, one on each end) of grass and foliage. I liked the idea of being able to close an area, to let the grass or plantings get a good start or recover from time to time (also to quarantine any patient). It will also have a wood frame/wire mesh top, hinged at the back and a pulley system so I can raise the top from my wheelchair. It will have padlocks to thwart any critters. The habitat backs up to one side of our garage.
We will be planting a good number of turtle friendly plants, flowers, and low bushes in all sections. We're planning 6-8 hides throughout, along with several large decorative flat rocks for basking, and a couple of rocky 'climbing areas'. There will also be two tunnels (subways!) under the basking rocks, and a turtle house, raised, with a ramp, with a 'cave' underneath. Most of the hides will include earth ramps on the sides, so the turts may climb over them, as well as going into them. Some hides will hold a single turtle, others will be large enough for multiple turtles (our guys already seem to like huddling). Box turtles are native to this area, so we're trying to make the habitat as natural as possible for them.
So, that's our story, we're suddenly turtle parents. I worried a bit about starting this at our age, but we have four children and seven grandkids (so far), and most of them are already interested in our little herd. We'll have no trouble keeping the little ones 'in the family' when the time comes. Meanwhile we're loving all the interesting things they do. As I mentioned, I'm disabled/retired, and was needing something to fill some long days. We can't save all the poor creatures we see smashed on the roads, but we're going to try to give a great life to four little lucky ones.
I haven't asked for advice - only because you've already been giving it as I've lurked for many weeks, reading many pearls of wisdom from your experience. And I thank you for that. Any additional advice or suggestions are welcome. When the habitat is complete and the plantings are in - I'll try to post some photos.
Thanks again,
Shubooti
- Bought nine different 'general turtle' and 'box turtle' books from Amazon.
- Read everything I could find for three-to-four weeks, using Google search (tons of stuff).
- Found this and other forums and started lurking, reading, studying, etc.
- I even searched and found that the only Vet I can find who specializes in reptiles in our State - just happens to be located nine blocks from our home.
After a month of studying all the 'turtlology' I could find, my wife and I decided we could handle it, and in fact found ourselves getting excited about the prospect of giving these guys a better life. So we did it! We bought a large plastic child's swimming pool (an idea from a forum) for a temporary home for them. We covered the bottom with untreated hardwood mulch, added several flat rocks, one cinder block, two flower pots for hides, and two water containers (ceramic pot dishes). We mist the mulch as necessary to keep it from drying out. And, as I had thought, had no trouble removing the turts from their 'doom and gloom' living conditions and brought them home. We've had them for a month now, with no problems. They began eating well from the first day, and we've witnessed no 'arguments' at all. Our little family consists of:
Bubba - a large Three Toed male, with a dramatically marked carapace, and pretty colorful face and neck. No idea of his age, but he looks big, old, and a bit weather beaten.
Pewee - a smaller Three Toed male, with a very nice dark green shiny carapace without much marking, but he has a very colorful face and neck. He looks to be about 3/4 the size of a full grown box turtle.
Olivia - a small Three Toed female, who is ugly as mud, but she seems to be healthy and full of personality. She has the drabbest plain shell, and no color at all anywhere. She's about the size of Pewee, and looks like her carapace has had some (now healed) damage, but it remains very flat on top with what looks to be healed cracks.
Betty - an absolutely gorgeous female Ornate Box Turtle, with a beautiful carapace and very colorful head and neck. She's big! Our largest turt, a little bigger than Bubba, and has very flashy markings all over.
They all look thin, no doubt from the horrible conditions and lack of proper diet, but they're all working on filling out their figures, wolfing down most everything we give them. We have virtually no information about their history, only that they were initially collected from the wild, one by one. They've been together for a good while.
We're feeding them on Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays, with a different mix each feeding. They get a mix of chopped raw vegetables, meat (worms, crickets, etc.), some fruit, commercial turtle food, and vitamin supplements. We also toss in some grass, weeds, flowers, and leaves occasionally. All but Betty will already take food from our hand, in just a month. We feed them just before sundown. They're usually buried in the mulch, but pop up and come running when they hear us. Each has their own separate flat rock where they get their own portion. It's cute to see them all chowing down on their own rock. We've gradually learned how much they'll eat, and give them what they'll clean up in an hour. Anything left over goes away.
We're now having a permanent facility being built for them (after reading much on the subject). It will be a large 18' X 4' rectangle, with two dividers, giving us the ability to let them have the run of the whole habitat or closing off any section. We're planning to remove the sod/grass from the middle 8 X 4 foot section, digging down 12 inches, then mixing hardwood mulch with the dirt. On each end there will be an additional 5 X 4 foot area where we'll leave the grass. We'll put a large recessed water container on each end, in the grassy sections, and surrounded by flat stones. Right now they get their water dishes filthy as soon as we clean it, dragging the mulch in them. Hopefully, having the 'water holes' away from the dirt and mulch will keep them a bit cleaner. Most of the hides, basking rocks and caves will be in the center bare dirt area.
The two dividers between the three areas will each have a 'turtle size' hole/door, to allow them to go from section to section if desired. These turtle doors will allow us to close off either or both end sections at any time. Initially we'll use cinder blocks as 'doors'. We'll place the cinder blocks on their sides against one side of the divider, aligning the holes in the blocks with holes in the divider, to allow access. To close a section we'll simply rotate the cinder block 1/4 a turn, to put the closed side next to the divider. When the 'doors' are open, they'll have a full 18' X 4' habitat, with 8' of bare dirt and 10' (two five foot areas, one on each end) of grass and foliage. I liked the idea of being able to close an area, to let the grass or plantings get a good start or recover from time to time (also to quarantine any patient). It will also have a wood frame/wire mesh top, hinged at the back and a pulley system so I can raise the top from my wheelchair. It will have padlocks to thwart any critters. The habitat backs up to one side of our garage.
We will be planting a good number of turtle friendly plants, flowers, and low bushes in all sections. We're planning 6-8 hides throughout, along with several large decorative flat rocks for basking, and a couple of rocky 'climbing areas'. There will also be two tunnels (subways!) under the basking rocks, and a turtle house, raised, with a ramp, with a 'cave' underneath. Most of the hides will include earth ramps on the sides, so the turts may climb over them, as well as going into them. Some hides will hold a single turtle, others will be large enough for multiple turtles (our guys already seem to like huddling). Box turtles are native to this area, so we're trying to make the habitat as natural as possible for them.
So, that's our story, we're suddenly turtle parents. I worried a bit about starting this at our age, but we have four children and seven grandkids (so far), and most of them are already interested in our little herd. We'll have no trouble keeping the little ones 'in the family' when the time comes. Meanwhile we're loving all the interesting things they do. As I mentioned, I'm disabled/retired, and was needing something to fill some long days. We can't save all the poor creatures we see smashed on the roads, but we're going to try to give a great life to four little lucky ones.
I haven't asked for advice - only because you've already been giving it as I've lurked for many weeks, reading many pearls of wisdom from your experience. And I thank you for that. Any additional advice or suggestions are welcome. When the habitat is complete and the plantings are in - I'll try to post some photos.
Thanks again,
Shubooti