Sugar & Sapphire Update: Growth?

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

Hello!
Sugar and Sapphire are now 5 months old! Since spring is coming soon, I think it's time to talk about their growth - they don't seem to have grown very much. They look healthy to me, any opinions would be appreciated! We will probably be doing an outdoor enclosure for summer so they can get lots of natural sunlight. How do you think they look? The first 2 pictures are of Sugar, and the last one is of Sapphire. This was during their soaking today. They are eastern box turtles.

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

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What are some good outdoor enclosure ideas for hatchlings? I'll probably bring them inside at night, though.

 

[diamondbp]

They haven't grown much for 5 months but they have vibrant eyes which is good. This is what I do for young box turtles. Get a cement tub from lowes/home depot and put roughly 3-4 inches of mulch/moss/soil mix in there. Get a few pieces of random wood to place in their for them to hide under. Drill holes along the very bottom (every 3 inches) and also another row around the soil line of the tub. This will prevent the tub from filling up with water if it rains. Place the tub in an area that gets scattered sunlight. Direct sunlight is ok for part of the day but you don't want the tub to get to hot. Box turtles naturally stay in the shade in the wild 90% of the time. Third buy a few boxes of worms to simply let loose in the tub. This will allow a breeding colony of worms to grow and provide the turtles with the ability to hunt and feed naturally. Supplement their diet with reptomin sticks/ fruits/ bread/ other bugs/insects. Ocassionally take them out for an extended soak 2-3 hours to ensure proper hydration. Make sure the substrate is always moist to the touch but not soggy or damp. Fourth plant a few random edible plants that don't grow very large for hiding and food.

I can promise this is a winning recipe for eastern box turtles. I raise my gulf coast a little different. Good luck

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

Wow! Thank you so much. I have a large woodland terrarium set up for them, but What are some other good foods? They do really like worms, and I wish it was warmer outside so I could take them out. I never thought about putting the terrarium in a patch of dappled sunlight! Thank you for all the great ideas!

 

[Leopard Tortoise Lover 16199]

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(Sugar walking around today in the habitat)

 

[diamondbp]

No problem. I'll try to take a few pictures of my hatchlings from last year to show you how large they are already. Keep in mind that gulf coast generally grow at faster rates so don't be to alarmed

 

[diamondbp]

I forgot to post the pics I promised. Here are my hatchling gulf coast from last season that I raised over winter. The were only allowed two months of true hibernation. The rest of the time they spent feeding in a warmed water tray eating Reptomin and worms.