Why isnt my three toed box turtle very active ?

[doubledfight]

Ripplee , my three toed box turtle , who ive had for about uhh, 2 weeks but he got out and i lost him for a week , so its been 2 days since ive had him after he was lost , anyways , well ever since ive had him all he does is stay in the shade ALL day , he doesnt bask or soak or anything , except in the morning is when he gets out for like an hour but ive never seen him in his water , where i live its summer at the moment so everday its about 90 degrees F so its really hot , oh and yes he eats very well , and hes a very healthy turtle he just isnt active at all , so if yall could help and tell me why this is id be very apriciative. Thanks.

heres his cage , and yes i burried the water into the ground dont worry , but yeah he stay under the white board all dayy,,

and here he is,

 

[dmmj]

I can't say for sure, but I know from my own experience, that the hotter weather, mine are less active.

 

[Kristina]

He is hiding because that is where he feels more secure. If your pen had more plants, logs, and other types of cover, he would probably utilize more of it. He feels exposed, and that is against their instincts.

I am 99.9% sure that Riplee is wild caught. The smoothness of his shell, and the tiny hole on the side of his carapace are my reasons for saying that. He may never be a social turtle. Many boxies are not, it is their nature to be shy and reclusive, and a turtle that has lived most of its life hiding from predators is going to have those instincts very strongly. My female is not social, but honestly, I let her live pretty much like a wild turtle. The only interaction she gets from me is an occasional photo shoot and when I feed her. She is happy, and so am I.

I also agree that the heat may be playing a factor, but again, more shade would help.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

That's pretty open too. He might be afraid of being attacked from above. I would say that he considers that his hide and they mostly do just stay in their hide. I would add a bigger water feature and see if he isn't more interested in that. There just doesn't seem to be much to do in his habitat...

 

[Kristina]

(Here are some pics of my pen, for some ideas. You can get a 3 pack of Ostrich Fern bulbs at Home Depot for less than $10, and they are safe to use. The other plants in there are a Hosta and a patch of Timothy grass that I dug out of a field Hey, it worked, lol. My two like to burrow at the base of the plants and hide.)

 

[terryo]

I agree with Kristina...lots more plants and a bigger water dish. My Three toed sits in the pond for a very long time each day. He sits under there all day to get out of the sun. Boxie don't stay out all day. They usually come out early in the morning and then again late in the afternoon. The plants will add some humidity too. See all the moss growing on the logs in Kristina's enclosure...(I love it, by the way)..that moss comes from lots of humidity. After you place your plants, loosen up the dirt, and throw in a lot of worms. Next time you water your plants the worms will come up and he will be out hunting for them. This is what boxies do. Also your dirt looks very hard, and boxies like to dig and bury themselves.

 

[doubledfight]

okayy , thankks ,. so i need to get more plants and a bigger dish , but how much bigger of a water dish ? and is his cage to small for him i mean i dont think so , and ill get some more plants soon , im still working on his cage , . but please i need alot of tips on what i should do for his cage.

 

[terryo]

The water dish should be big enough for him to climb in and soak. Do you have someone who will hellp you get some plants and fix his enclosure? The bigger the better...if you have the space.

 

[doubledfight]

Yes I have someone to help me with the plants and I don't have anymore space right now for him maybe in the future but not now and how big should my water dish be ?and what kind of plants and what else should I put in his tank ?

 

[Itort]

One thing I use as water feature is a hot water heater pan . It's about 18" in diameter and 4" deep available in home improvement stores. As pointed out more cover needed, I have used lattice panels as enclosure cover. Another trick if your lawn is untreated using a pile of grass clippings (this attracts bugs and provides bury area). In the wild at 90 degrees they are buried in substrat.

 

[terryo]

Your water dish should be at least this big...so he can soak in it. They also sell a dish this size that goes under a plant, which is just as good. The plants are called hosta, and there's some moss and creeping jenny. You can get all of them at a home depot or a nursery.

 

[doubledfight]

like , alrightt i can get the plantss, ahah, . hmm butt ima have promblems finding the water dish. , cause thats pretty big and iddk like where am i gonna put it in his cage , and should it be , in the shade or in the sunn, ahh , please help , lol .

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oh and i got some mulch and laid it down for him to burry in and i put a log , and some leaves in tehre and i water in there everyday , trying to gross the grass in there , andd ive been trying to make his cage as good as possiblle.

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oh and terryo , what do you use as your uh , water dish ?

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

A large pie tin makes a decent water dish, as does a large plant pot dish, like this one (box turtle-sized 4-1/2" Iberian, for size context):

Note the flat rocks around it...torts climb up into dish, climb out the same way - great exercise...looks good, too! Also, note the "cave", made up of flat rocks - easy to whip up, looks reasonably "natural", yet leaves more room to make a cool environment.

Bottom pic made right after enclosure was finished, top about 6 weeks later...

Entire enclosure is about 7-1/2' X 5'...ideal for a boxie or two!