PDA

View Full Version : Elemental Exotic's newest additions. Box turtles.


Elemental Exotic's newest additions. Box turtles.

Tavia
09-22-2014, 06:20 PM
I've been looking into getting either a Box turtle or one of the small tortoise species for a couple years. One of the local rescues posted these two last week and I finally decided to bite the bullet and chose one, or in this case, two, turtles.

Just got them last night. They are super friendly!
The male has really neat markings on his face. He also had some pretty ugly damage to a section of his shell, that I'd been told about, but it looks really well healed. They were an owner surrender to an animal shelter who then sent them on to the rescue I got them from, so there isn't much background info on them. Not sure how old they are but they are on the smaller side and don't look totally full grown.

This is the female, peeking out to watch everything going on as I got them ready for a brief soak this morning.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2113_zps605f5145.jpg

The male after his soak.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2114_zps922cc977.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2115_zpsdc7172a8.jpg

The old injury to the male's shell.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2116_zpsf722bf8d.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2117_zpsef921ac2.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2118_zps103bcfcd.jpg

The female after her soak.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2119_zps59abacd9.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2120_zps5536d4e8.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2121_zps2e8eb59a.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2122_zpsd1c93a4f.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2123_zps78a42e55.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2124_zpsab076cb8.jpg

Tavia
09-22-2014, 06:22 PM
http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2125_zps873f4d71.jpg

The male outside in natural light.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2127_zpsa20db71b.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2128_zpsca287a7e.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2129_zps1bacbe8c.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2130_zpsbb32e526.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2131_zps3c8ecddf.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2132_zps196f14df.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2133_zpsec081ce5.jpg

Another one of the damaged area of the male's shell.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2134_zpsc0b70caf.jpg

The female in natural light. She did't want to hold still at all. Her beak is a little long but she has an appointment with the vet to get it trimmed later this week.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2135_zps79916fa9.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2137_zpsb859e57d.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2138_zpsf18120b7.jpg

Nanci
09-22-2014, 07:28 PM
So cute! I love boxies. A cuttle bone will help keep her beak shorter after it's trimmed. I'd have the vet do a fecal too, to look for parasites.

Do you have an outdoor enclosure? Sun is REALLY important for them.

And Walmart sells nice night crawlers.

Tavia
09-22-2014, 07:36 PM
There is a cuttle bone in with her right now and I was actually heartened to see that she had pecked at it a bit already. Currently they are indoors in a winter enclosure but I am planning on making them an outdoor enclosure this spring. I've been looking at some great ones online! Still trying to figure out exactly how I want to design and build it.

hypnoctopus
09-22-2014, 07:46 PM
They are super cute! I didn't know they had to have their beaks trimmed. Very interesting.

Tavia
09-22-2014, 07:50 PM
They are quite remarkably bird-like! Even their eyes and head movements are very avian looking.

MysticExotics
09-22-2014, 08:06 PM
Very cute!!

Tavia
09-23-2014, 07:40 PM
They both got a couple of hours out in the yard and sun today. The male trekked all over and was interested in exploring, the female pretty much stayed in one spot and was more wary, though she did look around a good bit.

Female, with my phone by her for size comparison.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2139_zps97fb587f.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2141_zps332a6107.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2150_zps79f7a39a.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2151_zps3356b9f8.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2152_zpsd589255c.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2153_zps8d37a00b.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2154_zpsa5b547ca.jpg

Tavia
09-23-2014, 07:44 PM
The male next to my phone.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2140_zps7405fbb5.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2142_zpsaf63e609.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2143_zps46d6e490.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2144_zps62cbe205.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2145_zps6599608f.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2146_zps4b1837f2.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_2149_zpscf797bc3.jpg

rainbow_bright83
09-23-2014, 08:01 PM
they are so cute. my 10yr old wants a turtle, but I just don't know about it. Does it take a lot to care for them?

Nanci
09-23-2014, 08:02 PM
They look full-grown to me. Are they Ornamentals?

Tavia
09-23-2014, 08:06 PM
I'm 99.9% sure they are both Three Toeds. I'd actually really been wanting an Eastern, if I ended up getting a boxie but for some reason this pair just spoke to me.

Nanci
09-23-2014, 08:09 PM
I wonder what they're doing way out there? Well, three-toed area sub-species of Eastern, along with Gulf Coast and Florida.

Nanci
09-23-2014, 08:11 PM
"They say" you can guestimate their age by the rings on their scutes, but a good clue is how worn the belly scutes look. Are you positive about the sexes? They are usually simple to differentiate.

Tavia
09-23-2014, 08:11 PM
Most of the ones around here are generally the Three Toed ones and usually WC, which I imagine these probably are too. I'd also kind of been wanting to make sure to get a CB one but again, this just kind of happened.

Tavia
09-23-2014, 08:29 PM
they are so cute. my 10yr old wants a turtle, but I just don't know about it. Does it take a lot to care for them?

They aren't super hard to care for. The box turtles are omnivores and require somewhere around 40% to 60% of their diet to be animal or insect protein and the rest veggies and some fruits. Lots of variety is key and could possibly be harder to provide. They also do best if they can be kept outside in nice big predator proof pens. Fish tanks, although often used, don't make good indoor cages. Something like a large plastic livestock tank or a "turtle table" are best. There are lots of instructions out there on making turtle tables from things like old dressers that are pretty easy. They often want to go to where they can see and glass or mesh type barriers can drive them to keep crashing into them, trying to get through and possibly hurting themselves.
Boxies can also become fixated on certain foods, to the exclusion of all other foods and that can cause them big health issues as they won't get the variety they need in their diet. We actually had a box turtle for a year or two when I was 8, who got that way. He'd only eat peaches and nightcrawlers no matter what we did. That of course didn't make him thrive and we ended up rehoming him. So I was sure to research a lot on how to prevent that from happening when I started looking into them a few years ago and found that it is a semi common issue and there is a good amount of advice out there on preventing or breaking one of doing that.

Something like a Greek or Russian tortoise actually has a less complicated diet and based on that, I was very tempted to get one of those instead but I like the looks of the box turtles best.

rainbow_bright83
09-23-2014, 10:22 PM
Thanks for the info!

HannaKonda
09-24-2014, 04:58 PM
They are cute! Are turtles not common everywhere? I've lived in Louisiana most of my life and they are everywhere. I'm forever stopping the car on the way to work to pick up a turtle in the road and put it out of harms way, mostly in spring and summer.

I didn't know about their beaks either. I learned something new today. Thanks for sharing.

Tavia
09-24-2014, 05:05 PM
They are not native here. I believe we only have one species of native turtle in Idaho and that one is aquatic. Parts of Utah does have a native population of desert tortoises.

vetusvates
09-24-2014, 05:48 PM
They are cute! Are turtles not common everywhere? I've lived in Louisiana most of my life and they are everywhere. I'm forever stopping the car on the way to work to pick up a turtle in the road and put it out of harms way, mostly in spring and summer.

I didn't know about their beaks either. I learned something new today. Thanks for sharing.

Oh yeah, everywhere in Louisiana. Ev...ry...where.

Tavia
07-09-2015, 08:40 PM
Dag and Pell each got some nightcrawlers today. Took pictures of Pell enjoying hers. We used to have a thriving population of Pill bugs, especially around the foundation and sides of the outbuilding in the back yard but they have done a number on it over the last week.
It is quite fun to watch them stalk and pounce on them!

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4094_zps7i1kwyca.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4095_zpsyv7cfzsd.jpg

One of the pill bugs wandered by and only avoided destruction because she was busy devouring her worm.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4097_zpsqeqqt5pd.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4098_zpsqurnpfp2.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4099_zpsrwycmvhl.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4100_zpsadmsjfcz.jpg

"All done. Where's the next one, Mom?"

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4101_zpsrfz1ygwp.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4102_zps62drdou2.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Box%20Turtles/DSC_4103_zpsv3xlvbul.jpg

IrishInIsengard
07-09-2015, 09:55 PM
What a cutie! look at those little feet :)