Care Sheet for TurtlesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.50 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 03/26/2008 |
Main Category: | Aquatic/Land |
Sub Category: | Turtles |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Shannah The Great |
Years Experience: | 3 to 5 Years |
Species: | Ornate Box Turtle |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Possibly(I don’t know) other box turtles |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males have red eyes and females have yellow eyes. This is the only way to tell in ornate box turtles, but other turtles have other methods. |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | They will take almost any substrate, and love digging. It is fun to bury them under their substrate and watch them dig to get out.
A shallow water bowl slightly bigger than the turtle itself, washed when needed, is a must. It is not required, but it helps to mist them daily. |
Lighting and UVB: | You don’t have to, but they very much enjoy your standard reptile light found in Petsmart/co. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | They like to be sprayed or misted twice a day, though it is not necessary. Don’t let it get too hot, but you can let it drop below zero in the winter, since they hibernate. |
Heating and Equipment: | They love your standard reptile lamp found in Petsmart/co., though it is not required. |
Caging Provided: | The bigger the better. They don’t need a 7ft by 7ft cage, but make sure it isn’t a tiny aquarium either. Morgan loves his two feet by three feet cage, but I wouldn’t go any smaller than that. |
Diet: | Omnivorous |
Description of Diet: | They will eat mealworms, waxworms, superworms, earthworms, and nightcrawlers. Also, anything you catch in your garden, such as slugs, crickets, grasshoppers, and praying mantises. None of these need to be gut-loaded, but I’ve heard that it helps.
Plant-wise, they eat leafy greens(though my turtle refuses lettuce, spinach, celery, and cabbage), any berries that we eat, and the occasional corn or tomato.
Do not move very much while it’s eating, though you can quickly dart out of the room, because it will seethe movement, forget its food, run over to you, and maybe never find its meal again. This works double on live food, as it can crawl away. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | There are turtle diets out there, but my turtle won’t touch them, and don’t force-feed them if they don’t want it.
You can also gut load anything it eats with calcium. If you can’t gut-load, you don’t have to, and I personally don’t. |
Maintenance: | Not much. Pick up any poop or any plants that they don’t eat after a day. They love the outdoors, especially during times that would give you sunburn:). If it gets moldy under the water bowl, throw that substrate out. |
Some Words on this Species: | Ornate Box turtles are easy to care for, and a great gift for a seven-year-old(I got Morgan when I was seven). They eat almost anything,hibernate in the winter, and only need a couple of things in the cage or terrarium to make them happy. One of the greatest joys in life is watching him or her get that wide-eyed expression when it sees you place a mealworm on the sidewalk. |
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