ok well i have my Eastern Box Turtle setup perfect but i have problems. The hiding log keeps growing mold and for some reason the turtle is biting the rocks that help her climb into her water bowl. So what should i do?
You'll have to ditch the log and replace it. There's no way to completely kill the mold on it that won't harm the turtle. For smaller, young turtles you can make great and washable hides out of ceramic and terra cotta flower pots. You can tip them on their sides or use a dremel tool to cut a rounded hole in the side for the turtle to use as a entrance. The rock biting could be a couple things, the color or type of the rocks may be drawing the turtle's attention or more likely something isn't being properly supplemented in the diet. If the rocks are limestone or light colored the turtle could very well be trying to get calcium. Another possiblity is that it's trying to wear down it's beak. Go over the diet you feed it and make sure its optimal, and supplement calcium, cal+D3, and multivitamins on a schedule. Give it a few pieces of plain cuttlebone if you do not do so already.
Thank you so much strange wings. I always feed her vegetables and fruits (fresh from a farm) and crickets, grasshoppers and worms for her meat portion of the diet. I dust the food with a phosphorus free calcium supplement. Wouldn't she get vitamins from the vita-light i have over her? Oh i also feed her slugs. So i think the diet is right for her. I just dont want anything to happen to her because I dont think i will ever find a baby box turtle like her again in my whole life. I am buying new tanks this week. I am moving her and the water turtles in to 20 gallon tanks. They were just in a ten for a while. So this is going to be the set-up for her next week. Substrate - Peat Moss Heating - Heat Mat Lighting - Flourescent and Incandescent ^^ Just to cover the major stuff Is this correct?
Switch the substrate to a sterile top soil and peat moss mix, you'll find this clings to eyes and food a lot less yet still allows you to keep decent humidity. A bag of plain top soil should only cost a dollar or two. Over head heat is better to turtles then a heat mat. Their natural instinct is to dig to get away from heat. Fluorescent UVB - make sure it's within it's 6 month uvb lifespan and as high a out put you can get 8.0 or 10.0%. Yes, the turtle will get some UVB from this to help make D3, but not enough. When reptiles are kept inside you need to supplement some D3 regularly, once or twice a week. Also, baby turtles hide more when young so providing some D3 in diet will help with even growth and prevent MBD. If you have a multivitamin that you use for your other reptiles (I think you said you have others besides turtles?), you should lightly sprinkle that over the food once a week - once every week and a half. If you don't have any multivitamins, herptivite made by Rep-Cal is a decent one. Be careful with the insects. Too much and you'll end up with an pyramided turtle. Tip to save you a bit of money. Don't get an aquarium for a box turtle. They don't like clear sides (they can't understand that they can't go through the glass) and it can stress them. Instead check out the large opaque rubbermaid type tubs. You can get these in much larger sizes for less then you'd pay for a 20 gal aquarium and that way your turtle would have some room to grow into. In fact, get the largest you can find, turtles like to roam. Another tip, to spruce up the enclosure a bit and provide more hiding spots - check out the fake plants at wal mart. Look for the type with large leaves, they work really well. As for finding another baby. Many people can and do breed box turtles.
ok does the same rule apply to water turtles? should i get them an aquarium or a rubbermaid container?
Depends on how you want to do the set up. I have heard of people using large rubbermaid tubs or small rubbermaid stock tanks indoors for aquatics turtles. In the case of the tubs, you'd have to build wooden sides around it to support the plastic, otherwise it could bow out. For the stock tanks, people set those up like mini ponds. Cool idea if you have the space. If your aquatics are still small it might best to stick with aquariums now and plan on an alternative setup for the future when they're larger.
I don't keep my turtles inside. I did have some pictures of the hatchlings tub months ago, but I think I might have deleted those. It's a very simple setup; 1 large opaque storage tub, 3-4" of peat + soil mixed and moistened, hides on cool and warm ends, fake plants with leave spread out placed next to hides (nothing special there). At the time I used a fluorescent 10.0% uvb tube that I suspended roughly 6 inches above the soil, if you use a MVB you can and will need to put it further away from the substrate. If you choose to use a tube you'll need to put a red bulb or a CHE over one end to bring the temp up above room temperature. At the time I also used a low watt regular house hold bulb to add a tad bit of extra heat and light during the day, but that depends on what wattages you go with and whether you have air conditioning that really chills the room their in. Be careful though, you don't want to put too many watts in there and turn the enclosure into an oven. Digital thermometer+hydrometer is a must. Oh, and the water dish was in the very middle.
Sure, as long as you decide on an enclosure big enough that even a smaller watt MVB wouldn't overheat the whole thing.
