Turtles

[Rakdos]

I have a T. c. triunguis or Common Eastern box Turtle and have a couple of questions

 

1. What so they eat?

2. what should i keep it in

3. How can I tell its age and gender

 

 

thanks

[5614]

um, you have a turtle, but dunno anything about it, how are you feeding it and keeping it at the moment?

[coquina]

This should help you:

 

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/eastern_box_turtle.htm

 

The scientific name for the eastern box turtle is: Terrapene carolina carolina

 

Terrapene carolina triungis is a three-toed box turtle:

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/jd/jdweb/Herps/species/usturtles/Tercartri.htm

 

The ones around here are T carolina carolina. I expect the diet is about the same in both. The links says they are omnivorous and eat snails and vegetables. I can attest to the fact that they are a vegetable gardener's nightmare. They love tomotoes and cantelopes, and will take one bite out of a melon or tomato and move on to the next one. (You have to throw the whole thing away, because they carry salmonella).

 

SO BE VERY CAREFUL TO WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER YOU HANDLE IT, IF YOU DON'T WANT THE CASE OF FOOD POISONING FROM HELL

[Rakdos]

im feeding it lettuce and keeping it in a cardboard box until thursday when i get a 10 gallon auqanium for him

 

 

 

um, you have a turtle, but dunno anything about it, how are you feeding it and keeping it at the moment?

[coquina]

Neither a 10 gallon tank nor a cardboard box is a suitable habitat. It's just not big enough. Can you wire off a corner of your yard with chicken wire and fix it a pond and a place it can burrow under loose leaves?

 

They really don't make good "pets" anyway, and, as I said before, they carry salmonella.

[Rakdos]

Just an update I let my turtle go today I just couldn't give him what he needed so I took him diwn by our local river and let him go

[coquina]

I'm very glad you did. Thank you.

[Leison]

hey catty, along with diets ,teach him some martial arts and transform him to NINJA TURTLE. that would be cool!

[pulkit]

I thought twas illegal to keep turtles as pets, atleast it is over here !

[Irken_Link]

Oh,Schrodngr's_cat. I know how it feels to let go of a pet. It may not seem like it but, even something as little as returning a turtle will benifit the ecosystem greatly.

[Firedragon52]

I'm also glad you let it go. You should never jump into caring for an animal without researching how to take care of it first.

 

I learned this lesson the hard way... and with terrible results.

[MolecularMan14]

Mine is kept in a 100 gal. fish tank, half shallow water, and half dry land w/ a heat lamp.

I feed it salami, crickets, lettuce, cottage cheese, and other turtle foods.

I would really like to let mine go, but the fact is that

a) it was born into captivity and I dont feel safe letting it go alone

b) there's no real good place for wild turtles around here

I have a lot of turtles, mainly one's that Ive rescued, and I make outdoor habitats for them, so at least they can feel comfortable.

I've released 2 snapping turtles, not too long ago, back into the wild (well this contained ecosystem that my old schools used to take field trips to). It seemed like they would like it there better than in a backyard

[Mokele]

Mine is kept in a 100 gal. fish tank, half shallow water, and half dry land w/ a heat lamp.

I feed it salami, crickets, lettuce, cottage cheese, and other turtle foods.

 

Um, I suggest taking a look around for some better foods. Human food =/= turtle food. For omnivorous turtles, commercial turtle chow plus some fresh fruits and veggies (with maybe a bit of fresh fish) would be best, and for vegetarians, look up iguana food recipes.

 

Mokele

[MolecularMan14]

Oh believe me, the people at this habitat center around here know what they're talking about. They've tried a bunch of dietary plans for all kinds of animals, and for the box turtle, they suggested crickets, cottage cheese, salami, some fish, and lettuce. And for my snappers, we feed them guppies and some turtle chow.

But I do care about my pets, so I'll look into it further. Thanks

[rakuenso]

When I was in china releasing a turtle into the natural lakes and ponds would kill them due to pollution, oh the sadness

[MolecularMan14]

thats terrible! where in china was this? are there regulations of pollution there?

[zpoot]

i have two turtles. One is a Red Eared slider, and we're not sure about the other, the vet thought it was a Florida Cooter. The first my mom found and she brought it home, the second she saw at Petsmart when they were still selling and brought it home...along w/ a couple of other animals. Anyways, i keep them in this HUGE tank, i'm not sure how big. Like Molecular man we have half water half land. We have a heat lamp and my mom said she looked around on the net and they said to give them turtle sticks..so that's what we give them.....My mom wants to get rid of them now, but she wants to give them to a good home that's used to dealing with turtles because we too have turtles born into captivity and don't want to let them loose in the wild...This is all random info..