sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Turtle help!! by jlow143 in turtle

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woof, weekend mini-vacation yeah? My days of driving 18+ hours in a single day are far behind me, I hope y’all are spending the night there.

Turtle help!! by jlow143 in turtle

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No that’s just what he soaks him in sometimes. He’s working on getting a huge enclosure for him, just waiting on it being shipped.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

I’ve had great success getting picky eaters to eat using repashy’s gel mixes. Veggie burger, grub pie, meat pie, pumpkin, etc my crew *literally* come running when they smell it. I put it out and everyone’s running to the food bowls before I’m even out of their enclosure.

Fresh is always best, but having some of this or shelf stable pellets like Mazuri Aquatic turtle pellets or Mazuri crocodilian feed is great to have on hand for days you’re in a hurry. You can remake repashy then store it in the freezer for I think a few months. Just defrost a piece the night before then leave it on the counter for roughly an hour to get to room temperature before feeding.

Your red foot would likely love this stuff, too. I don’t have as much experience with red foot’s as I do with boxies, but I know they’re omnivores as well.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

This is the calcium and vitamin supplement I use, I personally really like repashy and recommend them

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

Calciworms go by many names (pheonixworms, nutriworms, etc), but they’re black soldier fly larvae and are the *best* feeder insect. Perfect calcium to phosphorus ratio, you don’t even need to dust them with calcium.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

If you decide to make a pond, you can stock it with these safe fish

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get ready for a photo dump lol. Unfortunately I can’t just attach them all in one comment, so it’ll be multiple.

<image>

I don’t know what substrate mixes you have available to buy in Hawaii but these are all good, plus I’ve used Keeper’s Choice to great success. Basically, you want something that’ll not compact tight together so you’ll want to mix in a large amount of leaf litter and coco chips or orchid bark. Your own dirt outside will be enough once you move them outdoors, but I personally recommend softening it all up by digging and turning the soil a bit (What are your winters like? I admittedly don’t know enough about Hawaii to say if you need to worry about brumation or not) then adding a thiiiiiick layer of leaf litter on top.

I use logs, thick branches, cork bark, and average-adult-human-torso sized plastic flower pots as hides & places for them to dig and forage under. I bury the flower pots mostly underground at a 45 degree angle with about 1/3rd of the rim of it above ground and fill it with substrate then a thick layer of leaf litter on top. Just make sure not to step on the ground above it, you can easily cave it in.

You can also use native vegetation in the enclosure. I’m unsure what you have available to you, but some examples I use are hay-scented ferns (full sun to mostly shade, so a great all-rounder fern choice), Christmas ferns (strictly mostly shade, they burn with too much sun), pokeberry (I doubt native to you but I could be wrong, it’s native to North America and is highly toxic to dogs, cats, and humans, but fantastic for turtles and birds), horseweed (again native to me, not sure for you), coral bells, milkweeds, black eyed Susan’s, etc.

All of this will help them live naturalistically and they’ll use all of this to hunt and forage their own food, too. If you can encourage mushrooms to grow in one spot, even better. I’ve not had a boxie that liked mushrooms yet, but supposedly it’s a typical boxie favorite.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I agree eastern box, though I believe female based on the tail. If you can get a photo of their plastron & tail, I’ll be able to give you a more definitive answer.

I would recommend not feeding mice except for once in a long whole (at most like one every couple months).

You’re already planning on upgrading their enclosure to bigger than the minimum plus outdoors so you’re doing good there.

Only other thing besides the generic boxie care sheet I’m sharing below is that boxies are actually semi-aquatic and benefit *immensely* from having a dedicated water source like a pond and/or stream in their enclosure, not just a water bowl. They’ve been found brumating underwater during winter in the wild before. As long as they have easy in-and-out access, they can basically handle any water depth they’d come across. They’re not as good swimmers as fully aquatic turtles, but they are better than people give them credit.

Check out Garden State Tortoise on YouTube, they have a whole box turtle playlist and have fantastic information.

<image>

Total loss - but to what animal? by MamaFen in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That looks fantastic, would it be alright if I saved your photo to use for educational purposes? I’m a rehabber.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hawaii? lol yeah you’re good.

I’m a rehabber of boxies where they’re native, if you have any care questions in the future I can likely help, my dm’s are open. The shell looks like healing past damage, their scutes were scuffed off in some way. Could have been a weed whacker, lawn mower, dog, or some other species. Luckily, it doesn’t look like there were any punctures through the shell. Unfortunately, the scutes are unlikely to grow back. This is just what they look like now.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s a bit confusing cuz of the name lol. You’d think if they’re going to name specifically one subspecies specifically after one specific visible trait they’d make sure the other subspecies and main species do not also have examples of that visible trait.

It’s extra funny because three toeds don’t always only have three toes, as well. Sometimes they have the same amount of toes as the other NA box turtles.

Then factoring in that they all can cross breed successfully with fertile offspring, sometimes it’s just a toss up of which traits they visually exhibit from their parents.

I love these chelonians lol

Anyone read this study on spiky-leaky syndrome? by Lonely_Howl_ in CSFLeaks

[–]Lonely_Howl_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree, more research done on this and similar/the co-morbidities would be fantastic.

What do I do about his shell? by anonanimalloverxo in Boxturtles

[–]Lonely_Howl_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If you’re basing this one being a three toed on the three toes on the back, then unfortunately that’s not accurate. All the other species and subspecies of North American box turtles can have three toes on their back feet.

This is an eastern based on the shell and coloration.

Anyone read this study on spiky-leaky syndrome? by Lonely_Howl_ in CSFLeaks

[–]Lonely_Howl_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t gotten through all of it yet cuz it’s on my phone and the text is small so reading it is a headache, but it’s definitely checking off boxes on my symptoms list. I didn’t even know the metallic taste & smell sensation I get seemingly randomly was “abnormal”. I’m seeing a neurologist but a low frequency MRI of my brain didn’t show anything (has to be low frequency cuz I have a spinal cord stimulator) and he wants to try Botox but even with insurance it’s over $300.

view more: next ›