PonderEthereal

I have a `4 year old, male Three Toed Box Turtle that I keep in an outdoor enclosure. It’s been about a year since his enclosure was ‘refreshed’. Some of the plants were overgrowing or dying and the soil level was lower than I would like. I like to stay hands-off with his enclosure… it’s his territory and I like for it to be an actual habitat rather than something for my pleasure. But once a year, so far, seems about right to overhaul it and touch it up.

First, of course, I took him out and put him in the tub to soak. Then I pulled out the driftwood, water bowl etc. When I pulled out the water bowl, low and behold there were a TON of baby worms under it. My effort to seed worms in his enclosure WORKED! I scattered these out throughout the enclosure. I would…

I have a ~3 year old 3 toed box turtle which is kept in an outdoor enclosure. Behold :

She’s been hibernating of her own volition since mid October. Every couple of weeks, I’ve pulled her out to check to make sure she’s still breathing and looks healthy and then I put her back. This weekend, I pulled her out to check on her and when she tried to blink, her eyes were sealed shut and had puss behind the lids. Eye infections are really common in box turtles, especially during hibernation. None the less, the are still gross and a little bit scary.

You’ll be happy to know that she recovered nicely within a few hours. I had to wake her up out of hibernation. I’m keeping her indoors for a couple of weeks to keep a closer eye on her and soak her regularly.

So, here is how…

Excerpt from my grocery list :

1. lady bugs to kill the mites
2. praying mantis eggs to kill the big spiders
3. ant spray for the misc ant attacks
4. more worms for the turtle
5. crickets for the turtle

I am the proud owner of a bundle of scales, a shell and 14 toes that we affectionately refer to as Annie*. She is a juvenile, captive bred, Three Toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis). She is about 4 years old and as cute as a turtle can possibly be.

We picked her out of 20 other Three Toed Box Turtles and she appeared relieved that the fucking two legged freaks FINALLY plucked her out of this chelonian hell where she was FORCED to rub shells with turtles of a much lower caste than she and brought her into the REAL WORLRyan where she belonged. She looked me up and down, said “You’ll do.” and then stomped away in a huff. Well, attempted to anyways. She sort of air-stomped, her legs moving on either side of my hand.

She was thereforewith plunked into a box and whisked away to her new…

We are going to be purchasing a box turtle in the next couple of weeks. However, I would prefer to adopt one that needs a home from someone who no longer wants it. If you have or know someone who has a box turtle that they no longer want or who needs a home - OR SOMEONE WHO CAPTIVE BREEDS - , please drop me a line.

Heres my craigslist ad if you want to pass this along.

I would be willing to pay a small amount for it or for any supplies that need to go with it and/or shipping. Injured/rehab turtle possibly ok too. I have experience with turtle catch/rehab/release.

I am looking primarily for an Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina). However, another similar type/size of turtle who can live in the same environment is ok too (ornate and three toed definitely ok). We have a full habitat set up outdoors…

Sphagnum moss retains SO MUCH moisture that the soil was never drying out and the plants didn’t like that. So I took out the few dead plants, clipped the dead off of the remaining plants, pulled them all out, removed a trash bag full of soil/sphagunum mix and replaced it with a square foot of top soil, mixed it all up and replanted everything. The plants are happier and there is more leeway between the soil and the top of the pond liner which = no chance of escape.

In the upper left of the picture, you can see the half-log hiding place. There is also a stone surface near the bottom that will soak up heat from the sun as well as provide more a more textured surface which is healthy for their nails.

I took out some of the dead and dying lettuce and added two more leaf lettuce…

It’s no secret that I’m down with the whole turtle thing. I REALLY wanted a mastiff but our landlord begs to differ. Short of that, a quiet chelonian that doesn’t drool will do. There was, after all, NOTHING in the lease about turtles.

And so… about a month ago, I set about preparing green growing things for the new turtle home and last night, I finally got the basics done. The following how-to shows you how to set up an easy-to-make outdoor turtle terrarium/enclosure type thing with easily accessible stuff from your local Home Depot for under $200. This one is being built for Eastern box turtles. Depending upon the type of turtle or tortoise you have or are getting, the substrate and plant life might need to be different - but this should serve as a good jumping off place for ya.

You can see all the pics full size here.

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I love when they stick their their little heads out with their intelligent, beady eyes and the funny ways they show affection. I love how they eat and how they leave little triangle bit marks when they eat. I love how they clean themselves and I love how carefully they watch their surroundings. I love that they can eat an entire slice of canteloupe or a small side salad. I love that they don’t shed. I love that they hibernate and require no care for like 3 months out of the year. It’s like sending your kid to his dad’s for the summer. Except that you can have sex in the living room even when they aren’t hibernating. I digress. I love when they arch their long necks out of their shells to take a drink. I love when they take off across the lawn at top speed. Turtles are…

I started looking at other websites for advice. How do you fix a cat that WAS litter box trained but has stopped using the litter box? Short answer, try everything. Long answer, there are some things you need to know as well as some great products - AND a list of things to try.

Friday was relatively uneventful. Saturday morning, I got up with Ethan and took him to his grandmother’s house around noon. She kept him until Sunday evening.. so that left me with an entire day with no kiddo.. oh, what to do.. Michael was at work…

So I decided to take a trip into Midtown to Ebbos. I got my first real cauldron. I’ve always used this metal bowl thing but now I finally have a bona fide cauldron!.. ;) And I got a censor that I liked.. a few stones and some citronella essential oil. Then I went to Baskin Robbins.. who was out of whipped cream.. and what, pray tell, is a sundae without whipped cream??? So I went home sundae-less.. :(

Saturday night, we went to see ‘The Mexican’.. it was pretty funny.. Thinking about it now, it was comprised of so many mini-sagas that really shouldnt seem like they…