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Codey
Guest
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« on: December 10, 2006, 12:25:18 pm » |
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I am still working on this, so bear with me
HOUSING
There are many contradicting ideas on how a box turtle should be housed.
The MINIMUM size enclosure a single box turtle should be housed in is a 16 square foot enclosure. It CANNOT BE MADE OF TREATED WOOD! It contains arsenic, and if you don't know what that is, it is a metaloid that is very dangerous to any living being. I don't even know why it is sold anymore.
Do not use glass aquariums. Box turtles are very adventurous, and if they see past the glass, and yet they cant get past the wall, it will stress them out and cause stress-related illness. Aquariums also have very poor ventilation. Aquariums are OK for box turtles 3 inches or under, but I would recommend a wooden box enclosure to the aquarium.
If you have 2 box turtles, you need to double their living space. So for 2 box turtles, you need a 32 square foot enclosure. If you have 3 box turtles, you need a 48 square foot enclosure. Also, you must have more females than males! If there are 2 males to a female, they will constantly harass the female to the point to where she will be to exhausted to eat, and in her exhausted state, illness may also set in, weakening her further.
Here is a rough guide of what size of an enclosure your turtle will need.
Hatchling- 20 gallon long
2 inches- 20 gallon long
3 inches- 30 gallon long
4 inches and larger- a 16 square foot enclosure
Now after you have the enclosure ready, you should at least have a 18 inch UVB strip light. These are a bit costly, but without the UVB, your turtle cant produce vitamin D3, which allows your box turtle to use the calcium in its body. It will develop MBD (Metabolic bone disease) and will have very brittle bones and shell. In other words, your turtle will die without it. The bulb you need should AT LEAST contain 5% UVB. Some heat bulbs say they produce UVA, but the UVB bulb will produce the UVA also. There are also mercury vapor heat/ UVB bulbs on the market. As long as they contain 5% UVB, its fine. However, they burn out easily if you have children or whatever else that may knock the bulb around, so you must keep it away from any disturbances so it last a while.
You will also need about 2 heat lightsfor each side of the enclosure to keep it at around a comfortable 850F temperature. You can use those $10 heat bulbs, but you can also use a 75 or 100 watt house bulb for the same purpose. A low wattage floodlight will also work. If you want, you can just have a single heat bulb with a reptile heating pad on the other side.
Whatever you use, be sure that the enclosure has a cool area for the box turtle to regulate its body temperature.
To leave you off with the lighting ideas, keep the lights on for as long as the sun is out. If you want, you can also buy a lamp timer for your lights. Just set it for 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. It will make your job alot easier.
For bedding ideas for box turtles, I think peat moss is the best idea. If you have a humidity loving box turtle, peat holds onto moisture very well, and if you have a box turtle from a dryer climate, like a desert ornate, it can stay relatively dry. However, DO NOT let the humidity for dryer box turtles go below 50% and for humid box turtles don't let it go below 60%. Eastern box turtles and Florida box turtles are sensitive to dryer climates from what I have heard, so be careful with this!
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