Can you help me with my turtle?

Question

My sisters just got a Texas Three-toed Box Turtle and I need help trying to figure out what it's supposed to eat and what it's living conditions are supposed to be. Also any sites about taking care of these turtles would be helpful. Thank You

Answer 1

Get box turtle books by Philippe de Vosjoli and you'll be fine.

Answer 2

These turtles are adaptive, and are possibly the only box turtle who can live happily in an indoor enclosure

These turtles are omnivores, their diets varying with availability of food sources and the seasons. They are known to eat earthworms, insects, snails, slugs, strawberries, mushrooms, and green-leafed vegetation. They have been observed eating the eggs of quail. It should be noted however that all box turtles will prefer live foods to vegetation.

It has also been speculated that these turtles eat poisonous mushrooms, but are not themselves sickened by the mushroom's toxins. Afterwards, the turtles then become poisonous themselves. Carr[9] believes this to be the reason why a group of boys in Mississippi became ill after eating roasted three-toed box turtles.

As pets, they have been reported to eat mealworms, corn, melon, crickets, waxworms, tomatoes and even moist dog food. They can be shy about being watched while eating, and may stop and stare back motionless if this happens

They do much better when kept in well shaded, heavily planted  outdoor pens with a damp moss and leaf-litter substrate, and constant access to a shallow bathing pond. Major problems quickly develop if they are overheated or allowed to become too dry. Box turtles MUST have access to humid substrates and micro-climates in eye, nose and ear infections are to be avoided: in the wild, they spend a lot of time buried in damp earth, and even mud. If kept in a dry vivarium tank they will suffer severe, and possibly fatal, dehydration very rapidly indeed. If they must be maintained indoors, it is vital that they are sprayed and soaked on a daily basis. They do not like bright light, and hot basking lamps

i hope the information helped.

Answer 3

Three-toed are usually good pets. You can learn a lot about them at...

- http://www.boxturtlesite.info

- http://www.austinsturtlepage.com and

- http://www.turtleforum.com

Answer 4

this should help, it's the main info anyway:

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/boxturtle...