# Desert box turtle rescue



## Omnius (Mar 20, 2006)

A friend of mine rescued an desert box turtle(I think) and he is wondering how much it needs to eat and what ot should be fed, here is what he is describing:



> Because I'm astounded by how voracious my Box Turtle is. He's shed whatever shyness he previously had and literally runs at anything that comes into his enclosure, gaping mouth, grasping front feet. It's insane. I didn't expect that behavior from a turtle, especially from one that I expected to have some feeding troubles with.
> 
> I feed him two or three sub-adult orangehead roaches every day, along with a bunch of lettuce or a full carrot. I've fed him one fuzzy mouse a couple weeks ago which he ate with no hesitation. Every second or third day I put vitamin/D3 supplement on the food. Should I be feeding him this much or should I be feeding him even more? I can't tell how fat or skinny he is very well, since I've never had much of an interest in turtles until this one was put into my care.


Here is what I said:



> The only thing I would suggest is lots more veggies types and less lettus also ensure they are fed every day since they need more food than inverts. I will ask around for help for ya, may I use the pic?
> 
> What type of turtle is it?(eastern box turtle?) Its species type will also influnce the diet.












Also he is wondering if the beak is over grown I have no clue.

Thanks for the help, hopefully we can get the turtle on a better diet though itn seems like its on the way there already, also how much should they be fed as well?


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Nice find!
Turtles/torts aren't normally my thing...but since noone else is replying. Try to stick close to what they would normally eat in the wild. I garauntee fuzzys are not the norm. I would feed leafy dark green veggies and any fruit. Turtle metabolism is as slow as there is. Feeding 2/3 times per week should be ok.

On a side note: My parents have a "California Gulf Coast Box Turtle". They have had it since I was 14 years old...it was originally my pet but they took her over, over the years. I'm now 41. This animal has outlived 4 dogs in our family and 3 relatives!


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## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Getting a positive id on the turtle is the first big important step. I remember seeing at a local shop two box turtles of very different locales in the same tank. Not good for the one that needed more of an arid environment, to say the least.

Tell your friend if the animal is eating then it's fine... And turtles generally love to eat, haha. Don't worry about it being underweight either. Obesity is more of an issue than being too thin.

I'd also follow the advice given about food... And would prob recommend looking up some dietary info for that specific turtle too.

Other than that, making sure the enclosure is well set up is the only other thing to worry about.


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