Box Turtles as Pets

I have a long-standing tradition passed down to me from my dad: any time I see a turtle in the road I slam on the brakes, jump out and rescue it. If it’s in a highly populated area where it’s likely to wind up in the road again the next day, I take it to my parents’ house to hang out near their pond, after letting the kids keep it for a day or so. Many kids are fascinated by turtles, and mine are no exception. So when Dad brought us a baby box turtle last spring, I knew we had a new pet. If you’ve found a little guy like our buddy Stuart and decided to keep him, here are a few tips for taking care of your new pet.

First things first: your new friend needs a good place to live. Set up a terrarium for him in a regular aquarium; the ten gallon size is bin enough for a very young turtle, but be aware that box turtles can get pretty good-sized, and in a couple years you may need to upgrade to a twenty gallon tank, and later he may need one even larger. Fill the tank with substrate (bedding), at least four or five inches deep. Don’t use sand or gravel; buy bedding made of wood shavings, bark, or coconut husks. I really like Reptibark and Aspen bedding. It’s important to put a deep layer of the substrate in the tank, because your turtle may bury himself in the winter.

Box turtles like to live near water, so give him a pond. You can buy a shallow bowl to put in the cage, but we just used a shallow plastic storage container that cold cuts came in. Bury the bowl in the substrate up to the rim, and place some small rocks in the bottom so the turtle can get in and out on his own. Fill it to the top with clean water and change the water often.

Box turtles are omnivores when they are babies, which means they eat both plant and animal matter. There are several different types of box turtle food available at pet stores, along with tasty treats and even canned grasshoppers (yummy!). Your kids can dig for small worms that your turtle will love to eat, and you can give him small pieces of fresh fruit like berries as a treat as well. Box turtles become herbivorous (plant-eaters) as adults in the wild; your pet can still eat the commercial turtle food and enjoy his fresh fruit treats. Feed him every day or every other day. If you put bits of fresh fruit in his cage, remove what isn’t eaten after a day so it doesn’t get rotten or moldy.

Some people use an external heat source for their turtle’s terrarium, since they are cold-blooded, but if he lives in the house and you keep it at a comfortable temperature, it probably isn’t necessary. Make sure the bedding in his cage is plenty deep enough for him to burrow in, and he may hibernate in the winter.

It’s a good idea to get some aquarium tetracycline to help keep your turtle healthy and treat any infections he might get. Put about half a capsule of the tetracycline in his pond every three or four months and let the turtle hang out in the water for an hour or so (make sure his head is out of the water!). You don’t need to change the water after he soaks in it.

Even with their tough shells, turtles can still get injured. Supervise children carefully when holding and playing with turtles; their heads, necks and legs can get injured if they are dropped or handled roughly. Make sure your children wash their hands before and after playing with the turtle in order to keep everyone healthy. It’s fine to let your turtle crawl around on the floor or on your lap; he needs his exercise too.

Enjoy your new pet!