Description:
Three Toed Box Turtles are native to the United States and range from
Missouri south to Texas and southwest to Georgia. They inhabit humid
grasslands, marshes, woodlands, and thickets. They
The carapace is typically a uniform olive coloration...keeled, with
the plastron a lighter shade. However like Eastern box turtles there are
many variations, some carapaces are darker almost brown. Typically they
have very few yellow markings. The plastron can also have some black
blotches. The head neck and arms have yellow, red and orange blotches.
The males are usually more colorful....but I have seen some females with
brilliant colors. They are typically more domed than Eastern box turtles
with the highest point to the rear of the shell. They usually have 3
toes on the hind feet...sometimes 4.
Three Toed Box Turtles can grow to lengths of about 6"
but, most are around 4-5". As with the other North American box turtles,
the plastron is hinged at the front and rear, allowing the turtle to
close itself inside the shell when it feels threatened.
Housing:
 Care
in captivity should mimic its natural habitat as much as possible.
Ideally they should be kept in large outdoor pens. The pen
should be located where it can receive some direct sunlight early in the
day and dappled light the rest of the day The substrate
should be leaf litter. In my pen, 1/3 is covered with at least 6" of
composted hay. This provides an abundance of grubs, worms, slugs,
millipedes and other food. The rest of the pen is covered with about an
inch of leaf litter. Outdoor pens can be planted with shade loving
plants such as ferns and Hostas. Also, they need a water source for
soaking and drinking. Mine spend a good portion of the day soaking. I use large glazed ceramic flower pot bottoms
partially sunk into the substrate. Indoor
pens also should be as large as space will allow. Adult box
turtles. For the most part aquariums are unsuitable. A minimum
sized pen can be made from a 50 gallon
Rubbermaid storage container.
Although very functional, a storage container isn't
very
attractive. With a little imagination (and some carpentry skills), very
attractive pens can be made. To the right is an excellent example by
Ellen Friedman.
When kept indoors, it is crucial that a UVB-emitting
reptile bulb be used. I prefer the
UVHeat type bulb. Three Toed Box Turtles like to soak
often and should have an adequately large water dish that they can
easily get in and out of. When kept indoors I usually soak them once a
week in a large dishpan with a couple inches of lukewarm water. They
tend to defecate in the water dish so these need to be cleaned daily.
Humidity is a major issue. Most box turtles are kept far to dry. This
leads to eye problems which are often mistaken for eye infections and/or
respiratory infections. To keep the humidity high I use sphagnum
moss/Bed-a-Beast/sand mix. This is kept moist with daily misting. They
should have hiding spots and an area for burrowing available. Three Toeds should
have a basking area that is maintained at 87-90°F., and a
cooler, shaded area.
Diet:
60% or more of the diet is composed of animal matter.
Some of the "animal" matter they eat in the wild includes: slugs,
snails, worms, grubs, caterpillars, beetles, pill bugs, sow bugs,
centipedes, crickets, grasshoppers, spiders, flies, crawfish and
carrion. Essentially, if they can catch it, they will eat it.
The rest is plant matter. A large part of which is
fungi (mushrooms etc). Moss, berries and grass are also eaten.
More information can be found at
http://aboxturtle.com/diet.htm |
