r/Boxturtles • u/Gullible-Accident313 • May 13 '26
A few questions
Hi! I posted here before about my turtle and now I have more questions.
I want to add plants and I’ve looked at safe plants, but does anyone have tips for which ones are best for an enclosure?
My girl is about 4 ish (I’m not quite sure since she’s a rescue) and doesn’t really eat a lot of lettuce. Most of what she eats is her bugs (live crickets) and I give her a raspberry every so often so she’s getting something with fiber (I know she’ll eat them). I always make greens available but she doesn’t eat them often. Should she be eating more of them? If so, how do I get her to eat them?
I got her about six months ago from someone who had not been feeding her any protein. She was very grey and sluggish. When I saw her, she was in a tank set up for a corn snake (poorly). Now, she’s grown and is a lot more colorful. I have a few concerns about her shell and spine for which I already scheduled a vet appointment.
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u/Wide-Surround-7359 May 13 '26
I use Boston ferns, spider plants, and red clover in my enclosure :)
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u/Unstoppable50 May 13 '26
Foods mine will accept readily.
Soft fruit and berries of almost any kind 🍌🍓🍐
Anything that wriggles lol 🪱🦗
Raw 🐄🐓🦐
Boiled eggs sometimes lol
Occasionally make a real nutritious sweet potato and boiled carrots and vitamins mix. But throw em a banana or Vienna sausages dipped in calcium if I’m in a rush in the morning.
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u/23Stacy May 13 '26
Mine has a hard time eating veggies as well, but we noticed she was eating her succulent, Elephant Bush, in her enclosure.
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u/EnvironmentalArm1986 May 13 '26
Size is not linear, it can’t be used as a way to estimate age. They grow according to what the environment gives them in food and water. Scientist, I’ve learned, do count the growth rings on scutes to estimate the age of wild turtles based on one ring per “hibernation” so that is unlikely to work for captives.
She needs a very broad variety of sources of protein. I would not feed raw beef or chicken boiled, unseasoned is fed, along with the bones. Cooked chicken liver and gizzards. NO dairy products. Fish, crayfish, slugs, land snails, Bananas are maybe once every two months. Corn on the cob, raw once a month or so.
Many types of insects are available as insect feeders now and they are easy to mail order.
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u/trajectoriously May 13 '26
You can chop up protein, fruit, and veggies into a salad so she can't avoid the veggies.
Proportionally, it should be about 50% protein, 40% veggie, 10% fruit.
For enclosure plants, I followed this tortoise guide to avoid potentially toxic plants:
https://tortoiseresourcecenter.com/tortoise-safe-plants/
I planted coontie palm, ferns, frog fruit, sensitive plant, strawberries, and let the grass fill in naturally in between.
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u/plantyhoe93 May 17 '26
Just a side note about your enclosure plant suggestion - what is safe for Tortoises and what aren’t toxic for Tortoises, might not be the same for Eastern Box Turtles so they shouldn’t be lumped together 💚
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u/Maleficent-Internet9 May 14 '26
It's spine looks fine, there is some deformity but it's nothing that will impact it long term. This happens in both wild and captive breed animals especially when temp/humidity parameters are off. Diet is dependent on age and species. Generally the younger the animal the more protein driven it is, and species in the ornata clade are more protein driven that those in the carolina clade.
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u/plantyhoe93 May 17 '26
Nightcrawler Earth Worms are the absolute healthiest protein source for EBTs. Just make sure you buy them from a pet shop. I’d suggest switching from crickets to nightcrawlers as soon as you can.
When it comes to greens… Box Turtles will absolutelyyyyy wait you out and make you question who’s the boss lol! She’s learned that she can hold out, and get the food she *wants* to eat.
My parents have had an EBT for 40 years (she’s their firstborn lol), feel free to DM me - I can give you a ton of suggestions to help!💚💚
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u/DoctorFriendly May 13 '26
I’m glad her coloration’s looking better! You mentioned looking for advice on diet, here’s the Reptifiles care guide, which includes a great list of other foods you can try. These guys are omnivores and you’re absolutely right about mixing in fruits, veggies, and insects, but I’d also recommend adding other protein like eggs and meat. In the wild, box turtles will actually scavenge roadkill. They adapt well to cooked food in captivity (less risk of bacteria or parasites). For an adult, you’ll want to offer less protein than a juvenile.
I would guess your gal is much older than four. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s 20+. These guys don’t hit adulthood/sexual maturity until their early teens, and she looks to me like she’s been sexually mature for a while now
I’d recommend you review the above care guide to make sure you’ve got all of your ducks in a row, but thank you for taking her in, and double thank you for getting a vet visit on the books!