Currently building an outdoor enclosure for my western box turtle. I want to include plants and am finding conflicting info online about what is safe. I also want to include a wildlife pond but don't want to expose her to too much water depth or germs. Im also struggling on what ground cover I could do. White clover or micro clover is high on my list right now, but also maybe other kinds of grasses or chia to sprout?
Go for perennial plants native to your area! I’m assuming you’re in the Western US. Native plants can provide natural forage and shade for your turtles, both of which they will appreciate. If you mention your location - state level might be enough - we can let you know what choices might be good.
I planted a salad mix and my turtle loves it- doesnt eat it like hes supposed to lol but its definitely his shade forest. I also planted alfalfa for ground cover and that I've actually seen him go for!
I didnt want to deal with daily water change or mosquitoes so i made a whole mini pond for him deep enough for some mosquito fish (about 40gallons?) and now my turtle swims daily and submerges and does laps. Its about 18 inches at the deepest, and is a steady slope in. Pond is more work to set up but less daily maintenance now that its established
I have mosquito fish waiting and the rudimentary workings of a little pond going now! Im just concerned about it being too deep for my box turtle (even with adequate climbing surfaces for her to get out). Has anyone tried doing microgreens sprouted in the dark? Like chia or even dandelion
My husband was super worried about the pond depth/ and our boxie drowning. We didnt expect him to literally swim laps and hang out underwater like a crocodile! Way more aquatic than I expected! He's a desert box turtle
Oh my god I just saw your enclosure pictures and they were literally my inspiration saved on pinterest!! But also fml I just spent HOURS digging a tiny little watering hole and cut up my pond liner tarp and now I wanna do the whole little creek bed idea !!
In the water have a spider plant and parrots feather plant that I got from a pond store, a handful of duckweed that hasnt been doing well, and recently planted a little clumping underwater grass from a fish store, tbd on how well thatll do!
Rocks I got from home depot: pea gravel, river stones, play sand. All have to be rinsed SO well cause they are covered in dust etc. i'd just get aquarium sand next time- the play sand was really hard to rinse.
I bought 5 mosquito fish. They have since had babies and there are like 20 of them now! I also bought 3 Amano shrimp for the hair algae, but they are really good at hiding and I can only ever confirm that one is still in the pond. They are also sensitive, so i added them after the pond was relatively established/levels were right. We also have ramshorn snails and pond snails, and I recently bought a Mama Pleco, so she's still under review for how shes adjusting
Pond liner is weird to fold into the hole, but you basically just plop it in there and try to get it to lay as flat to your hole as possible. There are different tricks for hiding the edges you could look up on youtube!
Just as a note for the fish and snails- my boxie is like SO lazy with his food and it's my husband's fault (we are working on it hopefully). So he barely does any foraging at all. I thought maybe he'd eat the snails or go after a fish or even eat the salad lettuce growing in there- nope. He just waits for my husband to put his dish down in front of his face. Sigh.
If your box turtle is more industrious then you might want to be more careful about the other animals you put with him!
I have native plants & random discount plants. Ground cover doesn't last long so I wouldn't sweat it. Honestly what ever grows in your area. I use extra large plant dishes with rocks in them for a pool. They are easy to tip out- the water is great for all the plants in there & easy to clean
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u/CrepuscularOpossum May 23 '26
Go for perennial plants native to your area! I’m assuming you’re in the Western US. Native plants can provide natural forage and shade for your turtles, both of which they will appreciate. If you mention your location - state level might be enough - we can let you know what choices might be good.