Box Turtle Diet and Calcium Powder

[jreidsma]

Hi everyone

My grandparents took a trip to MO and are bringing me back a box turtle that is not wanted by its owner any more apparently. I am setting up a nice (what I think to be 45 gallon) tote for it with a basking light and UVB/UVA light and everything but I have ran into a question/concern real quick.

I do not know how large this turtle is, but I am guessing it is not very large yet as my grandpa called it a "teacup sized one". If it is younger I will try feeding it every other day with its major meals like the website suggest.

On this site (http://www.boxturtlesite.info/diet.html) I found a nice overview of some different diets and stuff to feed the turtle.

For protein it suggest earthworms over crickets and mealworms. So how would all of you go about getting the earthworms? I don't know if the ones in my yard are pesticide free, we don't use any pesticides but our neighbors might and we live in mobile homes so thats not that long of the distance. So I am guessing it would be better to go to a bait shop or gas station and buy bait worms for fishing.

It says that mealworms and crickets are "occasionally" to be used. So I am thinking that maybe I could just do earthworms one day, crickets another, then mealworms another.

Then for the rest I think I have it covered, just get some different things from the list and give it some variety. Probably two things from each list's "use regularly" (Protein, Vegetables, Leafy Dark Greens, and Fruits) and make a turtle salad like thing.



I also bought some calcium powder, ingredients below:
Moisture (max) 12.0%
Calcium (min) 35.0%
Calcium (max) 37.0%
Salt (min) 0.06%
Salt (max) 0.07%
Potassium (min) 0.04%
Magnesium (min) 0.03%
Sulfur (min) 0.04%
Iron (min) 240 ppm
Zinc (min) 9 ppm
Manganese (min) 5 ppm
Copper (min) 2 ppm

I was thinking of putting that on the food every other feeding. There will also be cuttlebone in with the turtle.


Just making sure that I (hopefully) have a good idea of what I am going. After dealing with everything except turtles I don't want to do anything wrong

 

[Louise E. Rothstein]

Please ask your bait supply staff where they get their worms:
"Worm thieves" have been known to "hijack" worms...and to sell them.

If you decide to use BAIT worms as feeders...Please...Make damn sure that they come from a reputable breeder.

Honest-No kidding.
There ARE worm breeders.
Please ask your dealers where they get their worms.

Cuttlebone?
It is not always as "good" as it was-
I've seen discolored cuttlebone that could have become polluted: even in open ocean.

And new fanciers may be more likely to overdose reptiles than to not give enough.
I'd hold off on the cuttlebone and go easy on powder:
it is much easier to add more later than to get an overload out of an animal that ate too much.

If you know people who grow food under organic standards without going through the formal certification program they may charge less for it.

That is one of the ways I get food for myself.

And I recommend it.

Good luck!!!

 

[MatthewM1]

Dmf brand nightcrawlers from Walmart are safe to use as feeders, i use them for my pacman and African clawed frogs

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