OT - box turtle

Kung

Kung

Member
A friend of mine has a box turtle preserve. He finds them on the road and rehomes them somewhere safer. He has all of us looking too. When we find them, we take them to him. It's cool.

I found one today, but he is out of town. I don't want to keep this guy forever, but I do not want to re-release him onto a busy road. Does anyone have any experience with these fellas? I want to keep him comfortable until I can turn him over to my buddy. Diet, housing, etc are all questions I have.
 
I have no input on the care of these but I just wanted to add that someone in my cycling club is doing a little contest to who can save the most. We have no method of proving it, so they are just taking everyone on their word. Offering up a few dollars to the one that saves the most over the season. I thought it was a cool thing to do.
 
They will eat lettuce and some small worms, but mostly go for vegetaion. We have box turtles all over here in southern ILL and when I see on in the road I just move it to the other side were it is heading or take it to a forest.

About 3 or 4 years ago they made it illegal to even touch them here because too many people are selling them on the black market. Anyway thats what the news said. So now I'm alittle more careful on grabbing them, even if it is to save their lives.
 
If you must relocate a turtle, do it as quickly as possible, and move the turtle the shortest possible distance. This means that if if the turtle is crossing the busy road, move the turtle to the nearest possible woodlot or pasture, preferably one that will not require the turtle to cross a busy road to return to where it came from. It is best to simply move it to the side of the road it was headed for, it knows where it wants to go and where it is headed. If you put it back on the side where it came from, it will go right back into the road. It is best not to take them home. They eat fresh vegetation, berries, worms, bugs...
 
Just to clarify my earlier post, 'saving them' is moving them to the side of the road they were headed.
 
THis guy "lives" in the woods by my house. He keeps crossing the road, and is eventually going to get it. He's going to move to somewhere where he is less likely to die. I'm not usually big on moving wild animals, but this guy is a special case.
 
yea, I agree because he is going to keep doing that until he gets across or gets hit, because he knows where he wants to go and the road is not going to matter to him. In a case like that I am sure it is best to relocate, seeing as it is our fault that the road is in his way, if it were not for us he wouldn't have that danger in the first place. I wish everyone cared about them, I just love em and have a pond full of different water turtles (bred and bought in captivity, I don't condone keeping them from the wild...some people may argue that it is not differnt, but it is)
 
Actually, I have found him going both ways. The road is in the middle of his area, I guess.

He's going somewhere cool once I get ahold of that guy.

Meanwhile, he's eating strawberries and watermelon. He's a happy guy. He'll be happier once he is free to roam again.
 
quote<If you must relocate a turtle, do it as quickly as possible, and move the turtle the shortest possible distance. This means that if if the turtle is crossing the busy road, move the turtle to the nearest possible woodlot or pasture, preferably one that will not require the turtle to cross a busy road to return to where it came from. It is best to simply move it to the side of the road it was headed for, it knows where it wants to go and where it is headed. If you put it back on the side where it came from, it will go right back into the road. It is best not to take them home.


I second that, local populations and natural genetics aside, unless you know of a good denning area to relocate them it is best to just help them across a road then let them be. BTW if it is indigenous to the state of WV you can't have it as a pet unless you can prove that it came from out of state, so says the DNR. Which is a crock.....
 
quote "If you must relocate a turtle, do it as quickly as possible, and move the turtle the shortest possible distance. This means that if if the turtle is crossing the busy road, move the turtle to the nearest possible woodlot or pasture, preferably one that will not require the turtle to cross a busy road to return to where it came from. It is best to simply move it to the side of the road it was headed for, it knows where it wants to go and where it is headed. If you put it back on the side where it came from, it will go right back into the road. It is best not to take them home."


I second that, local populations and natural genetics aside, unless you know of a good denning area to relocate them it is best to just help them across a road then let them be. BTW if it is indigenous to the state of WV you can't have it as a pet unless you can prove that it came from out of state, so says the DNR. Which is a crock.....
 
A bunch of aquarists are giving me crap about keeping a wild animal in captivity. Seriously? Is the glare from the light above your tank too bright to allow you to see the irony? Wow. I'm not keeping him as a pet, I'm keeping him until I can turn him over to a reputable biologist so that he can live a fruitful life, make baby turtles and not get hit by a car.
 
You do know that was a joke right?

I used to save box turtles all the time where I used to live man. Funniest story I have about it is stopping to pick this little guy up who doomed to be road cakes. As soon as I started to drive off, turtle in hand he peed all over me LOL, it was just hilarious and my wife will never let me forget that.

BTW you discovered this already, they have a serious appetite for strawberries. Anyway your doing the right thing IMO, the world needs more turtles and people who stop for them rather than run them over.
 
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...actually they like anything red... including tomatoes... squash zucchini spinach etc. BTW all I was saying is that there is the possibility of mixing gene pools if you move a turtle far from its locale. Mixing regular and ornate box turtles would be an extreme example(doesn't happen much around here, I've only found one ornate and it had to be someons pet they let loose)but you get the idea. Local populations do develop differences but mostly they do have a sense of where there den area is(more of an area than the same exact place) and moving them far from it can pretty much doom them come winter time. I used to collect turtles when it got rainy in late spring as I was in sales and travelled alot. Then I'd turn them loose on my hillside... Some of the kids out here still call it turtle hill. But I quit dragging them home when I found out about that. Now I just scoot them to the other side of the road. Saving them from becoming road pizza is a good thing however so I guess it is a tossup. So no crap here, just throwing out some personal experiances... However, Ron's wife thinking it's funny when he gets peed on was worth the price of admission to this thread... (sorry Ron, I couldn't pass that up;) I knew that boy was freaky but...
 
excuse me, but there is NO text on the WVDNR site that says Terrapene carolina is an endagerd, threatend or RARE species in the mountain state....also its only illegal to keep certian animals (without a license !!!) there is no stated law agianst keeping box turtles that i can find, ,only if your trapping large amounts..I AM NOT SUPPORTING THE COLLECTION OF BOX TURTLES NEITHER DO I DO IT MYSELF !! ,but people need to read the actual law...if there is a law agianst keeping one box turtle here..i would like to see an updated copy of it...also we only have 3 endagered turtles here..they are the Wood Turtle, & 2 species of Map Turtles...the same goes with praying mantis...did you know hundereds of gardening companys sell mantis' for pest control ?! & there NOT an endagered species in the entire USA !? yea, alot has changed since 1999. ;)


as for feeding it...earth worms are there favorite food, tomatoes second...females like tomatoes more than males..they will eat apples late in summer..do not feed them wax worms..they can be deadly to them...no banana's or kiwi fruits either....
 
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oh, and banana's are actually fine, however, you do need to limit. They love them. Meats like crawfish, fish (lsmall like guppies) snails, crickets, earthworms...natural type foods. Lettuce is very good for them.
 
The bog turtle's (Clemmys muhlenbergii) are found in WV but are not common. I added it to the list because they are now found here. They are the so tiny, and so cute. I have a pair of muds and stinkpots, but would have loved to have a bog.
 
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