I searched Google images for Box Turtle Hatchlings and ran across a fantastic blog site. Julie Zickenfoose apparently does wildlife sketches but also takes beautiful pictures and seems to love the beauty and magic of the outdoors. I fould several links to box turtle info on her blog and immediately fired off an email to her. Here is her reply:
"Recently hatched but has absorbed the yolk sac, so a matter of weeks old. Many times these little guys overwinter buried, which is probably why he was underground. Sure, he'll survive the winter. Rearing protocol is to feed Repto-Min Aquatic Turtle food sticks in a dish of very shallow water; the Brownian motion hopefully makes him snap at them. That's the best food. If not, small mealworms and earthworms are good. Young turtles are highly carnivorous. Don't be too surprised if he doesn't eat, either.
I overwinter mine in a moist terrarium, planted, next to a cold basement door. I'm sure it goes down to the 40's some nights in that soil. I keep it watered over the winter. When it digs out and walks around in spring I bring it upstairs and start feeding it. It will need a shallow water container with clean water and room to ramble around. I use a 20 gal. long tank with about 3" of potting soil in it,planted with ferns and begonias. I keep it by a south window for light and basking."
Guess it's off to find a 20 gallon tank we can use to build a terrarium!
No comments:
Post a Comment