The eastern box turtle is popularly known as the land turtle. The eastern box turtle is a slow crawler and they can live for a very long time as they mature quite slowly.
As the name suggests they are basically found in the Eastern regions of the United States. The Eastern box turtle is famous among reptile enthusiasts so many people keep them as pets. As we know that Eastern box turtles are an endangered species so we need to take care of them properly.
You can keep them easily as pets because they are easy to house, but they definitely need some sort of special care. The adaptation of eastern box turtles to their surrounding is quite fast so that is why they are popular pets among many people in the United States.
Here, we will discuss how to care about the Eastern box turtle and what can we do to give them a comfortable life inside the captivity.
How To Care for an Eastern Box Turtle?
You need to take care of Eastern box turtles but before that, you need to know what is best for them that will give them a comfortable. For this, you need to know everything about them so that you will come to know how you can take care of Eastern box turtles. We need to follow some steps so that we are able to take care of Eastern box turtles and these steps are listed below:
- First of all, you need to get an amazing eastern box turtle from the market and check whether they are in a healthy condition or not, and if they are then only buy the best eastern box turtle for yourself as taking care of a healthy eastern box turtle is easier than the sick one.
- After checking that the eastern box turtle does not have any signs of illness you can take them to your house and give them whatever is required by them.
- Also, you need to make sure when you get a new Eastern box turtle from the market, you need to feed them before bringing them home and see whether they are eating or not, because only if it will eat at the store then only it will eat in the captivity, otherwise it will starve itself to death.
- After bringing the eastern box turtle at home you need to set up captivity or enclosure at home. You can choose an outdoor or an indoor enclosure depending upon the preferences.
- If the place is quite warm you can choose the outside enclosure, but if you want that the temperature should be properly regulated then you can choose the indoor enclosure according to the safety and comfort of the eastern box turtle.
- For the indoor enclosure, you can choose tanks for your eastern box turtle, and generally, people choose glass tanks so that they can see what is going inside the tank and keep a check on the turtle.
- Also, the tank should be spacious enough and also escape-proof so that your eastern box turtle does feel suffocated inside the tank enclosure and also the should be safe and comfortable, and escape should not be possible for them as they can get lost inside the house and may even get hurt.
- As we know that turtles are cold-blooded animals so we need to provide them with some extra heat from the external source so that they can keep themselves warm and a proper temperature should be maintained inside the tank.
- For providing warmth inside the tank enclosure you need to install heat lamps inside the tank and also keep it in a place where the sunlight can enter the tank so that the eastern box turtle stays warm. But if you cannot get access to the sunlight, then a heat lamp off higher watt can do the work.
- If you want to prevent the eastern box turtle from the excessive heat that is provided to them you also need to provide a cooler region inside the tank so that they can get into this cool region when they want to cool down or even rest. So make sure that the sunlight or the heat lamp should only reach half of the tank, in order to provide the cooler region in another half of the tank, for the eastern box turtle.
- As we know that the turtle-like burrow into the soil, so you need to provide them with the substrate in which they can easily burrow and also a substrate that is easy to clean and maintain. The substrate used should be safe for your turtle because there are chances that they can consume substrate and if it is toxic for the eastern box turtle it will harm them and sometimes it can be fatal to their life. So be careful while choosing a perfect substrate for them.
- Now you also need to keep a shallow dish inside the tank of the eastern box turtle which is filled with fresh clean water. The purpose of placing this dish inside the tank is that it can be used for two purposes by the turtle and that is for soaking and also for the drinking purpose. You need to change this water every day and provide them with clean and fresh water.
- Also, the water that you will provide to your turtle should be free from chlorine, as this water is not good for the eastern box turtle.
- Now in order to give the eastern box turtle a feeling that they are living in the wild you can decorate their tank enclosure with rocks, branches, plants, caves, etc. so that they can feel excited and also feel connected to their surroundings inside the tank and enjoy their time inside the enclosure.
- Choose the decoration items for your turtle in such a way that it should be safe for them and sturdy enough that it does not fall over your eastern box turtle and hurt them.
- Feeding is a very important part of taking care of the eastern box turtle. You need to feed your turtle at least once, but every day. The eastern box turtles are small in size and they do not eat much, but you need to feed them on a daily basis by creating a proper schedule for them.
- You can feed the eastern box turtle with a mix of animals and plants as they eat both. You can feed them with 60% of animal proteins and 40% of plant items. This will help in keeping the eastern box turtle healthy and also they will enjoy eating a properly balanced diet.
- You can give feed them with worms, grubs, crickets, lettuce, or any other green leafy vegetables that are easy for them to digest. Try to understand the diet and the eating behavior of your eastern box turtle as this will take time but eventually, you will get it and you will be able to feed them according to their needs and interests.
- You can also feed the eastern box turtle with berries and fruits but not on regular basis, feed them with berries and fruit only as a treat so that they can feel happy and excited while seeing a variety of food and also this helps in breaking the routine of having same boring food daily.
- You also need to provide them with supplements like calcium so that they can get every nutrient from their food and also this will help them to stay happy and healthy.
- You need to provide them with all the above-mentioned things and follow the steps properly so that you can keep your eastern box turtle healthy and free from any type of disease and infection.
- You also need to mist their tank at least 2 to 3 times a day to provide a proper amount of humidity inside the tank of the eastern box turtle and they need a humidity around 65% that is the level of humidity in which they are the most comfortable.
- Do proper cleaning and maintenance of the tank of the eastern box turtle daily so that they can live a hygienic and healthy life inside their enclosures. Also, proper cleaning of the whole tank should be done at least once a month so that you can give them a clean environment.
These are the various steps that you can follow in order to take proper care of the eastern box turtle and make them live a happy and healthy life inside the captivity.
Conclusion:
The eastern box turtles are amazingly small and beautiful creatures that need a special type of care from their owners. You need to take care of them in order to give them a comfortable life.
But before that, you need to understand your eastern box turtle properly and also know about what they need and give them a healthy and satisfying life inside the captivity. You need to build a bond with the eastern box turtle so that you are able to connect to them and take care of them properly.
More:
How To Take Care Of A Box Turtle?
