How to Care for a Hatchling Eastern Box Turtle

October 5, 2015November 19, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Your hatchling Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene c. carolina) just arrived in the mail. Now you’re wondering how to care for your new little turtle friend. No worries – at Backwater Reptiles, we get loads of questions about how to best care for the animals we ship out, so we’re happy to tell you all about what we recommend in order to keep your little reptilian friend happy and healthy.

Right off the bat, your hatchling Eastern box turtle will obviously need a home in which to thrive. As they mature, the box turtles will do best when kept in outdoor pens (at least if you live where the weather permits this), but when they are under a year old, it is best to keep the little turtles in an indoor enclosure. Indoors they will be safe from neighborhood roaming pets, predatory birds, and other natural threats. Plus because they will be more sensitive to temperature fluctuations when young, you can better control their climate indoors. Another good reason to keep them indoors while they’re small is that you can better keep an eye on the food they are eating and make sure that they are getting the proper nutrients.

Baby Box turtle care

The hatchlings we sell at Backwater Reptiles are small enough to live in a ten or 20 gallon tank for the first year of their life. If you have multiple baby turtles in the same home, then the size of the enclosure will need to be bigger. You’ll need a proper heat lamp as well as a proper UV light, even if you take your turtle outdoors from time to time. Make sure that one side of their home is “sunny” with heat as well as a full-spectrum UV light.

If you’re new to reptile care and husbandry, it’s important that you know that the entire habitat cannot be hot and “sunny” – all reptiles need a cooler side of the enclosure to retreat to. You wouldn’t enjoy spending all your time in the heat and sun, would you? Neither will your baby box turtle. This allows them to thermoregulate their body temperature.

box turtle pet — This is an adult Eastern Box Turtle. As they grow, their shell becomes more of a pronounced dome shape and they develop brighter colors.

Your hatchling box turtle will eat protein as well as veggies, but make sure that it has access to both. When they are little, they need more protein to allow them to grow, but they do still require plenty of leafy greens to supplement. Their diets tend to be more carnivorous at this young age.

As with many young reptiles, variety in the diet is important. You can feed the little turtle small crickets, turtle pellets, wax worms, meal worms, and any other insect that they can catch. As far as vegetation goes, dark leafy greens are always a good bet. Veggies like kale, collard greens, and spinach contain a lot of nutrients and your baby box turtle will love them.

hatchling box turtles — These hatchlings are roughly the size of a silver dollar. Notice the variety in shell coloration.

It’s important to note that like human beings, baby box turtles don’t all look the same. They have color variations and their markings can appear different from turtle to turtle. Some will have very dark shells and some will have lighter shells with more visible yellow tones – it’s all normal box turtle coloring.

Making sure your baby Box turtle has a damp hide spot is extremely important–do not ignore this advice! If you allow them to become dry, their eyes will seal, and they will begin to dessicate (dehydrate). It can lead to their death quickly.

We provide damp sphagnum moss on the cool side of the enclosure–always make sure it’s quite damp, but not soaking wet. They will bury themselves in this for part of the day. They tend to eat in the morning, and retire for the rest of the day. As babies, they lose hydration very quickly and their shells haven’t completely hardened, and their skin isn’t as thick as it will be as they mature.

Backwater Reptiles currently has an assortment of hatchling Eastern Box Turtles for sale. We love knowing that they go to homes with educated owners, so ask us questions in the comments if you have any.

Florida Softshell Turtle vs. Spiny Softshell Turtle

September 28, 2015November 19, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

What’s the difference between Florida and Spiny softshell turtles? Here at Backwater Reptiles headquarters, we regularly ship out soft-shell turtles, but the two species that we have found to be the most popular (and prevalent) are the Florida Softshell Turtle (Apalone ferox) and the Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spitfire). Read on if you want to learn about what makes these turtles similar and what makes them different.

Morphology & Appearance

As far as looks go, both species of turtle are semi-flat with soft shells – go figure, right? We’ve heard them described as wet, leathery pancake turtles before and don’t disagree. They also both have snooty little protruding snout noses, long necks, and paddle-like back feet.

florida softshell vs spiny softshell turtle — Notice the yellow edging on this hatchling Florida soft shell’s shell.

What really makes these two turtles differ from one another in appearance most is the patterns and colors on their shells. The Florida softshell has orange markings on its head and edging its carapace. As it matures, these bright colors tend to fade into duller browns and olive green shades. The spiny softshell on the other hand, is a shade of brown, tan, or olive with darker speckles on the shell. Another distinguishing trait of the spiny softshell are the small spines that edge the circumference of the turtle’s shell.

Eating Habits

Both species of softshell turtle are carnivorous and eat prey items ranging from small crayfish to aquatic insects. In the wild, both are opportunistic feeders and will eat any animal that is small enough to fit in their mouth.

spiny softshell turtle — Notice how flat the shell is on this hatchling spiny soft-shell turtle.

In captivity, we feed ours crickets, canned insects, and even roaches. They can also eat small feeder fish from any pet store or varieties of frozen worm turtle pellets (i.e. bloodworm pellets).

Keeping Softshells in Captivity

Because their morphology is very similar, both the Florida softshell and the spiny softshell have very similar care requirements when kept in captivity.

The first thing to consider before purchasing a pet softshell is their size. For a turtle, they can grow quite large. The average size for a softshell is 12 inches, but it’s not unheard of for these guys to get up to two feet long. Large turtle = large enclosure, so keep that in mind when purchasing.

florida softshell turtle — This photo provides a view of the Florida softshell turtle’s shell spots and yellow edging.

Softshells are also known for their attitudes. They have been known to bite not only handlers but other turtles. Make sure that they are not bullying their tank mates (if they have any).

Because both the Florida softshell and the spiny softshell are scooters and burrowers, they require a substrate that supports both these habits. Sand is best because in addition to being burrow-able, the turtles will scoot underneath it and exfoliate their shells, eliminating bacteria and fungi and stimulating new shell cell growth.

Due to the soft nature of their shells, hard, abrasive rocks and other decorative items need to be avoided because the turtles will scuff against them and injure themselves.

Although they are mainly aquatic, softshells are regular baskets as well, so an adequate basking area must be maintained. Make sure that they can safely get all the way out of the water and heat themselves as well as absorb the proper UV lights.

Ultimately, if you can handle the attitude that they sometimes pack, both species of softshell turtle make great pets. Backwater Reptiles currently offers captive bred spiny softshell turtles for sale and captive bred Florida softshell turtles for sale.

How to Breed Box Turtles

June 15, 2015November 18, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Breeding Box turtles isn’t all that tough, and we’ll explain how within the below article. This week at Backwater Reptiles headquarters, we witnessed a pair of our Three Toed Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina triunguis) mating, something we have seen many times here in our outdoor turtle pens. We figured since Spring/Summer is the time of year for reproductive behavior to occur, it would be a great opportunity for us to share our knowledge on how to breed these wonderful turtles.

As we all know, the first thing you need to breed any animal is a male and female of the species. While Three Toed Box Turtles are not exactly sexually dimorphic, there are some tricks you can use to identify whether or not you’ve got the correct genders to produce babies.

Males of the species tend to be more brilliantly-colored than the females, exhibiting orange, red, or white on their faces with red eyes, while females are duller in color and usually have green eyes. Males are generally smaller than females but do have larger, longer tails and rear nails. The male has a concave plastron (underside) so that he can conform better to the shape of the female’s shell as he mounts her, whereas the plastron of the females is flat.

how to breed box turtles — Here’s one of our healthy, beautiful box turtle breeders.

Once you have sexed your turtles, it is ideal to house them outdoors as it allows them to have a natural cycle to follow for breeding. If they are housed outside, after the cooler winter/fall months have passed, the females will emerge from hibernation and begin looking for a suitable area to nest and lay eggs. It is best if you create your own “suggested” areas for the female to lay her eggs as they will be buried and you want to be able to know where she has deposited them. Suggested areas are warm and moist and will have soft soil for digging.

http://https://youtu.be/hkNhj8rse10

Breeding will have occurred the previous spring/summer. Males will circle the female, butting up against her and sometimes biting her. Sometimes the males will also inflate their necks in order to promote receptivity in the female. Once the courtship ritual has been completed, the male will mount the female and she will lower her plastron letting him hook his nails beneath her carapace. She will then close up her carapace on his nails so he doesn’t slide off during the actual copulation, which can take up to an hour. It should also be noted that females can retain this sperm and lay viable eggs for up to four years after breeding, so she may not lay eggs for several years.

box-turtles-mating — The Three Toed Box Turtles at Backwater Reptiles during copulation. We keep them in very large outdoor setups, with plenty of food, water, and shelter.

Box Turtle Eggs

Eggs will take about 70 days to hatch and should be kept between 84 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit. If you transfer your eggs from outdoors to inside so you can keep a better watch on them, do so carefully. You want to make sure the eggs are not shifted, turned over, or jostled. It’s best to make a pencil or marker line on the top so that as you gently move them to a new container, you won’t accidentally turn them. Store the eggs in a temperature controlled room in moist vermiculite or perlite.

Once the babies start emerging from the eggs, they should not be allowed to live outside right away as they require more structured conditions as they grow. The newborns must have access to water at all times as well as a place where they can completely get out of water (i.e. a patch of dry land). They will eat appropriately-sized dusted and gut-loaded insects, plant matter, and pre-made turtle chow. It’s a personal choice what to feed your baby box turtle – just make sure that it’s varied and frequent as growing reptiles (like growing humans) need to get lots of vitamins, protein, and nutrients.

juvenile-box-turtle — Here’s one of our flawless, captive bred baby Box turtles.

We don’t currently have any hatchling Three Toed Box Turtles available (although we will in a few weeks once the eggs start hatching), but we do have adult Three Toed Box Turtles for sale that are around three to five inches in length – just the right size for if you want to start your own breeding project.

Here’s the end result: a Box turtle egg!

Madagascar Big-Headed Turtle Care

May 20, 2015November 18, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

We are very excited to announce that we just received captive bred baby Madagascar Big-Headed Turtles (Erymnochelys madagascariensis)!

madagascar big headed turtle care — Here’s one of our captive bred baby Madagascar Big-headed turtles.

These ultra-rare turtles are endemic to Madagascar as their name suggests and are classified as one of the 25 most endangered turtles in the world largely due to the fact that they are prized as food in Madagascar and exported illegally to Asia for the same purpose. Not to worry – the ones we have for sale are all captive-bred and we are hoping to sell them to someone who wants to breed and help preserve this turtle species.

The Madacascar Big-Headed Turtle lives in freshwater areas and is highly aquatic. In general, these turtles only emerge from the water to lay eggs – even their preferred basking areas tend to be surrounded by water. We have a turtle bank and basking bulb available to them, but we have never once seen them use it!

Babies are carnivorous and eat virtually any small invertebrates and critters they can fit in their mouths, but in captivity, they should be fed insects and pre-packaged turtle food. As they grow, Madagascar Big-Headed Turtles will eat a more vegetarian diet, but will still consume meat-based dietary items.

Our baby Madagascan Big-headed turtles have huge appetites. We feed ours crickets, waxworms, earthworms (red wigglers), and turtle pellets, all of which are eaten quickly in a frenzy of consumption!

We keep our’s in glass turtle tanks with about four inches of water, the aforementioned turtle bank, UVB basking bulb, pebble substrate (large pebbles to prevent ingestion), artificial turtle grass for cover, and an Exo Terra Repticlear filter to help clean the water and maintain circulation (water that has no circulation can become stagnant).

Our captive-bred Madagascar Big-Headed Turtle for sale needs to go to a good home. If you are interested, click the link and select the species from the appropriate drop-down menu.

Indonesian Snake Neck Turtle (Macrochelodina rugosa)

May 6, 2015November 18, 2015 ~ BackwaterReptiles

Are you wondering how to care for Snake Neck turtles (Macrochelodina rugosa)? Backwater Reptiles received a shipment of the aforementioned captive-bred baby Indonesian Snake Neck Turtles, which are known for their long, snake-like necks as their name suggests.

The Snake Neck Turtle can get rather large, reaching lengths of up to sixteen inches and this is largely due to the fact that they have insatiable appetites. They eat virtually anything (frozen reptile food, bloodworms, prawns, snails, crickets, prepackaged turtle food, and even leafy greens) and the key to keeping them healthy in captivity is a varied diet.

Rather shy animals by nature, captive-bred Snake Neck Turtles lose this trait over time and with handling. They are also generally friendly towards other turtles and can be housed with friends, although the habitat provided should be rather large due to the fact that the Snake Neck can be a big turtle and also enjoys being active and swimming a lot.

Backwater Reptiles currently has baby captive-bred Indonesian Snake Neck Turtles for sale. Get yours by following the preceding link and selecting the breed from the drop down menu.

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