Little worried about Shop Turtle

BobReeves

Member
This is probably weird but for the last 3 years I have had a box turtle show up in my shop in the spring and make his home in my shop for the summer. He does a pretty good job of keeping the bugs under control I leave him alone and he doesn"t bother me. About this time of year he usually disappears not to be seen till the spring. Am pretty sure he goes outside to hibernate as I leave the doors open quite a bit when it quits being in the 90"s.

Anyway for the last couple of weeks he has been hiding in a corner not moving. Normally he is running all over the shop chasing down bugs. Now most of the bugs are gone but his inactivity and not knowing anything about turtles has me a little concerned about his wellbeing.. Wonder if he has just decided to hibernate in the shop this year. Anyone have any turtle experience?
 
I would try a few crickets to tease him into action.
If he remains lethargic, and unresponsive, (and you want intervention to happen) taking him to a vet (that will be able to help a turtle) is then called for. If the shop is heated all winter, then he may be selecting it as a den. If nature has its way all things eventually come to an end. When your buddy is actually expired, I would give "Em" a burial. JimN
 
I'd say keep a pan of fresh water near him and let him be. If you heat your shop and he begins to get a foul smell about him it may just be an indication of his reasons for lack of activity.
 
Thanks for the tips, his eyes are open and he hides back in his shell when I get near so think he is OK. I put down some oatmeal and a piece of banana.. He likes oatmeal.. If he eats either I'll quit worrying and guess just let him figure out where he wants to spend the winter..
 
That's an interesting one, kind of a neat little visitor, though odd for him to like your shop, or it would seem.

If you seek a vet, make sure they are herpetologist friendly or deal with reptiles.

I've raised other species, since a kid, still do every year, small hatchlings, keeping them for the winter mid summer, release and repeat, kind a of a hobby, but my knowlege on turtles that stay mostly on land may be a bit limited and or a little generic.

There is a lot of information on the web about turtles, forums etc.


They are cold blooded, so that shop floor is probably cool and drafty, you should try to place him/her in some kind of appropriately sized enclosure and provide a heat lamp, to warm him/her up a bit, use a low wattage bulb, and make sure he/she can move away from it to regulate their body temperature, just enough heat to warm the upper shell (carapace) enough to get the turtle warm enough, to become more active, eat and drink etc. Not sure what food is best but you'll figure that out after identifying the species and doing some reasearch on the net.

Once you have observed the turtle eating, and leacving some scat, this means all systems are go, most species are hearty, if you have basic knowledge of their needs and provide it, they will thrive.

The painted turtles I have raised for so many years, get a lot of benefit from direct sunlight, not sure about other species, but that is hard to duplicate, requires a special bulb etc. Box turtle probably likes a more tropical environment, not so sure about shade or sunlight.


Have only seen one box turtle in the wild in my entire life, found one crossing the road in central NJ while headed to work, gave him a lift to safety and was on my way, kind of neat he likes the shop, for having a small brain, they are quite intelligent and seem to remember things.

I had a painted turtle come into my garage once during egg laying season, kind of a layover was 9PM or so, heard the clunking on the concrete floor, thought someone was up to something, could not figure out what it was, looked down and at my feet there was an old female, with mud on the fenders, smart move too, she'd have not made it back to the water in the dark and a coon would have likely found her, I dropped her off the next day. They often travel up the hill to lay eggs in the yard and surrounding areas, so I kind of help em out as a hobby.

One of the most interesting and rarely seen species in this area is the wood turtle, there is a clan of them down the stream a bit from here, was helping my neighbor load out 2nd cut round bales in August and found one, was injured and not doing well, I suspect the baler or something related gave it an impact injury, did not recover, they are similar to box turtles, don't have to feed in water etc.
 
that's pretty funny, I have couple snakes in my stone foundation that seem to like me also. I say get he one of those pet beds that will keep him of the concrete like others have said the colder they get the slower they get.
 
Guess he"s OK.. Went out to the shop with camera in hand.. Picked up Shop Turtle and carried him outside for better light.. Waited till he showed his head then snapped the following.. He stoped to eat one hack berry that happened to be in his path and headed back into the shop.. Guess he has made his decision.

http://www.somethinxtra.com/public/DCP_0397.jpg

http://www.somethinxtra.com/public/DCP_0398.jpg
DCP_0392.jpg
 
If your going to try greens, forget lettice. Especially Iceberg. Use kale or some other greens. any veggies green or not. As said crickets work, meal worms, night crawlers even raw ground beef. Fed box turtles many years and they loved ground beef new sprouts from tomatoe plants and mint plants. Found turtles (box) in the wild eating fresh dead rabbit and deer. 60-90% of their diet is meat when availible. Check its belly,(underside) if its flat its female, if it is concave its a male. If it stays inside make sure its stays cool, 50 degrees. If not it may starve thinking its hibernating. ( Been there. Done that.)Also need to make certain that it does not dehydrate in the dry heat. Normally they would be under ground or in leaf litter for the winter, both of which are moist. Good luck. Wild friends are a treat.
 

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