Baby Boxies!

strange_wings

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No, not baby boxes. Baby box turtles!

They're so much trouble to take pictures of, they will not hold still, so there's only 3 out of the 8 babies I have in the following pics.

They're ornate box turtles born from two that were given to me when someone my husband knew from work children no longer wanted them.

First, the largest one. At around 3 inches (76mm) it's grown a lot in 10 months!



Bottom view of the plastron so you can see the pattern on it.
This one is the calmest of the bunch and doesn't hiss like some of them do.

The second largest is a slightly smaller.



Another somewhat calmer one, it doesn't like to sit still in my hand like the biggest one though and it does hiss.

This one has a slightly different pattern than the others, thinner radiant stripes on the carapace (top shell) and more detailing on the plastron which I forgot to get a pic of.



It has a bit more of an attitude too, fussy and hisses.

The rest of the babies are varying sizes smaller and pretty much all look the same anyways, most of them have the fussy hissy attitudes too. I'm sure most of them will grow out of a that as they get bigger and more sure of themselves, or at least I hope so! Otherwise I'll have 1 nice one and 7 brats. lol
They love eating cut up nightcrawlers
, superworms, mealworms, crickets, veggies, greens, and fruit. I don't feed them any of the silly commercial food pellets, those are too full of corn, by products and bad preservatives(BHA/BHT and ethoxyquin).

Here's a pic of the parents

Father is on the left and the mother (who was stolen) is the larger turtle on the right.
I think a lot of the babies have her face
 

katiemae1277

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Awwww, those little turtles are so cute! They're about the only reptile that doesn't make me run
 
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strange_wings

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Originally Posted by katiemae1277

Awwww, those little turtles are so cute! They're about the only reptile that doesn't make me run
Looks are deceiving, the little suckers bite.
But only when they they decide for some odd reason that my finger looks like a tasty snack.

Baby leopard geckos are cute too.
I might post pics of mine sometime.
 

msktty89

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Cute!
I used to have a three-toed box turtle named Franky. Box turtles do have cute faces. =^__^=
 

catsallover

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Originally Posted by catloverin_ks

Me too!!!
I was oooh baby boxers!!


The turtles are cute too.
LOL! That makes 3 of us! But I love Box turtles- I have one (who has a calcium deficiency and an adversion to calcium supplements
) who is, let's see-17 I think this year. When I played with the box turtles on our farm when I was younger, it seemed that the girls were usually the grumpy, hissy ones, and boys were the sweet ones!
 

proudkittiemom

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make that 4 of us who thought u meant baby boxers
but o my look at those cute turtles
and the parents are just stunning
 
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strange_wings

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Originally Posted by catsallover

LOL! That makes 3 of us! But I love Box turtles- I have one (who has a calcium deficiency and an adversion to calcium supplements
) who is, let's see-17 I think this year.
Problem with calcium or just doesn't like it on the food? If you have a good reptile vet you can take your turtle in for calcium shots
Also carefully choosing foods lower in phosphorus and high in calcium is good, carrots are good for vitamin A.
I give my turtles cuttle bones for their beaks and extra calcium as well, probably best to use a knife to peel the hard part off the back. (I worry too much about them choking
)

Oxalates -Oxalic acid, phosphorus, and potassium can all act as calcium binders.
This site is made for bearded dragons but the information is good for any veggie eating animal
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtrem...Nutrition.html
 

pushylady

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Wonderful patterns on their shells. The babies look so different from the adults.
I also thought you meant baby boxers!
I'm always ready to see some cute puppy pics! Those guys are pretty cute too though.
 

catsallover

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Problem with calcium or just doesn't like it on the food? If you have a good reptile vet you can take your turtle in for calcium shots
Also carefully choosing foods lower in phosphorus and high in calcium is good, carrots are good for vitamin A.
I give my turtles cuttle bones for their beaks and extra calcium as well, probably best to use a knife to peel the hard part off the back. (I worry too much about them choking
)

Oxalates -Oxalic acid, phosphorus, and potassium can all act as calcium binders.
This site is made for bearded dragons but the information is good for any veggie eating animal
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtrem...Nutrition.html
Thanks! It's both
. He looks horrible but keeps on ticking- it's so embarrassing, as I am an animal nut, and here I have this super picky box turtle who looks like nobody loves him... he was as flat as a flitter when I got him as a baby (my dad moved the tractor's tiller attachment and accidently dug him up, gave him to my little sister
and he crawled out of the box in her and went off the upstairs landing, so i took him back to college with me, and I have a box turtle with an obvious calcium deficency, almost no tail and one eye flatter than the other!
I I've tried it in food, on food, all kinds of food- I used to go to the salad bar (when the grocery store had one) and get him all sorts of fresh fruits and veggies that the books recommended, tried his supplements on/in them all, and he refused to eat. The only thing he'll eat is strawberries and dry box turtle food! Arrgghhh!

I'll check out the link- thanks- to tell you the truth, I'd kinda given up on getting him to eat it- bad, I know, but I feel like this:
every time I think I have a good idea, and he turns his nose up at it- again.


Okay, just had another idea (here we go again)- do you think he could eat canned cat food with veggies in it? I have a chicken and veggie platter can of cat food (the good stuff)... Would it be okay? I can come back with a list of the ingredients
. Maybe that would be smelly enough
.

Here it is:
 
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strange_wings

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Originally Posted by catsallover

Okay, just had another idea (here we go again)- do you think he could eat canned cat food with veggies in it? I have a chicken and veggie platter can of cat food (the good stuff)... Would it be okay? I can come back with a list of the ingredients
. Maybe that would be smelly enough
Eh, some keepers will feed their's canned dog or cat food but many really do not like to do this unless the turtle is completely refusing to eat anything else. It's last ditch effort to get them to eat when they're near starving. You should try to get a good reptile vet and it some vitamin and calcium shots.
There are a lot of good turtle forums too. This one is my favorite since it's rather active and there are some decent discussions http://forums.kingsnake.com/forum.php?page=1&catid=30
and http://www.turtletimes.com/Forums/ a turtle only forum for lots of different kinds of turtles.
These have people that may be able to help you figure out how to get your turtle to eat better foods and other tips on care.

Oh and do you feed your's insects at all? You could probably trick it into eating mouthfuls of finely chopped veggies or greens (turnip, collard, kale, mustard) if there's some wiggly worms on top. Salad toppers turtle style
 

catsallover

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Yes, he likes worms and has tried to get a few crickets (if I hold them still and they don't haven't been dusted
). He has a really hard time catching things that move- his eyesight is a little off because of the run in with the first story floor
. I'll try those forums- thanks! (my DH is going to be so thrilled if I find another forum to talk on
 

belongstoevie

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What beautiful babies!! My friend has some lovely turtles, but I must say, yours are particularily stunning! Nice markings.

Oh, and I'm about the millionth that thought you meant boxers! Pleasant surprise, though.
 
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strange_wings

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Originally Posted by BelongsToEvie

Oh, and I'm about the millionth that thought you meant boxers! Pleasant surprise, though.
Well someone out there with boxers will have to post puppy pictures sometime.


As for their markings, that's how ornate box turtles get their name.
 
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