Box turtles are native to the United States, and at one time were commonly seen throughout the eastern and central states. Unfortunately, habitat loss and collection for the pet trade have significantly decreased their numbers. Some populations are so depleted that they are now protected by law.
The good news is that box turtles breed well in captivity, producing offspring who are entertaining, engaging and quickly learn to recognize their owners.
Feeding these turtles is quite interesting, as adult box turtles are omnivores — they eat both meat and plants — but for the first two to five years of life, young box turtles are almost exclusively carnivores.
In the wild, adult box turtles will eat insects, worms, grubs, newborn rodents, berries, fungi and just about anything else they can find. In captivity, offer earthworms and grubs from your backyard and mealworms and crickets from the pet store. Feed a variety of plant foods, too, including strawberries, blueberries, melons, tomatoes and some chopped greens. Provide your box turtle with a cuttlebone (from the bird section of the pet supply store) so that your pet has a source of calcium. (Read more here…)
And from Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker, different views on declaw, debark:
Close to 60 percent of all Americans and 55 percent of those with cats approve of declawing, but only 8 percent approve of surgically altering a dog’s vocal cords. According to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll, about half of pet owners would support a law making debarking illegal, with only 1 percent reporting having had the procedure done on a dog they owned. In contrast, only 18 percent would support a law making declawing illegal.
All this and more in this week’s Pet Connection!
Photo: Liz Palika’s box turtle Onyx.
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