Ornate Boxie help?

OK, so long story short, my daughter's step-sister helps out cleaning cages at a small-town vets office on weekends. Someone left a turtle at the vets office, and they had no clue what to do with it, so naturally, the step-sister volunteered that I know all about all kinds of stuff like that since I keep snakes and lizards and frogs and stuff, and she was sure I'd love to have it ......so my daughter brought it home yesterday, with me having NO clue it was coming. They sent it home with her in a freaking HAMSTER CAGE, because they didn't know what else to put it in.

I was going to post pics for a certain ID, but my "foster" doggie ate my USB cable for my camera....but through web searches, I'm pretty much positive it's an ornate box turtle.

I've been looking through a bunch of info all over the web, and have come up with some REALLY conflicting caresheets and info on them. Anyone with turtle experience have some GOOD information on these guys? It would be much appreciated!

Basic care should be pretty easy for you. If you keep your house, or your snake room fairly warm (70-80degrees) you can house it in a simple rubbermaid. Give him UV and a basking spot of about 85. I'd use mulch or shredded coconut hull for bedding so that he can burrow in it, and it'll keep humidity up. Give him a hide or two. As far as diet, they're omnivores, so leafy dark greens (collard, mustard, dandelion) and meal worms or earthworms. Vegis and occasional fruit will be ok too.

Thanks for the help, Erin. The temps were the biggest variance I had found in the online caresheets, anywhere from 80-90's were the basking spot temps....several suugested a sandy mixture for the substrate though, what do you think of mixing a mulch with part sand?

There are two species of Ornate, one native to the East Coast and north central US, the other native to the south going about as far west as New Mexico. But they're both referred to as Ornate Box Turtles, and a lot of people don't differentiate. That's probably why you've run across some conflicting info. The easterns have a dark shell with vibrant yellow markings and the southerns are more brownish with tan markings. They both have the same basic diet. The southerns would probably be more comfortable with a 90 degree basking spot, but that temp won't hurt the easterns any. They are afterall, thermoregulating, so either will move out of the basking spot when they've reached their comfortable body temp.

As far as sand for bedding, I wouldn't. The southerns are sometimes confused with desert tortoises, which are comfortable with a sandy environment, but they Southerns don't require it. And personally, I think it'd just be too much of a mess to deal with.

Hm...this one would definitely appear to be an eastern, she has very vibrant yellow markings on her shell as well as on her feet. Pretty little thing. She's really tame as well, and actually appears to enjoy having the top of her head rubbed.

How about the water dish? Again, some sites say to give them a large water dish so that they can soak in it, others say that a smaller dish is better.

Thanks again for your advice, Erin. It drives me nuts not having everything set up properly BEFORE the turtle arrived....at least they could have given me some warning. Hopefully this spring we can get her set up with a proper outdoor enclosure.

Cool! Glad to hear that she's already acclimated to people!

To be honest, I'm not sure about the water dish. I guess give her a larger one, and if she soaks, leave it. If she doesn't, downsize.

Enjoy!

Meant to update this awhile ago.....but you know how that goes!

She's doing really well here, and I guess I never realized how much "personality" a turtle can have, lol....and how quick she can move when she smells that it's diced apple day in her food dish.

And yeah, she DOES love to soak in her water bowl.