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Re: Ornate Box Turtle
It doesn't really matter what "locality" this guy is....they require the same care.
I had about 30 or more box turtles of all different types that lived in my back yard (huge 2 acre lot fenced in) with a shallow "pond" that they could soak in and plenty of shade. They did great out there, and would eat basically anything: my ornate box turtles enjoyed mealworms, earthworms, waxworms, and the occasional bananna and cantelope. They would also get ground beef every once in a while.
They really eat basically anything. Just DONT feed them tomatoes. That will literally give them the runs...it's not a happy thing. lol
If I were to keep one indoors, I would get the largest tupperware container you could find (proabably equivalent to a small horse trough) and use bark chips as substrate. Keep a large, shallow dish in the container that the turtle can crawl into and change it daily. Put a basking light on the other side of the enclosure and make sure that the warm side stays at about 85-90 degrees during the day, then just turn it off at night. Also, provide a hiding spot that it can crawl under AND offer it a small patch of grass (buy it from the pet store (usually for cats), perhaps in a shallow dish. It might eat the grass from time to time.
Keep the enclosure clean (they poo often), and feed them 1-2 times daily.
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