Box turtle care – housing
Box turtles are still frequently kept as pets in barren indoor glass containers without any ability to walk around or receive any natural sunlight. This is not good box turtle care since box turtles need natural sunlight do stay healthy. They will also need an environment that resembles their natural habitat, with several sheltering spots, things to investigate and so on.

Creating a good home for your box turtle will require time, money and research but will on the other hand dramatically increase your chances of keeping a happy and healthy box turtle that displays a wide range of natural behaviours. A stressed box turtle that spends most of its time lethargically hiding in a corner or desperately trying to crawl its way out of a glass tank is not really a fascinating pet. You will also save a lot of trouble in the long run by providing your pet with proper box turtle care form the start, since this will make it more resilient to disease and other health problems.

Box turtle care – habitat
A very important part of proper box turtle care is to read more about the natural habitat of your particular box turtle species or subspecies. A wide range of box turtles species are today kept as pets, and an Asian box turtle that spend most of its time in the wild swimming and eating fish will naturally not be happy in a set up that is ideal for one of the prairie living, dry tolerant American species of box turtle and vice versa.

You can read more about a few different Box turtle habitats on this site, but it is always recommended to make a detailed search regarding your specific species/subspecies as well in order to find out more about which type of box turtle care that is ideal for your particular box turtle.

Box turtle care – the enclosure
The enclosure in which you house your box turtles can be made out of a wide range of different materials, including brick, cement, wood or plastic. Chicken wire is not recommended, since the box turtle can injure itself trying to squeeze out. The walls must be quite high to keep even a small box turtle from escaping, since box turtles will try to stretch up on their hind legs, grab the top of the well and hoist themselves out. Also keep in mind that box turtles dig.   

Box turtle care – placement
If you have access to a backyard, balcony, patio or similar outdoor environment it is recommended to take advantage of this space and create an outdoor pen for your Box turtle. If you live in a cold part of the world where the winters are too severe for Box turtles, you will need to arrange an indoor box turtle home as well.

You should place the box turtle pen in a spot where it has partial shade all day. Keep in mind that the temperature can become much higher in an enclosed environment, such as a plastic box turtle pen, than outside the enclosure. Shade is therefore highly important and an essential part of good box turtle care.

Box turtle care – substrate
Never use shavings of any kind as substrate. Pine shavings, cedar shavings, fir shavings etcetera can contain oils that are dangerous for box turtles. These oils can cause anything from eye problems to organ damage and respiratory illnesses and should therefore always be avoided. Bark chips suitable for reptiles can be found in most pet shops and are a much better choice than shavings. You can for instance combine top soil, terrarium moss and bark chips for reptiles in your box turtle home. As mentioned above, proper box turtle care can only be carried out once you have determined in which type of habitat your particular box turtle prefers in the wild. The substrate might therefore need to be adjusted in order to accommodate for your particular species/subspecies. 

Box Turtle Articles:

Box Turtle Habitat
Eastern Box Turtle