Box Turtle Care

Question
Hi there! Long story short, I've never raised anything besides dogs, rabbits, and LOTS of fish. So when a friend came by offering me a turtle, I was sort of lost. But I would never turn down an animal in need of a home. He works on an Icecream truck and said a little girl's parents were making her give her box turtles away. But anywho. I never exept anything but the best for my animals. He stopped at a pet store and they said that the turtle doesnt need heating, and will eat grass. However I got fired from my job, short on cash, and all I have to keep the poor thing in is a small ten gallon tank. He's not that big as of right now. I have an astro turf thing that my brother is letting me borrow. I was wondering how big should I expet this turtle to get? And what sort of container/ habitat should I look  for this little guy. Mind you I don't have a lot of money right now. I read that a tub might be good for him. But how big is he going to get.

Answer
Hi April, My first word of advice is to not listen to anything else the people at that particular pet store tell you about box turtles.
Box turtles average about 4 1/2 - 6 inches as adults depending on the species. This measurement is a straight line from the front end of the shell to the back end. They are omnivores, taking a combination of insects, worms, snails, fruits, mushrooms etc in the wild. They do not eat grass. Young ones are more carnivorous, taking more fruits and veg. as they mature. In captivity they can be offered earthworms, mealworms, waxworms and chopped fruits and veg, a cuttlefish bone (sold for pet birds) can be placed in the cage as a calcium source and also scraped over their food. There are some commercially prepared foods for box turtles but my box turtle has never shown any interest in those.  
A plastic storage type bin does make a suitable enclosure for a box turtle and he would be much happier in that if you could manage it. They do not deal well with glass and try to constantly get through it. He is likely an Eastern or three-toed box turtle and would also be happier on something like slightly damp plain potting soil (no additives or perlite) rather then the carpet. He will need a shallow water dish large enough for him to crawl into and soak.
He absolutely needs access to some heat as well. Reptiles use external heat sources to power their own metabolism. A spot light in a clamp type fixture attached to one end of the tub should provide a suitable warm spot. It should be around  85 - 90F under the lamp. Specialized fluorescent bulbs are sold for reptiles that create the ultraviolet B wavelenths from the sun that they also need. These bulbs and fixtures can be a bit pricey but you can put that purchase off for the next several months by giving him some exposure every week to unfiltered, direct sunlight on his skin.
These wavelengths are filtered out by glass so it can't be through a window. Placing his bin outside, with a shaded area he can move to inside of it would work.
That should get you started and give you an idea of what you have gotten yourself into! :)
There are a lot of good care sheets on line, this is one of them.

http://www.turtlepuddle.org/american/boxcare.html

P.S I want to also check that you are quite certain this is some species of box turtle rather then some type of tortoise. The diets for the two are completely different.