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turtle enclosure

22 16:07:29

Question
I have two three-toed box turtles and I have noticed that the smaller turtle has been biting the larger one's ankles. They are in an aquarium, which I now know is bad. I have been feeding them in one bowl, but now I have to feed them seperatly. Do they need to be in seperate terrariums, or do they just need more space?

Answer
Hi Liam,

Two box turtles need a lot more room than you could get from an aquarium, and tanks aren't great anyway.  Ideally they should be in an outside pen.  In all areas of the U.S. where it gets cold enough, they can hibernate outside if you supply them with a nice pile of soil mixed with leaf litter, straw, etc.  If you build them a pen outside with plenty of hides, logs, rocks, plants, etc., they can do some of their own hunting for bugs and will do much better.  This late in the year you'll probably have to overwinter them until spring, but I'd encourage you to get them outside next summer if you can.

For now, you can try getting them into a larger enclosure with more sight breaks, but it really needs to be in the 4' x 6' range if you can manage that.  If not, two smaller enclosures would work for now.  Here's a good website that will give you more information on keeping box turtles:  www.aboxturtle.com