Falling on its back

Question
Hello,

My wife and recently aquired a eastern box turtle. It's about 6 months old. Health wise looks all good. We setup it's home for the moment in a 60g tank, lots of room for it. We setup a little "beach" area that has shallow water there can only get 30% under the water, He can put his head just under. I noticed the other day he enjoys to climb the edge of the water area. He has fallen back into the water (almost 1 inch, he seems stuck on his back in the shallow water. I didn't want to leave him like that so I flipped him. it happended once more. I am nervous to leave the house because it could happen again. If in shallow water on it's back do you think it still has a good chance of flipping back over? Even if I change the setup of the home I am still scared he could end up like this... I am just be over worried?

Answer
A turtle that cannot quickly right itself is usually not a problem. Unless they are on soft sand or some other substrates, they can usually flip back easily. They also are not at any special risk if they get stuck on their back except that they might starve, dehydrate, die of exposure, etc.

In your case, I would definately redesign the habitat.

We would not usually put a beach and shallow water area in place for an Eastern box turtle since they live on land and rarely enter the water in the wild.

We would generally offer an Eastern box turtle a habitat like...
- Pen or tank with floor space about 36"x12" (if indoors- outdoors would be better, with a space of about 4'x4'!)
- About 3" of bedding material to dig into, such as clean potting soil, peat moss, sand, and perilite mix.
- Hiding places- hollow logs, boxes, plants, etc.
- Water dish- something low and untippable. Using the 3" of soil is nice since it allows you to sink a bowl in it for easier access.
- Lighting that includes UV-B rays (usually a reptile light)
- Tank heating that keeps the place about 75-85 in most of the tank with a basking area that runs about 85-95. We often use a combination of under-tank heaters and lights or heat lamps to do this.
- Humidity monitor to maintain about 60-80% (as long as the tank is warm, you can just dampen some of the soil for humidity. A tank cover helps as well- but make sure the turtles get a lot of fresh air!)

A good care article for Easterns can be found at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-easternboxie.htm

I suspect someone passed on some erroneous care info to you at some point. I suspect the bad info includes diet, so please be sure to check the diet recommendations in the care sheet above.

Sadly, box turtles have been sold (or captured) for years as easy pets- which they sort of are, for reptiles. They take a lot of work and equipment to get a good habitat set up, however. Once you get the right habitat going, they do quite well but it can easily cost a couple hundred bucks to get a good set-up going.