Monday, March 7, 2011

Box Turtles in the Pet Trade

By Ari Flagle


Box turtles are natives in both Asia, America and Mexico. As far concern for the American pet trade, there are these 4 type of species which are very popular and in deed gained lots of interest from pet lovers. They are the eastern box turtles, the three-toed box turtles, the gulf-cost box turtles and the ornate box turtles. As for the natives in Asia, only Chinese box turtles and Malayan box turtles are available in the pet trade.

Box turtles have little encircling holes in their shell from the pincers. in particular, the American box turtle are somewhat aquatic turtles which spend longer time in dry land within easy range of shallow water. In opposite to the American box turtle, both the Chinese and Malayan box turtle are more aquatic. The American box turtles are inhabitant throughout eastern, central, and southwestern U.S. as well as in some part of northern Mexico. Box turtles often live to forested grassland areas with dry sandy soil and of course with an easy access to a body of water. They are usually omnivorous as young but as they grew up, they become vegetarian.

The American box turtles are found nearly in most place in America from eastern to southwestern part down to the Northern parts of Mexico. These semi-aquatic creatures spend most of their time in woody grassland areas and burrows their selves when sleeping. Hatchling's size is about 1 inches and will grow up to 6 or 8 inches depending upon the specie.

If you are kind of interested on having a box turtle, you may want to know its basic needs taking the fact that by owning them, you will shoulder a great responsibility. First, you'll need to select a great box turtle by handling them if its weight is appropriate with its size. The eyes must be clear and of course the shells are firm with no signs of false colors. After selecting a good turtle, you'll need to provide your new pet with proper housing. The enclosure must be appropriate with the size of your pet, preferably at least 36" x 12". Inside the enclosure, the substrate must be 2-3 inches in deep, use some plain sterile potting soil. Since box turtles are semi-aquatic animal, a water area can be provided with a dish or pan big enough for your pet to soak in. Turtles need extra heat and you can give them with the use of two methods, by having a underneath heating pad and incandescent light. Temperature gradient must be 85-88F during the day while 70-75F during the night for American box turtles. As for their diet, they are best fed with plant matter and animal .products in early mornings. Juveniles must be fed everyday while the adults every other day.

Turtles are not suitable as pet for children. Box turtles are becoming scarce so help them propagate and extend their existence so that the future generations can still see these wonderful creatures.




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