Extreme Home Makeover: Turtle Edition

Over the last couple of days I've been reading up on box turtles. I learned so much that I'm going to be re-reading everything several more times to retain it all. First I learned that clear glass sides on the enclosure are a no-no - the turtle sees wide open spaces and will spend all day trying to get away. Second, a box turtle is NOT a tortoise - so, the sand he was living in, despite being covered in vitamins, was the last thing he should have been living in.

This explained why he would spend so many hours submerged in his little water container.

Today, I decided enough was enough. We were going to remodel his little tank, adding more water and less sand/dry spaces. Ultimately he will someday get a MUCH larger terrarium where we can have real plants growing, more wooded space etc. For now though, this is what we were able to do with the things we already have.

The first step was to take everything out of the tank and clean it out - it went from sandy and dry to clean & clear:

This also included placing Hector in his little travel tank with some grass so that he can be outside while we do the work. He immediately began burrowing under the grass. 

Then came the process of making it something that would suit him better than what we had before.  First, I had to pile in rocks to get his heat rock up high enough that it wouldn't be IN the water. I also salvaged a small water pump from a table top fountain. The rubber hose had disintegrated so the pump was free for another use.

After that I mixed some of his old sand with some loamy soil, cut up grass and dried leaves, then mixed in a little water to make it something I could work with.

I added it around the edge of the heat rock. and then I went and dug up some dandilions, no clue if they'll actually keep growing, but since they're on the list of box turtle foods, I figured it was good to put them in there anyway.

After that I went out and cut some tall grass and covered one end of the tank.

Finally, I added water

All that was left was to plug in the pump

And add Hector back into his newly remodeled digs:

He seems MUCH happier now... so far he's spent a lot of time on top of the pump. My guess is that after spending so much time in such a dry environment he's grateful for some running water.

Now I'm really looking forward to getting him a larger tank etc... For now at least he won't be constantly all dried out!