Turtles seem to demand the most sympathy from me. These seemingly bumbling leggy lumps tug at the heartstrings. If you haven't watched intently as a box turtle extends its neck and alertly surveys its surroundings, you might not understand. I cannot resist slamming my brakes and risking life and limb to move an oblivious turtle off the road. I mean, it's not their fault their once pristine habitat is now heavily fragmented and bisected by roads all over. The least I can do is help when I can.
But speaking of box turtles, I have quite a history with these lovable loafers, and it hasn't always been good. An unlikely paradox exists wherein I deeply care about the well-being of box turtles that have fallen on hard times, yet I often fail in my duty to serve them appropriately. I've found that I a) consistently underestimate the tenacity and agility of these turtles, and that I b) fail to learn my lesson time and again. Allow me to explain.
My experience with box turtles began in 1994, with my first pet box turtle. At that time, my excitement over having my own exotic pet menagerie was in high gear. I knew a lot about box turtles already - at least, I thought I did. I really wanted a box turtle of my own and I was determined to have one. At last, the day came when my mom drove me to the Fishing Schooner Pet Store at 3449 West Irving Park Road to pick out my turtle. How magical the feeling - to be a boy selecting his new pet and bringing it home where surely it would delight me for years to come.
Except that didn't happen. Everything that followed the purchase was a slow-motion disaster. First, I chose an ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata), one of the most difficult species of box turtles to properly keep in captivity. I picked that one because it looked cooler than the other turtles. The book I purchased along with the turtle (which should have been purchased and read PRIOR to the animal acquisition) suggested that the ornate could make a rewarding, but challenging, captive.
My sole source of box turtle care information in 1994
Second, my setup for the turtle was deplorable. A twenty-gallon high glass aquarium (shudder) with a layer of reptile bark, a water dish, and an incandescent heat lamp - that was it. The turtle refused every type of food I offered. After a nerve-wracking two weeks or so without eating voluntarily, I was forced to give it food through a small syringe, and I never was able to tell if it actually ate any of it as most of it leaked out of the turtle's mouth. Within a couple more weeks, its eyes became inflamed and swollen. Lethargy set in. The turtle never moved aside from a few sad head bobs as it slowly suffered from entirely inadequate husbandry. Store-bought eye drops to treat vitamin A deficiency provided a very temporary respite from blindness, but it mattered not as the turtle still refused to eat.
Within a couple of months, the turtle was dead.
What had started out as an innocent, ignorant foray into box turtle keeping, ended up a tragic failure. Of course, since then I've identified all of my mistakes, but to this day it bothers me that I not only inadvertently supported the collection of wild native ornate box turtles (which were listed as state threatened in 2009 due to habitat loss and, you guessed it, overcollecting), but allowed this slow painful death of an innocent turtle to occur. Today this sort of thing would be simply inexcusable, as there is so much information available online for those interested in keeping pet turtles.
Warning: Graphic. The doomed ornate box turtle, in very poor condition. 1994.
Now that I stop and think about it, maybe this was the fateful impetus for pretty much every other interaction I've had with a non-wild box turtle. I've got blood on my hands and they are keen to it.
In 2005, I came into possession of a Chinese box turtle (Cuora flavormarginata). I was working as the manager for the reptile department of a pet store and someone simply brought it in a walked out. I took it home with me, and the next day I constructed an outdoor pen in an area previously used as a vegetable garden. I figured cinder blocks would work effectively as a barrier and even doubled up to make the wall higher. I installed a little pond and beach for the turtle. I tossed in some earthworms, which were wolfed down in short order. I felt really confident in this enclosure and just knew it would serve the turtle well.
But, within hours, the turtle was gone - it had somehow scaled the double layer of cinder blocks - and was never seen again.
The Chinese box turtle, hours before it disappeared without a trace
In 2015, an old friend sent me a text with a photo of a turtle he walked up while picking morels in some woods nearby. It was a three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis), a non-native subspecies of T. carolina, found west of the Mississippi River. Clearly, an escaped or released (I've come to believe it had escaped) pet. I picked it up and brought it home. I set it up in a big plastic livestock trough in the reptile room. Deep substrate, big deep water area, full spectrum lighting and proper thermal gradient all provided. She thrived, but I wanted to keep her outdoors as much as possible for the beneficial full-spectrum sunlight, morning dew, rain, and natural food she could get. I built a wooden pen for her near our deck. She was later joined by a Russian tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii), another rescue. The cohabitation arrangement worked well, until the summer of 2016, when one of the two decided to dig a hole to escape. Ultimately they both got out, and by the time I noticed, it was too late. My wife, who was due to give birth, was bushwhacking in our neighbor's weeds...it was madness. We tried to find them but it was futile. We surmise they must have gotten out under the fence along the alley and began their escape there. Trust me, I still beat myself up over that whenever I think about it. The outdoor pen was solid but I underestimated the turtles' ability to burrow underneath it. I only hope they were found and cared for by good people.
The (1st) three-toed box turtle
Later in 2016, I again came into possession of another wayward three-toed box turtle. I was neither physically prepared (had a new baby) nor psychologically prepared (still scarred by the escape earlier that year). Three-toed box turtle #2 went straight to the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest.
This one was saved from my negligence
Fast forward to July 5 of this year. I get a call from another old friend in Chicago who says his dog had caught a turtle in their backyard. It turns out that animal was an Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina), clearly an escaped pet as it presented with the telltale long nails, slightly overgrown beak, and bold demeanor. I brought it home with the intention of rehoming it as soon as possible. In the meantime, I set it up in the same trough I used for the three-toed box turtles, but this time I kept the trough outside on our deck.
My daughter excitedly holding the new creature
On the morning of July 8 (today), I woke up early and went out on the deck to check on the turtle. Imagine my surprise when I saw her strutting her stuff on the deck outside of her trough! I returned her to the trough and covered it with a plastic tarp.
What...? What a stinker.
Later in the day, while at work, I receive a text from my wife that made my stomach ill - the turtle had escaped again and had fallen 15 feet to the ground. Fortunately, she fell to an area where immediately below was grass and not the ground level deck. At home, I inspected her. She seemed to be alert and active; an offering of big juicy earthworms was eagerly accepted and that settled my nerves. She is due to be dropped off at a box turtle sanctuary in Lemont this weekend. THAT can't happen soon enough.
So in closing, what have I learned? Evidently, nothing at all. Guys, don't make the same mistakes I have. Keep your box turtles locked up. Better yet, don't keep box turtles. As cute as they are, they do NOT make good pets to anyone but the most dedicated keepers. Keep them in the wild.
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