Bruce 3toed Box Gettysburg Turtle Three-Toed Box Baltimore, MD

Update: 2022: I was adopted to a home in Ohio with a highly experienced box turtle keeper.

Please read the following before requesting an application. Many of your questions will be answered below.

I'm an adult male three-toed box turtle (Terrapene triunguis) who was for adoption in the Gettysburg/Harrisburg, PA, area, with transport available to Baltimore, MD. I'm about 6" long and about 20 years old. I'm for adoption because my person was moving and could no longer care for me. I have to live indoors this winter, but I can live outside in the summer. I can hibernate outside in southern Maryland, but have to live indoors in the winters in PA.

Since male box turtles are usually fight other males and are jerks to other males, it's best if I'm the only turtle in the enclosure, unless it's a large outdoor enclosure with more than one female. I should not be kept with other species of box turtles or tortoises.

For my indoor winter pen, or if I'm indoors permanently, a "turtle table" would be a good home, and it should at least 8 square feet of space, along with a substrate such as aged hardwood bark mulch, a water pan, artificial plants for hiding, and a heat light and UVB light over one end. Visit matts-turtles.org or e-mail matts_adoptions@hotmail.com to see ideas for temporary housing. This link shows you how to make an inexpensive indoor habitat from a book case. http://nebula.wsimg.com/53c57892d611153a60ef8bde1be11925?AccessKeyId=A3E784782F81D21389AD&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

A backyard pen should be screened in completely to keep out rats and raccoons. It should have lots of room for exploring and digging and soaking in a water pan or shallow pond designed just for box turtles.

To learn more about box turtles, visit http://www.boxturtlefacts.org/Articles.html and http://www.boxturtlesite.org/ or pick up a copy of Box Turtles by Tess Cook, available in some pet stores or on-line. To find instructions for a simple backyard box turtle enclosure, visit http://www.billsboxturtles.com

I am eating the diet recommended here, but my foster family uses Mazuri or Zoo Med Growth Formula aquatic turtle food as the base of the diet (always soaked in water until soft, of course): http://www.boxturtlefacts.org/Feeding_North_American_Box_Turtles.pdf
I love Canadian nightcrawlers (earthworms) and plain baked sweet potato, but I need variety in my diet to stay healthy.

Keep in mind that males may harass lone females to the point of illness or death, and will likely fight with other males unless you have a VERY large enclosure with lots of visual barriers and hide spots, so it's probably best if I'm a single turtle unless you have a huge backyard enclosure for the summer.

There's a $35 adoption fee. Local adopters pick up by appointment in Baltimore or Timonium, MD, on week days or in Parkton, MD, on weekends, after being approved for adoption. Our turtles come with a no sale/no trade adoption contract, and the edge of the shell is notched for easy visual ID.
TO REQUEST AN APPLICATION, e-mail matts_adoptions@hotmail.com - make sure to indicate your CITY AND STATE.

I cannot be adopted to GA. NY residents would need a special educational permit from the DEC to keep a box turtle. Residents of NJ need a permit but it's easy to get. In NJ, visit https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/exotic_apps.htm

Like turtles but can't have one? Want to help? MATTS accepts tax-deductible donations at MATTS, P.O. Box 341, Highland, MD 20777, or through PayPal at http://www.matts-turtles.org/support.html.
Rescue is funded by donations only, and we find homes for over 100 animals a year.