When I was little, I thought hay was for horses. Later on I learned hay is also for guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters and sheep. Now I know that hay can be for chickens and cows too (to roost on and eat, respectively). But never in a million years did I suspect a box turtle mightContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Hay”
Category Archives: Bruce
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Estivation
Bruce is a three-toed box turtle. Specifically, he is a Texas 3-toed box turtle (eastern box turtle), which means his species is found here in Texas naturally in certain wild places, mostly in the eastern parts of the state. But just because Bruce is from Texas doesn’t mean our legendary summer heat doesn’t get toContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Estivation”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: The Wild
Bruce really comes alive when he is out and about in the “wild,” which these days basically means his outdoor habitat or in his enclosed backyard play area. He runs about, climbing and digging and exploring and hunting and hiding and swimming and just generally being a wild box turtle. I love this! I loveContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: The Wild”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Soaking
Box turtles are truly an enigma of sorts in the turtle/tortoise world. Sometimes they seem more like terrapins or water turtles, with their water-loving personalities and tendency to go for a “swim” in any little pond or puddle they encounter. But then at other times, especially while hibernating under layers of dirt and mulch orContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Soaking”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Protein
Figuring out what to feed a newly rescued box turtle is not a job for the faint of heart (or mind). When Bruce first joined our little flock in May 2015, I figured he would probably like whatever Malti liked. Boy was I wrong. To this day, Bruce has never deigned to even sniff Malti’sContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Protein”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Eye Contact
When my Bruce came to me, he had been out wandering the dangerously busy urban streets around our neighborhood. I didn’t know anything about his history, except that he had at one time been plucked out of a wild area and transported to a neighbor’s backyard (the perpetrator in this case was the neighbor’s grandson).ContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Eye Contact”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Earthworms
Sometimes I feel like I literally couldn’t have chosen two more opposite shelled beings to welcome into our little flock. Where Malti is slow, Bruce is quick. Where Malti is always one nap away from her next nap, Bruce is up and raring to go before most roosters are awake. And where Malti prefers herContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Earthworms”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Edible Grasses
From time to time, I work with an animal communicator just to check in with each one of my interspecies flock members to make sure I’m doing a good job as their mama. Every time we have a session together, I always learn so much! Each flock member always has plenty to say and expressesContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Edible Grasses”
Pearl, Malti & Bruce Say Happy Mother’s Day!
When you have feathers or a shell and you hit the luck jackpot and get the greatest grandma on the planet, you always want to wish her “Happy Mother’s Day” first thing on her special morning! (Of course if she wants to thank you for your thoughtfulness by preparing you some fresh crispy waffles withContinueContinue reading “Pearl, Malti & Bruce Say Happy Mother’s Day!”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Beards
Bruce is such a character! He is truly one-of-a-kind – both the only and the BEST (mama’s bias here) box turtle I have ever known. One day not long after Bruce emerged from hibernation this spring, I noticed what looked like black fungus growing around the edges of his beak (turtles and tortoises have beaksContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Beards”
Love & Feathers & Shells 