Box turtles are amazing at camouflage. No matter how colorful they may appear to be (for example, Bruce has bright orange cheek patches set against a white face with black and brown accents), put them practically anywhere and watch them disappear. I can’t tell you how many times I have looked….and looked and looked andContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Camouflage”
Tag Archives: box turtle
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Digging
Too lightweight and streamlined to be a tortoise, yet too land-bound to be a true water turtle, box turtles have had to carve out their own niche in the world of shelled beings. As a result, they have developed into serious shelled athletes. Climbing? No problem. Swimming? Sure thing. Digging? Already on it. Digging can beContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Digging”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Climbing
Living with two different shelled species is so interesting! They are so similar in so many ways, and yet so different in other ways. One thing both Bruce and Malti share in common is an instinct to climb. While both have been known to climb just because it seems possible, the number one motivation IContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Climbing”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Vegetation
I was born in Houston, Texas. Although I have traveled quite a bit and have lived other places intermittently, for the majority of my years I have lived here. This is relevant because, in all the years I have lived here – until now – it has always been hot and humid. Generally speaking, weContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Vegetation”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Timing Hibernation
In a previous post, we talked about hibernation, or brumation if it is a reptile like Bruce who is hibernating. Since then, Bruce and his mommy have fielded several questions about the timing of his annual hibernation. Most of the questions have focused on how we know (or how I know that Bruce knows) itContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Timing Hibernation”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Hunting
When you keep company with turtles and tortoises, you have plenty of opportunities to make new neural connections. This, of course, is because they are full of brain-enriching surprises. For instance, never in a million years would I have guessed how very different one shelled being can be from another – at least not untilContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Hunting”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Shell Rot
By the time Bruce was rescued to me as an adult, Malti had been living with me for about two years. During that time, I had made a LOT of mistakes in pretty much every area where a newbie tortoise owner can make a mistake. But I was also working overtime to correct those mistakesContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Shell Rot”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Diet
Different species of turtles and tortoises like to eat different types of victuals. For instance, if you are a box turtle, you like protein. You especially like it when it is live and wriggling and you can hunt it. If you are a box turtle named Bruce and you see a plump, live, wriggling prey,ContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Diet”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Hibernation (Brumation)
Not all turtles and tortoises hibernate. Among the species that do, the technical term for what happens when a reptile (rather than a mammal) does this is called “brumation.” If you are a herpetologist (reptile expert), you will know to use the term “brumation” instead of “hibernation” when referring to a reptile’s traditional period ofContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Hibernation (Brumation)”
Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Swimming
While box turtles are definitely “land” turtles, in the sense that in many ways, their habits and environments more closely resemble that of tortoises or terrapins than of true aquatic turtles, they also love to swim. Some box turtles will swim several times a day, taking time between swims to dry off and warm upContinueContinue reading “Bruce Explains Box Turtles: Swimming”
Love & Feathers & Shells 