If you would like to listen to an audio recording of this module, please click here. (Duration: 10:23)

Husbandry in Hospital Setting

You can adjust the guidelines below to fit what you have available in your practice. This information is also useful to share with people that rehabilitate your turtle patients after treatment. In general, the goal is to keep turtles in the hospital for as short a duration as possible because ideal husbandry conditions are not compatible with the hospital environment.

Most turtles can be housed in an open plastic bin of varying depths but a lid may be advisable for particularly active turtles. For example, snapping turtles are excellent climbers and, for safety concerns, it is best to house in an enclosed container with adequate ventilation. The container should also allow the turtle to freely move around. They should be able to fully turn around in the enclosure, unless limited mobility is required to stabilize an injury. Before setting up your enclosure/cage/kennel for your turtle patient, it’s important that you’ve identified the turtle species, ie aquatic or terrestrial, and perform a physical exam to assess for coelomic penetration. 

Terrestrial Turtles

A normal terrestrial turtle setup should include a shallow water dish and a hide box (or shelter). You can use a cut-out cardboard box or a plastic flower pot cut in half as a hide box. For easy cleaning, line the bottom with newspaper. The water and newspaper should be changed out when dirty.

Figure 1. A typical box turtle set up used in TRT.

Aquatic Turtles

For aquatic turtles fill a large plastic tub with water to a depth where the animal is no longer touching the bottom of the bin and is floating/suspended in the water. They should be able to dunk their head underwater. They also need a brick, upside-down bin, or other platform to allow them to emerge from the water. The water should be changed when it becomes dirty.

Large bins for aquatic turtles – those who are unable to be submersed in water have dry or damp towels.

Hatchlings

Hatchlings require both a wet and dry area of their enclosure. You can do this by propping up their enclosure to make a ramp. Keep half of their enclosure over a heating pad, and all of the enclosure under UV bulb. Young juvenile turtles should always have access to heat. Water provided to hatchlings must be de-chlorinated. Use of standard aquarium de-chlorinators or “ReptiSafe” is necessary.

Hatchlings are kept in small bins with damp towels soaked in dechlorinated water. Once the yolk sacs are gone, they can swim in shallow dechlorinated water as long as they have a place to dry off.

Soaking and Drying

Box turtles will need to be soaked in shallow water for 20 minutes a day, as long as they do not have plastron or ventral carapace injuries that make this impossible (see below). Soaks can be modified to accommodate for injuries, by lowering the water level or placing the bin on an incline to keep plastron injuries or amputation sites dry. Patients can be taped or tied into place to ensure they don’t turn around in the incline soak. Even if a turtle has a water dish in their enclosure, they should still be soaked on a daily basis to ensure proper hydration. Box turtles that cannot be soaked daily or do not have a water dish in their enclosure should receive daily 2% body weight parenteral fluids. Methods of administration include subcutaneous injection, and oral or cloacal via red rubber catheter. Turtles receiving daily subcutaneous fluids should be monitored closely for puffiness. In some cases, reducing SQ fluid administration to every other day is appropriate to maintain euhydration.

Box turtles soaking.

Aquatic turtles that are being held in water should be dried off for 20 minutes a day before being placed back in their water. Aquatic turtles that do not have access to water (see below) should receive daily 2% body weight LRS fluids subcutaneously.

Assessing If a turtle can be placed in water:

Drydocked snapping turtle.

It is important to identify any injury such as deep shell fracture, an infected limb, or an exposed coelomic cavity, as submerging turtles with these injuries could be potentially problematic. For box turtles with exposed injuries, they should not be allowed free access to a water dish to prevent them from accidentally soaking in it and getting their wounds wet. For aquatic turtles that are slightly weak or have fractures higher up on the shell they can be placed in low water, typically to the point where their plastron and carapace connect. For turtles with severe injuries on the ventral side of the body, they will need to be “dry-docked,” and no water should be added to the bin. If the turtle’s plastron is still touching the bottom of the bin, a towel can be placed in the water to prevent pressure sores. Damp towels can be used for turtles who do not have plastron injuries, but plastron fractures necessitate a dry towel. If you’re not sure whether the animal can be submerged, it’s better to err on the side of caution.

Temperature

• Heliotherms – obtain heat by basking
  • Nonlethal temp range: 46-113 deg F
• Terrestrial optimal temp around 84 deg F
  • <50 deg F – turtles will go into brumation
  • <59 deg F – turtles will become inactive and/or anorexic
  • >95 deg F – turtles will actively seek cool areas
    • Excess heat can be lethal (>113 F)
• Box turtles and painted turtles are fairly tolerant to freezing, but mortalities can still occur
• Water turtles – 75-82 deg F recommended for most
  • If using submersible heater, use barriers (such as a PVC pipe) to prevent burns

For critically ill patients (dull, depressed, lethargic) consider the use of supplemental heat either through a heat lamp or a heating pad. Also, there should always be a warm and a cool side when using supplemental heat. If the patient gets too hot, they can move to the other side of the enclosure. Heating pads should be placed on low and the animal should never be in direct contact with the pad. If possible, use a thermometer to monitor the temperature in the enclosure. 

If available, use a UVB light above the enclosure for ~12 hours a day to mimic sunlight. If not possible, allowing the turtle to spend about 15-30 minutes (supervised) outside can be beneficial to their overall health as they are dependent on UV light to utilize calcium in their diet. Turtles can go without a UV light source for a short period of time (few weeks), so in a hospital setting, it is okay to not provide UV light if the turtle is only there for a brief period of time. If you are communicating with rehabilitators, make sure that they know to provide UV-B light for the turtles in their care.

Nutrition

Generally, turtles are omnivores with different species eating a different ratio of protein-based food to plant-based foods. The more red and ripe fruits and vegetables are better for the health of the turtles. It is very common for turtles to not eat in the hospital, either due to their health or due to the stress of captivity. Turtles are capable of surviving for months without eating, but it is still advisable to offer palatable food as a good plane of nutrition can improve healing and recovery. At TRT, we have found that turtles with prolonged anorexia are more susceptible to chronic anemia, hypoproteinemia, and peripheral edema. For this reason, we suggest that hospitalized turtles not go more than two weeks without eating. Vitamin B complex can be used to improve appetite, and gavage or esophageal tube-feeding may be necessary to ensure that turtles are receiving optimal nutrition.

A box turtle enjoying a varied diet.

Terrestrial Turtles

Land turtles eat approximately 35% vegetables, 50% protein-based foods, and 15% fruit. For land turtles, alternate days between protein and vegetables can accomplish this diet, with one day of the week providing fruit. The schedule below is what we use in the Turtle Rescue Team.

Almost any vegetable or fruit can be given. Peas and carrots tend to be a favorite among box turtles, and leafy greens can also be used. You can encourage your colleagues or clients to bring in leftover scraps or recently expired vegetables from home to save on costs – especially since turtles in captivity often do not eat very much. For fruits, turtles tend to be fairly fond of berries.

At TRT, protein for box turtles means worms – we keep a colony of mealworms and earthworms. Keeping a colony of worms is unlikely to be feasible in your practice, but keeping earthworms in a compost bin outside your clinic is fairly low-maintenance as they can be fed anything that the turtles do not eat. Alternatively, you may be able to find worms outside or you may have a client or colleague who composts or keeps a garden that may be willing to work with you. Worms can also be purchased at most pet stores, though they are usually devoid of nutrients and need to be fed before they are offered to turtles.

Aquatic Turtles

Aquatic turtles in captivity should be fed a diet of 50% vegetables, 25% protein and 25% commercial-based diet (freshwater pellets). The only exception is juvenile aquatic turtles that eat a diet of 80% protein. It’s also been noted that aquatic turtles tend to prefer protein-based foods, which may be helpful with patients exhibiting inappetence. A schedule of an adult aquatic turtle diet is shown below, and this is what we use in TRT.

Protein for aquatic turtles can mean worms or fish. We keep frozen fish fillets or small frozen feeder fish for our aquatic turtles in TRT. If your clinic does not have access to turtle pellets, feed protein instead. Some aquatic turtles will readily consume fish food pellets.

Hatchlings

Hatchlings need sufficient nutrition to grow, so if you find yourself with hatchlings it is a good idea to invest in some hatchling turtle pellets from a pet store.

Give approximately 3-4 hatchling pellets per hatchling for hatchlings under 2 weeks, and up to 10 pellets for older hatchlings. 

Additional Resources

• Raising Earthworms Successfully from NC State Extension, provides information about starting and maintaining an earthworm colony using composting
• Vermicomposting 101 – A 20 minute video on how to establishing a worm bin.
• Feeding Aquatic Turtles, VCA Hospitals (specific to pet red-eared sliders)
• Proper Lighting for your Turtle, a resource about different types of lighting that may be beneficial for rehabbers
• Hatchling Turtle Care, a resource on how to set up a hatchling enclosure and some tips on feeding