Face-to-face with Winky-- The One-eyed Box Turtle.

Or shall I say “eye to eye”? I found Winky on the road last summer and have consequently learned how to care for box turtles. I've kept him because of his small size and handicap. I believe he was displaced due to development and his natural hibernation site probably has a house on it now. Two of my neighbors have found larger, healthier ones since and after keeping them for a day or two have let them go on the nature trail behind our neighborhood. I have been debating on asking Roper Mountain Science Center http://www.ropermountain.org to take him, though my 7-year-old boy won’t even discuss that option.

FAQ

How old is Winky? Young. He is now about the circumference of a baseball and he has grown since I found him last summer. He eats mainly protein, which is what juvenile box turtles eat (worms, baby food) and he’s obsessed with Star Wars and Japanamation which most turtles outgrow by adulthood. When I found him he didn’t even have a hinge (the closing part of the shell which allows them to shut themselves up like a box). He developed his hinge over the winter.

Is he a turtle or a tortoise? A box turtle. Though land-based critters like this are called tortoises and water-based ones are turtles (I don’t know what you call the oil-based ones), box turtles need to live close to water and bathe daily. I had just got Will programmed to call him a tortoise when I found that out. They are in the same family as pond turtles, but the four species of box turtles are in the genus Terrapene. I think Winky’s a Common Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene Carolina Carolina). Quite apropos considering he’s from the Palmetto State!

Where do you keep him? Winky has a habitat made from a big plastic storage bin. It has dirt covered by coconut husks, plants, rocks, lots of worms and, of course, a pool (a clay drainage dish from a planter). Last winter we put his habitat in the water-heater closet in the garage with a light on a timer. My goal was to keep him well lit and warm enough to prevent him from hibernating (I didn’t know if he had the fat reserves to sleep through the winter without starving). Winky’s Circadian rhythms did kick-in anyway, and he dug in and slept for days at a time but he’d come out and eat on warm days and is now active and hungry again.

How do you know he’s a he? I don’t. In fact, based on his back toes, lack of a curve in his plastron (bottom shell) and brown eyes, he’s probably female. I think she doesn’t care what I call her as long as I keep the water clean and the worms coming.

A day in the life…Winky spends most of her time buried in her habitat. (If you let her out for ten minutes, she’ll bury herself in the yard-- I often wonder how many buried turtles I pass without knowing it.) She comes out once she’s been warmed enough by the sun to be hungry. When she gets too hot, she finds a shady spot under her dandelion and digs in for an afternoon nap.

She needs her pool and humidity. Box turtles love rain. When it starts to drizzle, I go to her pen and she is propped up on a rock, neck outstretched worshipping the rain.

In the wild they take the opportunity to hunt (yes, hunt) worms on rainy afternoons. Box turtles are predators and will tear a worm apart in 190 seconds, flat. Watching one slow creature stalk another slow creature really is entertaining!

If you end up finding a box turtle, know that they are happiest in the wild (and in the same place you found them, if it’s safe). If you must remove a turtle to save its life, don’t keep him in an aquarium-- he’ll bang his head against the glass trying to get to the other side. Also, don’t give him lettuce. Here’s a great link to learn more http://www.boxturtlesite.org/.