Dorothy Parker (Dottie)
Three-Toed Box Turtle

 

Dottie (named after my favorite poetess Dorothy Parker) came to live with at the end of November 2000. My friend (and now roommate) Scott found her on the side of the road in Houston's busy traffic. He brought her to my son who named her Goku. She lived for 3 years in a big blue plastic kiddie pool with a couple of hedgehogs. Then she lived for a year with my iguana. Her diet consisted mainly of dry cat food and hedgehog food, live mealworms and occassional fruits and vegetables.


This year when she woke up from hibernating in my son's closet, my cat had just died and I told my son she was gonna be my turtle now. Then I started researching box turtle care. I do NOT reccommend keeping a box turtle for 4 years without doing your research! Of course it is always ideal to do your research beforehand, but many people find themselves with turtle pets unexpectedly...but really, there is no excuse to wait four years like I did...and not everyone will be as lucky as we were...
The first thing I looked at was how to sex a turtle. I was pretty sure after my research that Goku was not a boy. Dottie's tail is missing which made sexing a little more difficult. I took her up to Pet's A Plenty The Ultimate Reptile Shop at Bellaire and Hwy 6 S. They confirmed my suspicions. Christie, a local box turtle breeder, also looked at her confirmed she was a girl. Christie also guesstimates Dottie's age at 15-20 years.

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