How to Set Up an Eastern Box Turtle Enclosure

Our family recently acquired a baby Eastern Box Turtle and we love her so so much! Initially my husband made her a wooden enclosure with some scrapes we had laying around. Unfortunately the moisture created mold on the wood, so we decided to just buy an enclosure off of Amazon. I did a ton of research and am excited to share her and her home with you! Plus some tips on how to set up an Eastern Box Turtle enclosure.

Meet Misshell

We’ve had her now for 3 months. My best guess is that she is somewhere between 6 months to a year old. Her shell is about 2 inches, so she’s pretty tiny. She’s honestly the cutest little thing! It’s been so much fun to be a turtle Mom.

My daughter convinced me to open an Instagram account for her, so if you want to follow us over there you can! We love sharing her.

Now let’s get into setting up her new little turtle house!

{Disclosure: The links below are affiliate links meaning if you purchase from the link, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you.}

The Wooden Enclosure

I chose this wooden enclosure for a bunch of reasons.

• I really wanted a natural wooden enclosure. This box is actually up on our front porch, so I wanted it to match the rest of the furniture.

• I love the little viewing windows! Box turtles don’t understand the concept of glass. If they can see through their enclosure they will endlessly try to get out. This is perfect because it’s a best of both worlds! Misshell can’t see out, but we can peek in and see what she’s up to.

• It’s made out of solid wood fir instead of plywood, so I’m hoping it’ll hold up to the moisture. Although this is still to be determined!

• It has bars to prop open the lids and latches to lock them.

• The enclosure came with plastic mats to put on the bottom for more protection.

• I liked the light holder. We do plan on bringing Misshell in to the house once it gets too cold to leave her outside, so we will need a lamp at that point.

Once you have picked out your enclosure, it’s time to decide what to put in it. This is the fun part!

Substrate

I decided to use coconut fiber substrate because it’s easy for box turtles to dig in, and it holds moisture really well. Misshell loves to dig and hide in it! The only thing I don’t really like is that she’s always super dirty. The coconut fiber clings to her like crazy and gets in her little eyes. I decided to add some coconut husks to help minimize this, but honestly I probably need to add more than I did. If you have any suggestions to help combat this, please let me know!

I didn’t want the whole box to be filled with coconut fiber, so I personally chose to just use it in the closed off portion. That has worked well for us. It gives her some privacy and I really think it just makes her feel safe.

Preventing Mold

Not only did I use the plastic mats that came with the enclosure, but I added a shower curtain liner to the small side with the substrate. Misshell likes her dirt 3-4 inches, so I just cut the curtain down to size then stapled it up the sides of the enclosure about that much. This is such an easy inexpensive way to protect the wood on your enclosure!

On the bigger side, I used coconut fiber mats, and some faux grass squares.

Decorating!

Obviously this is my favorite part! I think the big thing with decorating an enclosure, is making sure you keep in mind your turtle and what would make them happy. I used lots of dead leaves, moss, and coconut husks to create not only texture, but more places for her to hide. Baby turtles hide and burrow themselves, so it’s really important to provide your baby with those things.

Water is a big thing too. Box turtles are mainly land turtles, but they do still need water to wade in and to keep hydrated. I put a bigger bowl with a ramp for her to wade in on the screened in side. It’s just deep enough to cover her shell, but allow her head to be out of the water. I also added an extra smaller water dish on the smaller side so she always have easy access to water!

These log bridges/hides are my favorite. They are actually normally used for hamsters or mice I believe, but they work here too! You can bend them to create a bridge or a little hide. Just be careful and check them often, I’m going to guess they might eventually grow mold from the moisture. I’m not sure yet!

I added some real plants in clay pots. All of these plants are safe for her if she does decide to give them a little taste! The plants are in clay pots because if she does try to climb up to eat the plants, it’ll help trim her claws.

I also made sure to add plenty of hides for her in case she wants to be out, but not buried. I tried to use lots of natural elements to decorate. She can use the little piles of leaves to hide in and the moss helps hold in the moisture and humidity.

I think the easiest way to do this, is to first compile a list of things you want to include in your enclosure. Once you’ve gathered everything, start putting it in and just play around with it all. I moved my stuff around a ton until I was happy with the way it looked. You can also always go in and switch things around every once in awhile to give your little one some variety in their surroundings. Just make sure they always know where their water and food is.

If you want to see exactly how to set up an Eastern Box Turtle enclosure, make sure you go check it out on my YouTube channel.

I absolutely love the way this turned out and Misshell is loving it too!