Those of us who love the reptiles we care for naturally hope our children come to feel the same interest and

commitment. There are many ways that even young children can participate in keeping and learning about

reptiles. The most important elements are to make sure the tasks we give them are age appropriate, educational, interesting and fun.

Caring for Reptiles: Young children can participate in reptile care by doing tasks as simple as filling a water bowl or opening a container. It doesn't take much for them to feel as if they are "helping". The degree to which a child can assist depends largely on his or her physical capability, maturity and ability to follow through. If a child asks to take on a specific responsibility, it's a good idea to discretely make sure he or she is able to carry it out over time and to allow a change of heart without getting upset. A child can learn through natural consequences: if he or she can't consistently meet the responsibility, the job will be reduced or taken away. Starting early, if the child is interested, has its rewards.

Many pre-adolescents and young teens have been able to participate meaningfully in a family reptile business or manage their own breeding operation.

Handling Reptiles: It's important to use good judgment when allowing children to handle reptiles by considering the safety of both the child and the reptile. Needless to say, handling venomous snakes is never appropriate for young children. There is a continuum of physical interaction with each reptile that can be decided on and changed as the child matures: "look only", "touch only", "handle with supervision", "handle independently". Advancing children along this continuum brings up many opportunities to teach about the animal, its characteristics and its needs.

Box turtles are omnivores meaning they eat both meat and plants. Therefore you can feed your pet box turtle a wide variety of different foods. When studied in the wild it is known that box turtles will eat plants for about half of their diet and the other half is made up of meats derived from such sources as grubs, worms, and various insects.

When you set out to feed your pet box turtle keep in mind that they are by nature opportunistic eaters. That means that they will generally eat whatever is available. Knowing that, you should be able to feed them a wide variety of foods even if they tend to favor one type of food over another.

When feeding your box turtle, be sure to do so on a flat surface such as a rock as opposed to putting their food in dishes. This is a more natural approach and will help prevent their claws and their beaks from becoming overgrown.

No matter what you are feeding your box turtle you should always be sure that it has a good supply of calcium in its cage with it at all times. This can be in the form of boiled egg shells, plaster block, or even cuttlebone just as long as it is readily available.

Some box turtles will be pickier than others when it comes to meal time and this may or may not be a sign that the turtle is getting sick. To see if your pet box turtle is sick or just picky try to entice the turtle with some brightly colored foods such as strawberries or even cantaloupe. If that proves unsuccessful then try enticing the turtle with a little bit of stinky food like wet cat food. While this is a great food item to get the turtle interested in eating, don't feed your turtle cat food on a regular basis as prolonged use is not good for the shelled reptile.

If after two weeks your pet box turtle is still not eating then there is a good chance that it may be sick. Once two weeks time has elapsed you should consult with your veterinarian and have the turtle checked out to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong.