The Box Turtle Manual Review

The Box Turtle Manual (Advanced Vivarium Systems) Review

Box Turtles Team October 14, 2013

2 1,482 7 minutes read

De Vosjoli and Klingenberg’s The Box Turtle Manual is the other book we keep on the shelf. It is shorter than Tess Cook’s Box Turtles, denser, and built around a different strength: Roger Klingenberg is an actual reptile vet, and the disease and disorder coverage in this book is the best in any affordable box turtle title we own. This is the long version of why it earns its place, what to read it for, what it misses, and whether you really need it if you already own Cook.

By Ben, with the husbandry sections cross‑checked by Maya.

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Table of Contents

Quick answer

If you keep North American Terrapene and you have ever wondered whether the runny nose / soft shell / weird stool you are looking at is a problem you should call a vet about — this is the book that will tell you. The husbandry coverage is solid and the prose is occasionally a little dry, but the veterinary section is exceptional for the price. Combine it with Tess Cook’s Box Turtles and you have effectively the complete general‑audience box turtle library.

Book at a glance

Title: The Box Turtle Manual (Advanced Vivarium Systems)
Authors: Philippe de Vosjoli & Roger J. Klingenberg, DVM
Publisher: Advanced Vivarium Systems (now an i‑5 Publishing imprint)
Format: Paperback, 88 pages (varies slightly by edition)
Language: English
ISBN‑10: 1882770714
ISBN‑13: 978‑1882770717
Best for: Anyone keeping North American Terrapene who wants to recognise health problems early
Where to buy: Amazon

Who the authors are

Philippe de Vosjoli wrote or co‑wrote almost every Advanced Vivarium Systems title in the late 1990s and 2000s. He is the husbandry voice of the book — practical, no‑nonsense, sometimes blunt about what works and what doesn’t. If you have ever read his green iguana, leopard gecko, or beardie books, the tone is identical.

Roger Klingenberg, DVM was — and his clinical thinking still is — one of the better‑known reptile vets in North America. His chapters in this book read like a vet’s notes on what he sees in the consulting room, which is exactly what they are. Ben uses them as quick reference when triaging clinic enquiries from box turtle owners.

What’s in the book

88 pages, broken roughly as:

Selection — what to look for in a healthy turtle, how to assess hydration and weight, the warning signs you should never buy past.
Housing & environment — indoor and outdoor enclosures, temperature gradients, humidity, lighting.
Diet & supplementation — wild diet, captive equivalents, calcium, D3.
Hibernation — a tighter, more clinical chapter than Cook’s.
Diseases and disorders (Klingenberg) — the showpiece. Respiratory infections, shell rot, otitis media, vitamin A deficiency, MBD, dystocia, parasites, eye conditions. Each one with presentation, differential diagnosis, treatment direction, and the line at which you stop reading and call a vet.
Breeding — short, practical, ends with hatchling care.

What we love

Klingenberg’s disease chapter

This is why the book is on Ben’s shelf. The disease coverage is structured like vet teaching material: what you’ll see first, what it could be, how to differentiate, what the keeper can reasonably do before the vet visit, and what the vet will probably do. The respiratory infection section in particular is the best short write‑up of Terrapene URTI we have read outside paid veterinary literature.

Specific examples we have used in real cases:

The shell rot triage — wet versus dry, superficial versus penetrating, when to clean and when to refer.
The vitamin A deficiency presentation — swollen eyelids, “puffy eye”, and the dietary review checklist that follows.
The aural abscess section — surprisingly common in adopted box turtles with a history of poor husbandry, and almost always a surgical referral.

Concise husbandry

De Vosjoli’s husbandry style is “say it once, clearly, then move on”. If you are the kind of reader who finds Cook’s longer treatment overwhelming, this book is the alternative. It is not as rich, but it is not as long either.

Hibernation, with vet sign‑off

Klingenberg’s hibernation chapter sits next to Cook’s in our notes. Cook’s is more thorough on the keeper side; Klingenberg’s is more decisive on the clinical “is this animal healthy enough to hibernate” side. We use both. The fasting protocol, the pre‑hibernation health check, and the conditions that should make you abort hibernation are all clearer in this book.

Where it falls short

It is short

88 pages is not much. The husbandry chapters get less depth than in Cook, and the breeding section feels rushed. If you only ever owned this book, you would have to fill some gaps elsewhere.

It is North America only

No Cuora coverage at all. The title says “box turtle” but means Terrapene. If you have an Asian box turtle, this is not the book for you.

The illustrations are dated

Several editions exist; older ones have the kind of low‑contrast photographs and uneven captioning that AVS titles of that era share. Newer printings are better. Check the edition before you buy.

Taxonomy is out of date

Same caveat as Cook — both books predate the 2013 Martin et al. revision and still treat triunguis as a subspecies of T. carolina. See our Terrapene taxonomy update for the current names.

How it compares to Cook’s Box Turtles

We have written this comparison up at length in our review of Tess Cook’s Box Turtles. The short version:

Tess Cook — Box Turtles: stronger on husbandry, hibernation method, outdoor enclosures, ethics, and depth.
De Vosjoli & Klingenberg — The Box Turtle Manual: stronger on disease recognition, veterinary triage, and concise reading.

For under USD 40 you can own both. We do. That combination has saved at least two turtles in our care directly — once when Ben recognised an early aural abscess presentation from a photo, and once when Maya aborted a hibernation cycle on a turtle whose weight loss matched a pattern Klingenberg flagged.

Editions, prices, and where to actually buy

The book has been in print on and off since the late 1990s. Used copies are common and usually a fraction of the new price. We have happily used a 2004 edition for years; the husbandry has not changed enough to make a newer printing strictly necessary, though the disease chapter benefits from current editions where available.

New: usually USD 12–18 on Amazon when in stock.
Used: USD 4–8 second‑hand from the same listing or from used‑book sellers.
Out‑of‑print editions: functionally identical for husbandry. Klingenberg’s disease chapter is the section you most want from a recent printing.

Who should not buy this book

Anyone keeping only Cuora species — no Asian box turtle coverage.
Anyone hoping a book will replace a reptile vet. Klingenberg’s disease coverage is excellent triage material. It is not a substitute for an exotic vet you actually see in person.
Anyone who already owns the Franklin & Killpack Complete North American Box Turtles and finds it sufficient — though Klingenberg’s perspective is still worth the extra USD 12.

The verdict

The Box Turtle Manual earns its place on the shelf because of Roger Klingenberg’s disease chapter, full stop. The de Vosjoli husbandry coverage is competent but unremarkable; Cook’s book covers the same ground better. But the moment you have a sick turtle in front of you — and over forty years of keeping, you will — this is the book you reach for first. For that reason alone we recommend it, paired with Cook’s Box Turtles, as the complete starter library for North American Terrapene keepers. Get it from Amazon and keep it next to your enclosure, not on a high shelf.

Klingenberg’s disease chapter is best paired with a weekly photo log of every animal in your care — comparison over time catches problems early.

The disease quick-reference (Klingenberg’s framework)

One of the things that makes this book genuinely useful is the way Klingenberg structures each disease entry. The pattern is consistent across the chapter, and once you internalise it you stop panic-Googling every new symptom:

What you see first — the visible or behavioural sign that should make you stop and look closer.
What it could be — the differential diagnosis list, narrowed down to the conditions that actually fit the presentation.
What it usually is — the most likely cause, with the husbandry context that typically produces it.
What you can reasonably do — keeper-side actions before the vet visit (rarely treatment; usually husbandry correction and supportive care).
What the vet will probably do — so you arrive prepared and so you know whether the vet’s plan matches the literature.
How long recovery looks — realistic timelines and what “back to normal” actually means.

That structure is mirrored in our own box turtle health problems cornerstone, which leans heavily on this book.

Common questions about the book

Should I buy this or Cook first? If you’re a brand new keeper and haven’t yet built your first enclosure, buy Cook first. If you already have a turtle and are spotting a possible health problem, buy this one today.

Is the husbandry advice still current? Broadly yes. Lighting recommendations have moved on — use modern T5 HO tubes regardless of what the book’s bulb chapter says — but every other recommendation holds.

How thick is the breeding chapter? Thin. If you want to breed box turtles, this is not the book. Cook’s is better, and for serious breeders the Franklin & Killpack Complete North American Box Turtles is better still.

Is the older 1990s printing still useful? Yes, with one caveat: the disease chapter has been updated across editions, and we recommend the most recent printing you can find for that section in particular. The husbandry chapters are essentially unchanged.