Female box turtles are found by males by sight and not by smell. Why he now goes after the one now instead of his previous female cannot be determined for sure. Perhaps the female bit him and he's learned he best keep away from her. Or he could just prefer the new one because she is an easier target.

The important point is: These turtles should not be kept in the same pen all the time so mating can occur anytime the male feels like it. What if the female become gravid and the male mate with her and crushes the eggs within the female's body? The female could die. And the stress of constantly fending off of the male's attention is hard on female turtles-it could weaken them and they could become sick.

Unless your pen is as big as a house-the males and female should be seperated into two pens with only rare visits between the two. In the wild there would never be this kind of mating interaction between the male and female. But in a small pen there is no way a female can get away. Please do right by your females and give them their own place of peace
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info

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