Hi all, ??I have 3 toeds, eastern and ornate(both subspecies) box turtles, thinking of adding a few Florida. Are they pretty much the same care wise, I think they need to be kept warmer, but besides that any thing else? ??Also why have they been popping up everywhere? Are they being cought more, or something? Any chance prices will start going down?



Florida Box Turtles are our rarest native box turtles, our smallest when full grown, and the most docile. They do not need cold temps to induce large numbers of fertile eggs or sperm as do the other subspecies...Nor do they hibernate like their cousins; but in parts of their northern range are semi dormant in a very shallow furrow for a few months to a few weeks. In their southern range they never hibernate.



They need high humidity (70% - 90%) and can withstand higher temps than the other sub species. Their preferred temps are a bit warmer due to their southern range( 82 -92). They are also more carnivorous than their cousins. Most of their natural habitat is in Florida, Southwest Georgia, and very small tracts of Alabama.



While males of the other sub species commonly have red eyes; and somtimes a few female boxies have red eyes.... Neither the males nor females of this sub species ever has red eyes. Another feature that sets Floridas aside from the other boxies is their very high domed carapace



Their numbers have been severely decimated by extreme development / habitat destruction, six consecutive years of large fires in their natural habitat in Florida, intentional and unintentional road killing, pet collectors, long periods of drought and natural predation.



While males of the other sub species commonly have red eyes; and somtimes a few female boxies have red eyes.... Neither the males nor females of this sub species ever has red eyes.



Most seen on the classifieds were W.C. adults which do not make good pets and carry high risk for disease. A few collectors have harvested groups of 40 -50 in late fall with the demand being extremely high. This further hinders their ability to thrive in the wild if we continue to remove established populations, and support the collectors by buying wild caught breeders.



Captive bred juveniles are most sought after and will probably continue to be infrequently available. Market value fluctuates weekly; but demand is rising as their numbers decline.



Ric K.

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