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I just received my first Florida box turtle. I attached a picture of her eating a worm right before she moved into her new outdoor enclosure. I am trying to find other Florida box turtles so I can have a small group of them.
My question is for those of you who have experience with or are knowledgeable about Florida box turtles. I live in south central Louisiana, and our climate is very close to the climate in parts of Florida. In fact, I am on the same latitude as the Florida panhandle. Would it be possible for me to keep Florida box turtles outdoors all year long, or do I need to bring them indoors? Our winter temperatures are basically the same as the entire Florida panhandle and as far south as Gainesville, FL. We had only a handful of freezes last year, and from watching the weather, I know that northern Florida had more freezes than we did. Our lowest temps were in the upper 20's, and that only occured a couple times. Average daytime highs in the dead of winter are usually in the mid 50's to lower 60's. It is rare for daytime highs to be lower than 50 degrees.
I am going to attempt to copy and paste a chart showing the average temperatures during the winter months for where I live as well as several cities in Florida. Hopefully it comes out alright, and if not I'll just redo it.

Average High/Low Each Month for Specified Location
Louisiana Pensacola Tallahassee Jacksonville Gainesville
October 82/57 79/60 81/57 79/60 81/59

November 71/49 70/51 73/48 73/51 74/51

December 64/42 63/45 66/42 66/44 68/44

January 60/40 61/43 64/40 64/42 66/42

February 65/43 64/45 67/42 67/44 69/45

March 72/50 70/52 74/48 43/50 75/50

April 79/57 76/58 80/53 79/55 80/55

This information was found at www.weather.com (The Weather Channel).

Steven

The chart got messed up in my first post. I attached it as a picture so it should be better now.

Is it possible? Yes. I know of a guy who keeps Florida box turtles outdoors year round in South Carolina. Plus, bauri extend northward up into Georgia.

BUT, it depends on your individual turtle. The guy in SC obtained juveniles that were not "set in their ways". You have a turtle that appears to be an older wild caught individual. This turtle may have been living in Southern Florida for nearly 30 or 40 years. It will most likely be more difficult for this turtle to adapt than a young individual. Box turtles in general have been thought of as "easy" pets. That is most likely due to the fact that most people who kept box turtles were keeping them in the climate where they were native. When a box turtle is taken out of its native habitat, and moved somewhere foreign, there is evidence to show that it is very stressful to them. In this instance, box turtles can be VERY difficult to acclimate. Be very careful with this turtle, and I would suggest getting a captive bred individual next time. It is SO much easier.

I wish you the best of luck! Let us know how things turn out.
Here's a young captive bred '05. I always hesitate to show pics of my bauri because Ric's are so stunning. They make this one look like a reject. Can't you tell, I'm not at all jealous!

Would it be possible for me to keep Florida box turtles outdoors all year long, or do I need to bring them indoors? Our winter temperatures are basically the same as the entire Florida panhandle and as far south as Gainesville, FL.

Nice Florida Boxie! Appears to be a female.

Yes you would be able to keep them in your locality outdoors. As you have stated the environment there is very similar if not the same as northern Florida. Their natural range at one time did include parts of Louisiana.

Ric K.

Recent hatch Florida Boxies

See what I mean! We all pine over Ric's pics.

I too have been wondering about temperatures....I have 3 Florida Box Turtles right now. Two 4 to 4.5" females and a 2" yearling. I keep a large group of Eastern Box Turtles that reside in my yard in a big enclosure year round but I'm sure the Floridas won't be able to handle a New Jersey winter the way they do. I thought of somehow creating their own little hibernation period indoors using a fridge and only cooling it to 45 to 50 degrees...but is this too cold for them? Not sure what to do because keeping them in a large indoor set up for the winter with such high humidity is kinda out of the question...there's just no more room! I hibernate my hermanns tortoises, spotted turtles and north american wood turtles in a fridge that stays at 38 degrees and I have no problems.... any ideas?
-Chris

"I thought of somehow creating their own little hibernation period indoors using a fridge and only cooling it to 45 to 50 degrees...but is this too cold for them? Not sure what to do because keeping them in a large indoor set up for the winter with such high humidity is kinda out of the question...there's just no more room! I hibernate my hermanns tortoises, spotted turtles and north american wood turtles in a fridge that stays at 38 degrees and I have no problems.... any ideas?

Your Floridas are beautiful!

You would be able to attain their ideal cooling temps by acquiring one of those tiny minuscule wine coolers and setting it for 50-55 degrees. Calibrate and check it with a mercury thermometer before using it. Keep a large jar of water at the bottom and your boxies at the top end.

While Floridas experience near freezing temps at times; they are exposed to those temps for a very brief time period as opposed to the long winters I remember as a kid and teenager growing up in Jersey.

Ric K.

So Floridas do hibernate to a certain extent? I guess it depends on their locality?

Steven

I didn't mean to mislead you.

No they are not hibernators/ brumators like your easterns. They will not burrow down and enter a dormant state; but remain awake in a shallow furrow the entire time with reduced metabolism.

Ric

Steve,

Did you hatch and raise those juvies yourself?

Ric

The only juvenile boxie I have is a three-toed. This female is my first Florida, but I am trying to find more. It seems like they are becomming harder to find. When I first started keeping boxies about five years ago, it was common to see people offering groups of adult Floridas for sale, and CB hatchling Floridas were around $100. I decided this year that I wanted to start keeping them, so I built another outdoor enclosure and started looking for some online. I wanted adults to start off with but was having a hard time finding any. Just as I was about to purchase a few hatchlings, I found this female, and the same guy I got her from may give up a few others. I still may purchase some hatchlings if I happen to find some. Anyway, thanks for the info.

Steven

My error.. I got posts switched.... I meant to ask regarding the juvies from the post above yours. I know that your florida female is a beauty!

Ric K.

Florida boxies have become more difficult to get because the laws concerning them have changed in Florida. This is how it was explained to me...Any individual can possess only two of any subspecies of Terrapene carolina in Florida. That means that you can only legally possess two Florida boxies, or one Eastern and one Florida, or one Gulf Coast and one Three-toed, etc... They apparently make no distinction between the subspecies. This is most likely due to the fact that ALL the US T.c. subspecies occur at least in a small part of Florida. Florida also prohibits the sale of any T.c. subspecies. I'm not aware of any ability to obtain permits for increased possession or sale.

Maybe someone can set me straight. I learned this info. by word of mouth. A guy almost yelled at me when I asked if he'd sell me some bauri hatchlings. He was from Florida, and had pictures of an adult pair of bauri which he possessed. I think he thought I was some kind of undercover agent or something. Be afraid, be very afraid! I'm glad he was following the regulations, but take a pill fella!

Ken's right regarding the laws in Florida. However being that Florida Boxies are native to Florida, Georgia, and parts of Alabama; they have a very limited natural range. Not much area to replenish to start off with. Coupled with that the depletion of their woodland habitat ( housing development), half a decade of wild fires, the introduction of fire ants decimating their nests, and very high road mortality, all account for their low numbers.

Captive Bred Florida Boxies can be legally sold from several states including those in the Pacific Northwest. A document should certify their captive bred and their place of origin.

Their husbandry is also a bit different from their T.c. cousins, being more carnivorous, and needing increased humidity, along with less tolerance to cold temperatures.

Ric

I agree Ric. By "get", I meant purchase. I just wanted to specify.