Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, I got a hold of Tony Mills at the Savannah Ecology Labratory and Boxes are deffinately his forte'. He has over 40 in his collection. All of them are rehabs and have handicaps which would make survival nearly impossible.
He understood that our current dilemma was no doubt a difficult decision but he said that releasing her in the Mountains or in any foreign location other than that originated from would be too confusing, hands down. He also said that the odds of adaptation would be for the most part, unlikely. She would just wonder around looking for something recognizable.
I was basically left with two decisions. I can either release her into my parents backyard which might as well be in the middle of a construction site or I can captivate her. I am not really up for taking in another box as we already have one that we have kept after a 2 year rehabilitation process and sadly we now cannot release. We enjoy boxes and they are wonderful specimens but I really wish if I could keep something native from being captive, I would but in this case, I haven't much of a choice. I can perhaps call my local nature center. I can't just adopt her out to anyone, thats for sure. On the other hand, I can wait for my male to get old enough and breed him to her and release the babies into the wild. Much research will have to be done before that is considered though. I am sure I will be calling Tony back for more information. He seemed like one of those folks, probably alot like many of you, that you could just spend an afternoon talking about reptiles/chelonian conservation with and it never be boring. I love that.
So all in all, rest assure at this point, she is not going to be released. I will also take pictures of her so you can see her and I will post within a week. You are going to be amazed at the battle scars she has on the edges of her carapace. She has really been through alot! But not for long.
Thanks again for all of your help and posts. Realize that everyone of you played a part in the decision being made.

Severa
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1.3 leopards( 1 tremper albino,1 high yellow,1 blizzard, 1 tang)
1.0 African fattail
1.1 r. ciliatus (Harlequin flames)
0.0.1 r. auriculatus
1.0 Beardie (50% German Giant x Cawley Red X Hypo Red/Flaming Tiger)
1.0 mexican red knee tarantula
1.0 albino sonoran gopher
1.0 eastern painted turtle
0.1 sun conure
2.2 Ball pythons (1 pastel,2 het for albino, one normal)
0.2 chihuahuas
0.1 spouse

I have been thinking about your predicament for the last few days.

Can you create an outdoor enclosure at your parents place? Once a suitable pen was set up with an adequate hibernaculum, they (your parents) wouldn't have to do anything for her for about 6 months out of the year, and the turtle wouldn't necessarily be a high mintenance pet for the other half of the year.

Then she's be home but protected...a better outcome than most.

Not a bad idea but my folks are getting ready to put the house on the market before long and will reside in their mountain home. I would even consider doing it as the house may not sell right away but there would be so much work coyote proofing it that alternate decisions would be easier with the turtle. That says alot in itself, having to coyote proof a pen. There has been so much development in the area that the coyotes are becoming a problem. They have learned that when they see a pen, there is usually something in it worth breaking into for. Three weeks ago a coyote took a Bischon (Small white dog, trying to spell phonetically) right off a front porch in broad daylight.
Good idea, but not fesible.
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1.3 leopards( 1 tremper albino,1 high yellow,1 blizzard, 1 tang)
1.0 African fattail
1.1 r. ciliatus (Harlequin flames)
0.0.1 r. auriculatus
1.0 Beardie (50% German Giant x Cawley Red X Hypo Red/Flaming Tiger)
1.0 mexican red knee tarantula
1.0 albino sonoran gopher
1.0 eastern painted turtle
0.1 sun conure
2.2 Ball pythons (1 pastel,2 het for albino, one normal)
0.2 chihuahuas
0.1 spouse

What about building a pen at the mountain house? Let the turtle live in it for a couple years, then she will establish it as her territory and would be able to be released there.

Unfortunately, research has shown that they don't 'establish territory' in a new place as easily as you may think. This is why letting her loose, whether sooner or later, in a new spot is not really a viable option.

If you could possibly swing the turtle pen concept at your mountain house area; you will pat yourself on the back many times in the future.

I realize the coyote proffing is an exhaustable job. Possibly if you could find a used dog kennel; you might be able to convert it into a boxie enclosure that you could walk into. It would require a small amount of work around the base to curtail boxies from climbing and digging. But your main concern is coyote proofing. Well a dog kennel with a chainlink top would be coyote proof. You could just put in the box turtle basics initially; then use your imagine to spruce it up- in time. But there would be no lid that you'd need to lift ; but rather a walk thru locked gate. Just a thought..... I think her chances are better off with you than the other options.

Ric K.