Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wanted to share these pictures of my '06 babies enjoying their food sometime this past summer.

I also had a question and wanted some advice. I'm hoping to start on a new species of box turtle. Would Easterns do well in the Houston area? If anybody has had success/problems with Easterns around here I'd love to hear what you have to say. I would be starting out with CBB babies. Thanks a lot and hope everyone likes the pictures.

I keep Easterns (only) in NJ. I don't know anything about keeping them in your range. I imagine they would be fine, esp. if the humidity is high enough. However, it is obvious that you give your turtles proper care. That is a beautiful group of healthy yearlings!!! Are they from the same parents? It is neat to see the variation in marking...but they all look healthy and all have well-formed shells! Nice!

Your young appear to have a lot of ornata influence. They are very pretty! Nicely done. Also, further proof that young turtles will willingly accept vegetables! This seems to be especially true of Three-toeds.

Many people keep Easterns in various areas of Texas. I have spoken with a few Texans in the past, and most of them have had to install drip systems in the outdoor enclosures. Houston is pretty wet compared to most of Texas, but still a bit on the dry side for true T.c.carolina, or bauri, or major. The drip system is used to keep the soil moist, and a weekly soaking (about an inch per week) with an overhead source is a good idea, whether by rain or garden hose.

Also, it would be a good idea to amend the soil with a lot of organic material, especailly peat. If I am not mistaken, the pH of your soil is pretty high (basic). Easterns, Floridas, and Gulf Coast box turtles seem to do better in slightly to highly acidic conditions.

I emailed one "acquaintance" after reading your first post on this question. He lives near Amarillo. He makes no effort to increase the "wetness" of his Eastern subspecies' enclosures. He said that adults do well with a deep pile of compost that he keeps wet by spraying periodically throughout the summer and especially the winter. He has to maintain juveniles indoors as they will "dry up like raisins". Also, if he doesn't catch a female in the act of nesting, the eggs will be nearly completely dry the following morning. His turtles have a lot of eye problems. I have talked to him about that before...it could be dietary, but is most likely related to humidity. He also said that his ornates will catch their own food often, but the Easterns are too slow to catch the native insects for the most part.

If it were me, I'd take a few more precautions.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks for the compliments on my youngsters. To answer your questions, I'm not sure if these are from the same mother or not. I got two females from the GCTTS, a local rescue, and one hasn't even been bred in atleast 5 years, and she has laid both summers I have had her. I thought these were all hers, but I found some hatchlings I couldn't account for, and this summer I saw my OTHER female laying too, so some might be from her as well. It is possible that there is ornata influence as these turtles are fertile from previous breedings and I don't know what the father was. The mothers are three-toed, so that's just what I've been calling them.

Thanks for the advice on the Easterns (more from anyone else is still appreciated, though!) Houston is VERY wet for the most part, usually we have about a month long drought, so I don't think I should have a problem with humidity. Is the entire pen suppose to be damp, or is there something else to try and achieve, like for 3 toed it's good to have humid hides but plenty of dry areas in the pen? Our weather is obviously a lot milder than the eastern states. Do you think that a shorter hibernation would have an affect on their fertility the next spring? Thanks a bunch everyone!

Structurally (not just by color), the young turtles look like Three-toeds. It is fairly common for T.c.t. in Texas to have a lot of radiations like ornata. Then, they have more smudging where their range approaches T.c.c..

Females have been known to store sperm for up to 10 years, though less and less fertile eggs are produced.

My temperatures here in the Carolinas mimic almost exactly your temperatures in Houston. That shouldn't be a problem. I personally believe temperate turtles need cooling in order to maximize reproduction. Though, they may still lay fertile eggs without. You should be able to maintain your Easterns outdoors year round in the correct enclosure.

I think Easterns also benefit from having the option of drying out in their enclosures. Three-toeds can tolerate more dryness, but they both seem to prefer more moist conditions.

Hope this helps. Hope somebody else jumps in too. I know that Eastern keepers from Texas read this forum.

Good luck.

What are they eating in that picture?

A mix of box turtle pellets, catus pad, tomatoes, and probably some strawberry.

Great looking three toeds!!! Good job on husbandry. I keep all of the US native box turtle species and subspecies here in Texas. I am about 2 hours North and West of you in Austin. I used to live in College Station. T c carolina does good here for me with some extra watering in dry times. With good food they do real well. The only problem is they may need more cooling when hybernating to produce well. You may need to get a refrigerator and make it into a hibernation chamber for them.
As for Kensophors (spelling?) post the three toed box turtles in Texas have a lot of ornate genes in them. The pattern usualy fades with age but some retain the pattern. This hybridizing was done over a long time period for the most part so the genes are very folded into most three toed groups in Texas.
I have seen populations of ornates alongside of three toeds here in Texas that are still hybridizing. There you can find three toeds that have dark brown shells with lots of striping.
The three toed box turtle started to replaced T. putnami at the end of the Sangomon (last interglacial period) or around the start of the Wisconsin (last glacial period. T. putnami got pushed down to Florida and reduced to the gulf coast box T c major.
OK, thats your box turtle history leason for today. LOL