Reptile & Amphibian Forums

At what age (approx.) do box turtles become sexually mature? I have some yearling and 7-8 month old babies (3-toed, all siblings) and I need to know when to start separating them.

It depends on how much, and what you feed them. But, 4-5 inches is usually the size when they can start breeding with Three-Toes. By-the-way, how is it going for you with three-toes? I've been thinking of getting some three-toes, but I don't know anyone who has had any experience with them, or has them for that matter in the state of Florida, and I refuse to do shipping from out of the state of Florida.

Mine were given to me: 2 that ended up being a male & female. I've had them about 5 yrs. (the male escaped last summer, though). Female has laid eggs, but summer before last was my first success with hatching.

I now have 2 that are 1 1/2 y/o, and 6 that hatched this past summer, plus the Mom.

>>> I've got to stop "rescuing" eggs!!

So is it OK to let them mingle (genders undetermined at this time) until they reach the 4" mark?

How old are they usually when they get to this size (assuming optimal living conditions, etc....)?

They should do fine together. If you find out they're both males when they get about 4 inches, then you'll probably have to separate them like I did my sulcata tortoises, so they don't fight. I'm just guessing it'll probably take at least four or five years to reach sexual maturity, but I'm not sure, since mine are wild caught, and they're the only ones I've ever had.

Good news to know I'll have a few years (maybe). And I guess that once I can determine gender, even if I've left them together too long and some of them mate, I just need to destroy the eggs at that point.

BTW, I have 9 total: the Mom (Zippo); 2 yearlings (Turbo & Charger); 6 babies (Baby Bomber, Morgan, Alphie, Draco, Cheif, & X-tra)....

Dad (Speedy) was an Eastern - he escaped last summer and Mom is a 3-toed. So far all the babies seem to have the 3-toed trait and most of them have Mom's shell pattern & color.