Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to post something. I'm on vacation in Alabama(I live in Florida) and I got a male eastern box turtle. I was on the way to the flea market and I saw a bump on the road. Now since my sister, who I'm staying with, got me a female last year, I decided to turn the car around and see what the 'bump' was, and it was a male eastern box turtle. He was right on the yellow line in the middle of the two-lane road, so he would have gotten killed if i hadn't turned around to see what the bump on the road was. He started eating the day I got him too. He loves cantalope, and moistened dry dog food, but refuses to eat the strawberries. I'm going to get him nightcrawlers or superworms tomorrow. I'll post pics of him soon(if I find out how), he's a good looking dude, and has an awesome personality.

Unless I'm misreading that state's regulations on nongame species or you have a permit to collect box turtles there, you should either a) return the turtle to the area found it. b) shouldn't have said on a public forum where you are and c) hope you don't get caught.

Just because it was on the road doesn't mean it would have been killed. You could have helped it across like the rest of us do.
(Do know though, that I don't support people catching turtles when there's plenty of adults and babies captivity.)

I will second that. It's irresponsible to take a perfectly healthy turtle out of the wild. That turtle could produce hundreds of offspring if left in the wild.

There are plenty of captive-bred turtles that can be purchased or adopted. Please return him.

Would I be able to release him somewhere else? The area I found him was being cleared for farmland and that was the main reason I grabbed him, and because I have a female at home. I know the laws because when I got my fishing license, I asked about the regulations on box turtles, and the guy gave me the list of turtles/ tortoises you can't take, posess, harm, ect in the state of Alabama: Diamondback Terrapin, Gopher Tortoise, Alabama Map Turtle, Alabama Red-Bellied Cooter, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Barbours Map Turtle, And Escambia Bay Map Turtle, so I'm not breaking any laws here or in Florida. The only states you can't get them from are North Carolina and Michigan. Plus this is the only one I've taken from the wild and will probably be the only one I take from the wild. I found about 6 other ones the whole time I've been up here, and they were near wooded areas so I took them across the road, the way they were headed, and let them go. But there was absolutely no suitable habitat in the area I found this guy, unless you count a watermelon patch as suitable.

He may well have been heading for that watermelon patch in his seasonal rounds for food. It is very likely that he takes advantage of the crop on a regular basis, and sounds like a great place for a box turtle.

He's been living in the area for years: why would this year suddenly become more dangerous for him?

There are several other states from which you can't 'get' box turtles, because they prohibit possession completely or the exportation of native species: Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,Tennessee, and West Virginia, all either prohibit collection/possession or exportation/transfer.

To me, it's not a matter of legality. You should check out some posts down the page where mj3151 found a couple of GORGEOUS easterns and let them go.

You are within your legal rights--according to your research--I have no idea about AL or FL laws, to collect that turtle, but the socially responsible thing to do would be to release it in a nearby wooded area.

No. He could introduce parasites to other populations and, if I'm correct, box turtles will return to the place where they were born. So if you release him anywhere else, he will try to return to his place of birth, possibly crossing dangerous roads along the way.
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2 Taricha granulosa
1 male Terrapane carolina carolina
10 gal. tropical fish tank.

With all of the captive bred animals available out there, and unwanted pets available for adoption from rescues, it's disappointing to hear that people continue to collect wild animals.

That's exactly my feeling. We have no idea how taking one male BT out of the wild could damage future generations. How many females does he come in contact with in a season?

I've made sure to adopt first, buy next, and never collect or buy wild-caught. There's too much uncertainty about wild BT populations.

BTW, you are probably in violation of Alabama law, which allows for the collection/possession of ONE eastern Box turtle per person (you now possess two Alabama turtles).

Furthermore, if you have more than TWO of any T.c. species, you will be in violation of Florida law, which allows for the possession of no more than two. That means that you can't legally breed the two that you now have.

If I were you I would seriously consider putting that male turtle back by where you found it (by the side of the road, not in the road).

For everyone reading this, please familiarize yourselves with laws governing the collection and possession of turtles, as well as any laws governing the transport across state lines of these animals. Some laws have been changed relatively recently, with most getting more strict.

The only time I have something breeding is if I mess with the temperature, which is not very often. I learned not to mess with the temperature back when I had aquatic turtles because red ears and cooters that hadn't been known to breed for five-six years bred and layed eggs right up on the rocks. If I was to let anything breed, it would be the sulcata tortoises, if I find out the smaller one is a female, or I've been actually hoping for the last 4 years that the Russian tortoises would breed.

If you house a male and a female box turtle together, they will breed. They are pretty indifferent about temperatures.

Believe me. I move Floridas box turtles off the road back at home whenever I see them, which is not very often, and if he was on the mountains or if he was in an area not being cleared by bulldozers, I would have moved him to the other side and let him go on his way. I don't take any animal if I don't think it's in any immediate danger.

So u dont collect from the wild? But i noticed, a little ways down, you say your female eastern was collected a little less than a year ago from some woods by your sisters house in Alabama. I guess you were anticipating those woods being cleared up by bulldozers too.

The one my sister found on the road near her house had just been hit by a car before she came along and picked her up. The area where the plastron conects to the carapace was gone. My sister took pics of her and sent them to me and she was in terrible condition. I searched on the internet for ways to help repair box turtle shells, and the method my sister used was, she drilled small holes near the area that had been damaged, then passed wire through both sides to hold them together. She was found back in May-June and she associates people with food, so I have no idea how she'd do if released. All my box turtles are wild caught though and I got them unexpected. The female ornate was given to me by a friend in Florida who keeps easterns and his younger male didn't like her. Just like the male I found last week was in and area being cleared by bull-dozers, I don't go out and see how many box turtles I can take back to the house.

everyone needs to relax here , i think we should just leave it up to him to decide what to do im not saying he should keep it or not but relax with the policing, he seems very educated about the turtles he has so at least hes not harming them more only helping until (if) he finds a new place to relocate.

>>everyone needs to relax here , i think we should just leave it up to him to decide what to do im not saying he should keep it or not but relax with the policing, he seems very educated about the turtles he has so at least hes not harming them more only helping until (if) he finds a new place to relocate.

I think that everyone has a right here to voice their opinion. And I don't think anyone was too harsh. If we who care about wild animals not going extinct can't voice our cares here, then where?

I v much like the fact that the original post-er (sorry I forgot the user name) gave us his facts. And they were v reasonable ones to me. By the response, I would ASSUME that he was defensive but knew that he had integrity as to his purpose.

I am old enough to have seen the difference in populations of wild animals. And if a few get left out there because of a forum of people like this, then I will be happy to be a member.
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Patsy