Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1. I was under the impression that boxies reached sexual maturity around age 4-5. However, the other day I found my 2 1/2 yr. old male mating with his same-age sister. He is inside this winter with his other siblings who are a year younger, but I think are all females. I most definitely DON'T want him mating with his siblings, but I didn't think I needed to worry about separating them yet.

2. One of my babies (it's the 2 1/2 yr. old female mentioned above) will stay in the water and soak most of the day. It's been going on for a few weeks. Why does she do this and is it normal?

Wow! How big are these 2.5 year olds?? My male, raised from an egg hatched late in 2003.....appeared to be male by the end of 2007 (age 4) and I first saw him mounting the females in his pen this past summer (2008), just under 5 years old. He has all the male characteristics now but I think he will still grow a little bit.

I have had turtles soak excessively when gravid, when the weather was hot, and when they were sick or injured. However, it may also be nothing (?)/

The 2 1/2 yr. olds are 4" and the 1 1/2 yr. olds are around 2" (largest one).

Details please. Did the male simply mount another turtle or was there penetration? Young turtles can demonstrate dominant behaviors (mounting) at a very early age, but that is not the same as actual mating.

I thought the same thing. It might be a good idea to check the littler turtles to see if the larger one is also nipping at toes and tails. I would seperate them more out of concern for aggression by the larger turtle and stressing our hte smaller ones.

After reading some other posts on this topic, I, too, wondered if it was an agression thing. But their was penetration -- I actually pulled them apart not knowing what was going on at first (I thought the male had turtled and couldn't get up - they were in their water area).

I've been watching everyone closely ever since. I haven't seen this behavior repeated, nor have I seen any other signs of agression. I'll continue to keep my eyes open, though.