Ok, I should know better. I have a female eastern box turtle that we've had for over a year now. She was smaller when we got her, but has grown fast. She eats great and size wise she appears to be full grown. Right before hibernation time last year, my son found someone with a three toed male that they were keeping in an ice chest with water in it. (some people have no sense) He was miserable. My son talked them out of it and we put him in our outdoor habitat with the female. They both ended up hibernating for the winter and have just woke up a couple of weeks ago (I live in the New Orleans Area and it is warm now). Well, we had every intention of adding an additional habitat to put him in by himself. Didn't have time. Caught them breeding on Friday. Will the crossbreeds be ok? We own 8 acres of land in northeast Louisiana. Could they be released? Wouldn't they cross breed in the wild? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I thought the female was too young to breed. Maybe it won't take. I don't want to release hybrids into the wild if that is bad. I have no intentions of incubating the eggs. The habitat would allow her to dig and hide the eggs. Thanks for any help. WE are still going to separate them real soon.
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Cross bred problem!
Replies (1)
Most states have laws that make it illegal to release captive-bred reptiles into the wild, so that's probably not a good idea one way or the other. Three-toed (Terrapene carolina triunguis) and Eastern (Terrapene carolina carolina) box turtles are the same species, just a different subspecies, so this isn't really crossbreeding and the babies aren't considered hybrids, they're more correctly called intergrades. They will interbreed freely, given the opportunity, and will produce fertile eggs. The best advice would be to try to keep an eye on the female, starting a few weeks from now, and dig up the eggs and dispose of them if you can find them. In less-than-scientific terms, the intergrade babies would mess with the local gene pool if they were released in the area.
