Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can box turtles & water turtles cross breed? kind of a curiosity, kind of a need-to-know.

sorry if thats a really strange question. i have a setup where my box turtle & 2 male water turtles are in the same enclosure (yes, it works, i know the space issues, etc.) & my box turtle, who is normally shy & reserved, was out & walking around & generally 10 times more active than ive seen her in weeks. they all have been known to visit each other at odd times (one of the water turtles slept in the land area for about a week, & the basking area is right next to it, so the other is in range quite often...) i couldnt tell if she was actually digging holes, she stopped moving every time i looked up. if i mind her business, she gets cranky. but any help on IDing if shes actually pregnant, & if she is, how to make her the most comfortable, would be great. thanks in advance.

btw, finding out her weight is impossible, the only scale i have is of the human-weighing variety.

No, you would not get interbreeding (that is not to say that males won't try, but they won't be successful).

However, female box turtles can store sperm and lay fertile eggs for five years after mating (it's at least five years that have been verified, more may be possible). Also, sometimes a female will lay a few infertile eggs even having never been in a successful mating.

You can feel if she has eggs manually. This is called palpating. If you hold her with her rear end towards you, and grip her rear leg with your thumb and middle finger, you can use your pointer finger to gently feel the soft tissue in front of the leg. This is the cavity her leg will retract into if she clams up. Feeling gently like this from both sides is what I find best. Please be sure to cut off any long fingernails and make sure your hands are clean. Be gentle. You can feel identifiable rounded shapes in the soft tissues. Once you recognize them by touch, you will not mistake them for something else. This only works as the eggs start to develop their shells, a week or maybe up to two weeks before they are laid. I've not felt it earlier than that.

Definately not breeding with each other. It is very common for gravid female box turtles to dig test holes. I actually have a female the will dig three our four test holes - sometimes in the same hole. I will fill them up, so the next time around its a little easier for her. If she is not ready, she will soak a day or so, and try it again. If she does not lay her eggs within a couple of weeks, you may want to give her more options for laying, or a larger area with lots of west facing logs, rocks or plants.

Bill G.

I wouldn't go so far as to say 'no way'. I’d say that it is highly unlikely but I’ve seen some crosses in snakes and tortoises you wouldn’t think were possible. Odds are that it is not possible but in a confined space you never really know unless you know for a fact that they were genetically incompatible. Considering Boxies and water turtles seem to be closely related... you never know.
Ed

)>

tortoise crosses? I'd love to know!

Breeder/Scientests in Japan are making some really strange crosses - although right now I cannot remember what exactly they are crossing, other than glow in the dark fish.

Leopard X Sulcata for sure and there is a picture of a Redfoot X Radiata (becoming a famous/infamous picture). A friend of mine is acquainted with the owner of that tortoise. Those are 2 that I know of but I'd bet there are others that are not publicized for obvious reasons.
Ed

Bill G.

there have been a bunch of slider-maps.
and a red belly painted.
and one map-diamondback terp (not too hard to believe if the taxonomists are right).
anf there are of course the famous blanding's-woodies
spooted-bogs
and now at least two pacific pond-blanding's
and then i heard about a blanding's-emys but i never had it verified.
again no surprise here as emys clemmys glytemys are all closely related.
then of course there are four species which were "created" on turtle farms in asia:

cuora serrata which is pyxidea mouhotti - cuora galbinifrons

mauremys iversoni which is mauremys mutica -cuora trifasciata

mauremys prtichardi which is mauremys mutica - chinemys reevesii

and ocadia phillipenii which is thought to be ocadia sinensis - cuora trifasciata

there are probably more that i can't remember now too.

Any chance you could point me to the pictures of those torts?

I never got pictures of the leopard X sulcata but it had the shape of a sulcata with the colors of a leopard. I've seen 2 of these as hatchlings but never an adult or have I ever heard of a second generation.
Now, the Redfood x Radiata, I believe, is in an issue of Chelonian Conservation and Biology. (one of the earlier issues)
Ed

thanks guys. there is an off chance that she could have had some interaction with a male i had a few years ago, at one point i had 3 females & 1 male, but they disappeared out of my back yard one day while i was at work. if i had to guess, i think the male was an ornate. i tried to feel for eggs & i dont think there were any. ill keep trying for awhile just to be sure, but i dont think im going i have anything to worry about. having babies would be a fun (although time-consuming & expensive) experience, but i dont have the facilities for it at this point. my vet is a herp specialist & recently opened his own pet store in my area...if i had to, i could take any babies to him. i dont know the first thing about raising baby turtles, the hatching process alone...whew. lots of research required for that one. hopefully im safe, but if not...

anyway, thanks for your help.

(thats my little girl being shy)