Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The final tally on my hatchlings is 45. 48 were born, 3 from the same clutch died shortly after they were born. Here are some pics.

These were all under a log.

Pic 4

Pic 4

Pic 5

Good job! Now, aside from expanding your enclosure again, what are your plans for all those little guys?
They all look terrific, and I especially like the shot of the under-the-log pileup.
Good lick with them.
Stephanie

I have a large outdoor pen that I'll release them into next year. I released last years hatchlings into the pen early this past summer, and they're all doing fine and growing really fast. The pen is basically a natural habitat consisting of all local plants and even has a oak tree in it. I will eventually release some of them into the wild because they're simply just going to over populate themselves in the next couple of years. I know a herpatologist that would gladly relocate them to safe environments, but I plan on keeping them for now.

I'd sell some of them if somebody local made an offer, but I'm not too crazy about selling any of them because my set up is so much better than an aquarium.

Curious, how many adults do you keep to produce this many babies and what region are you in? 45 babies is a very successful year by my book.

Paul

I think i've got about 7 or 8 females. What made the difference this year was winter ended pretty early, and they started laying eggs at the end of May. Several of them laid twice, and my "super female" laid three clutches. She laid 7 eggs the first time, 7 the second time, and 5 the third time. So 19 came from her alone. She's about 50% bigger than the average female I have.

with your results. You must be doing something right. I take it they are three toes or gulf coasts?

Congratulations.

Paul

The key is making the most realistic and natural habitat for them. They've got to be outside too so they can hibernate naturally. I've got 4 different water holes for them, logs to hide in, elevated areas, low spots that stay damp, different soil types (top soil, sandy soil, red clay, mulch), and lots of differnt plants. They're main food source is simply moist purina cat food. They love it and I also give them various vegetables and fruits, fish guts when I go fishing, meat, and they got a treat a few weeks ago with alligator tail scraps. No, it's not like the Water Boy around here, that was the first time in years we had alligator meat

Oh, I'm in southern Louisiana. Forgot to answer that question in the first reply.

I sort of figured you must be in Louisiana when you said you had some alligator meat...Your batch of 45 hatchlings is wonderful, I only had one this year although there are five females and six males in the outdoor pen (all three-toeds). I'm beginning to think my turtles must be eating eggs or hatchlings, as the past two years, I've never seen one nest, nor have I found any evidence of hatchlings until this July, when I found one.

I dug up most of the eggs. I only found 3 in the pen this year, as opposed to the 11/25 I found in the pen last year. The biggest problem I have is ants building hills in the pen. I think they're a bigger threat to the eggs than the turtles. One of the females built her nest practically in an ant pile and that was not fun digging up those eggs. My hands were covered in bites, but the eggs would have been gone in a day if I had left them there.

I'm in ohio, there is a guy near me that adopts eastern box turtles, he has over 100 eastern boxies, i think he has around 123 adults, i was over viewing his set-up, very nice, i was talking to him about off spring, he said he only got 3 babys from last season, I would think he would be producing alot more than that? there must be more there than he is finding

Andy

RedoFootMan@yahoo.com

yeah maybe something is eating them before he finds them (raccoons, skunks, the adult turtles)

I have sen some large collections but 123 box turtles must take up lots of space. Are they on like an acre of their own?

?? Are you in louisiana, if so, where about