Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had noticed that my dominant male eastern has the reddest eyes of the males in my group, and was wondering if anyone else had noticed this with theirs, or if it may be just coincidence.
They're eating the same foods, etc.: a varied diet served by me following the recommendations on Tess' site plus all the worms, slugs and snails that they forage for on their own.
Just curious.

This might be true if mine did not have such different sizes. My duller male (he also has less bright eyes) is about twice the body size of my brigher one, but he would get a whoopin in no time and turn tail when they are together. I'm sure he would eventually be killed by the jealous dirk if they are not separated.

Also, eye color can change with the season's and with health it appears. My super fabulous male will have scarey red eyes then other times have just kind of washed out but still red eyes... it seems they are brighter when he is chasing the ladies, so perhaps there is a correlation to seasons or something.

>>I had noticed that my dominant male eastern has the reddest eyes of the males in my group, and was wondering if anyone else had noticed this with theirs, or if it may be just coincidence.
>>They're eating the same foods, etc.: a varied diet served by me following the recommendations on Tess' site plus all the worms, slugs and snails that they forage for on their own.
>>Just curious.

As you may know, babies and young male box turtles do not have red eyes. They acquire them as they get older and reach sexual maturity. Hormone levels in the males fluctuate during the year and I have noticed the red color of my males eyes do too. I think that is a big part. Maybe very red eyes means more testosterone and maybe that equates to more aggression in male turtles. But it's only a guess. Coloration of the eyes, skin and shell, all depend on good health too. So if a turtle feels good, he's going to dominate too.
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Tess
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Thanks... I was pondering the hormone connection, too. This particular guy didn't hibernate due to ear infection surgery, and over the winter his eyes had "faded". Once the weather warmed up & he went back outside, his eyes got to be a brilliant red and he is quite aggressive. Thanks again to all who responded.

The most dominant box turtle in my group and has the redist eyes is a female box turtle. She has red eyes and coloration typical of male, but 100% female as she has laid for me in the past three years. That throws out the theory that males have red and females have brown.