Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Heres what I have currently

Two eastern males and two eastern females. They are living in a 8x8 enclosure.

What I would like to do is the following

1)Sell/Adopt out the two males
2)Adopt another male (the two I have do not breed, I want babies!)
3)Make the enclosure 8x5, the largeness of the 8x8 is too much for me to handle.

Now, I need some of your ideas, inputs, stuff like that. Things to make the best boxie habitat available, plus breeding and whatnot. Thanks in advance, John

How long have you been trying to breed them, and how long have you had them?
I responded to your post below, to the effect that it may not be the male turtle that's 'at fault'.
As for the enclosure, make it as big as you possibly can ( people are no doubt getting tired of hearing me say that), since they will utilize every inch you give them.
Ours live in a 750 sq ft enclosure (which we expect to expand to about 1000sq ft this summer) and they wander all over it. It has a small pond with gently sloping sides so that even our amputees can get in and out easily, log tunnels to hide under, leaf piles, various native plant material including a blueberry bush, strawberries, may apples, so they can forage for fruit, grassy spots, an area bare of vegetation where the girls tend to dig nests, a dogwood tree in the middle, and a little path for humans to use. This was in an effort to provide a little of the variation they would find in their home range.
The females are not always in the mood: one who bred last year has shown no interest in the same suitor this year.
Stephanie

In my opinion, a 8 X 8 is way, way too small for 4 adult box turtles and if you can't maintain the enclosure with adults you certainly do not want to take on a batch or two of hatchlings. I have 7 hatchlings with 4 now being 4-5 years old and basically I'm out scratching around under all the bushes in my yard first thing every morning to find bugs and slugs and other crawling things for them to eat. The enclosure I have for the babies is 2' X 4 ' and 12" deep and this is their second nursery as they grew out of the first which was 3' X 18". They mess in their water dish and it has to be changed at least twice a day - I love them, but they are lots and lots of work and time.