Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently began collecting wild box turtles off the roads near where I live. Today I brought home a male 3 toed box turtle and put him in the same cage as my female. In less than 15 minutes they had hooked up! About an hour later I went out there and the male had tried to dismount but was still hooked up so that they were connected by his genitalia. I even had to go flip him over once he managed to get loose. And sure enough about an hour and a half later they were at it again! This is my first experience in breeding box turtles and I am really excited. I was wondering if I should put a nesting box in there now, or if I should wait until closer to a month? Also, I have a diagram for constructing my own incubator, but Im not sure I completely understand it all, so I was wondering if anyone had a simple design for making ann incubator. Should I be adding any certain calcium supplements to the females diet? Thanks a lot, and if you have any input at all I would be more than glad to hear it.

You should build an outdoor pen and let the female make a nest out their, and then keep an eye on her in the evening to watch for nesting behavior. Once you see her nesting, remember where the nest was and dig up the eggs the next morning. Although, female box turtles can retain sperm in them for 5 years before they make eggs with it.

You obviously are excited by box turtles, and it is cool that they are found so abundantly in your area, but you should consider the implications of just collecting them out of the wild.

The two you caught could have very well mated in the wild and produced offspring, helping maintain the population. The male could have gone around and mated with many females for 50 years to come! What I am saying is that, by confining these turtles, you are hampering their prosperity in the wild. That is why many turtle enthusiasts buy captive-bred turtles from one another.

I'm all about reasonable compromise. If you are willing to stop collecting specimens after this point, good. If you are willing to perhaps release newly-hatched babies into the wild, even better. With the wild populations under distress because of the pet trade and vehicles, consider being reasonable and doing your best to help your local turtles thrive.

I am actually already working on some outdoor enclosures for my turtles, one for my 3 toeds and another for my ornates. Each is roughly 100 square feet and has a variety of cover. One of them is centered around a peach tree that has many branches hanging low to the ground (also dropping peaches on occasion)and it has loose leaf litter and some soil. The other has a crate myrtle (not sure on spelling), and a small maple tree, and tons of leaf litter. As to releasing turtles I plan on releasing the adults and keeping their offspring. The adults already know how to take care of themselves in thw wild and will, as you said have many more years to multiply in the wild and produce many many more offspring. I actually have also noted when and where the turtles were caught and will release them in that area (not exactly on the spot of course seeing as how most were in the road :-p).

Hey there Jfeul this is fights older brother and i just read your post. i thought i might have a little talk with you . first off ill let you know ive been working with herps of all kinds for about 15 years and i do know a little something. on thing i do know is the box turrtles my brother collects off the roads around here as well as the ones i collect of the roads for him are extremely lucky. i see more box turtles dead on the road than any other animal. its nothing for me to see 10-20 a day in my 18 mile drive to work while only 2-3 will be alive. i dont thing that my brothers collecting from these roads for breeding purposes should be something that bothers you. maybe if he went out into the woods just for turtles i could understand that but he is saving live while helping produce more.either way i dont have time to mess with i turtle boy so im going to go but i do ask that you people that might know more about breeding box turtles please help my little brother as much as possible this is his first herp breeding attempt and is working quite well i think it should be supported even if his stock comes from the wild. now as far as you jfeul i dont think you should be giving any advice.

Michael Sanders
S&M ZOOLOGICAL

That's not an unreasonable explanation. There is no reason to be so offended. There are lots of people who come to this forum who collect box turtles from the wild with absolutely no consideration. How was anyone to know that it was a little kid who was posting?

Please remember that we are all trying to be polite here and are not attempting to condemn anyone. Some people come here completely clueless and it is out of respect for the species that sometimes it's best to inquire. I'm glad your brother is under good advisement. Best of luck.