Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm wondering out big of an outdoor enclosure to hold 6 box turtles? There would be 3 species, Eastern, Western, and Ornate. Preferably 1 male to 1 female ratio for each pair. But the species i guess could be all Eastern and the rationw ould have to change dramatically. Any sugestions of another specie of box turtle instead of the orante or somehting?

David

Or what if I put in all the North American Box turtles? What there are a total of 5? and Just have a pair of the eastern. What are all the types of box turtles that are native to north america.

David

Below is a list of the box turtles I am aware of. The last three on the list are all from Mexico, I believe, and I’m unsure if The Mexican Box turtle’s range overlaps into America at all. Just thought you might be interested. ALL of these have specific temperature, humidity, and diet requirements that differ from each other. I don’t recommend that you keep any of them together. It’s likely, depending on where you live, that some species can’t even be keep safely outside. Others may be impossible to acquire. I’m no expert so this is just an assumption on my part. I have successfully kept three-toeds and Easterns together for years but I know this is usually discouraged by experienced turtle keepers so I can’t advocate it. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

Desert Box turtle- Terrapene ornata luteola
Eastern Box Turtle- Terrapene carolina carolina
Florida Box Turtle- Terrapene carolina bauri
Gulf Coast Box Turtle- Terrapene carolina major
Ornate (Western) Box Turtle- Terrapene ornata ornata
Three-Toed Box Turtle- Terrapene carolina trianguis
Yucatan Box Turtle- Terrapene carolina yucatana

Coahuila Box Turtle- Terrapene coahuila
Mexican Box Turtle- Terrapene carolina mexicana
Spotted Box turtle- Terrepene nelsoni

Thanks for the info......ya i'll probably just keep the easterns anyways. I live in Southern California.

David

The simple answer would be the bigger the better. However, location and features are prob just as important as size, maybe more so. If you have plenty of hides, areas for digging down, and areas of shade, I'd just throw out a 10'x10' would probably do although double that size would be even better. Another option is go with a longer narrower size so you can partition it out when needed. I use a 3' x 16' and although I only have one turtle right now, I hope to have a pair and babies one day.