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Help please . possble hybrids

phishnuts Jul 31, 2004 08:49 AM

O.k, I got 5 ornate box turtles in the mail yesterday. I put them in a indoor inclosure with 4 easterns. I woke up this morning. to find two eggs, one crushed and one dented slightly. The dented one I put in a dish in moist top soil under a heat light. Here is the kicker though, I found that one of my Ornates was stuck to one of my Easterns. They were mating. Do I let them hibernate if they are gravid? I was going to keep the females in seperate enclosures indoors till they drop the eggs.Please I need info asap

Oh yeah everybody else posts what pets they have so I will too.
48 baby red ear sliders
5 ornate box turtles
4 eastern box turtles
9 eastern painted turtles
1 red tail boa
1 stinkpot

Replies (4)

Rouen Jul 31, 2004 10:03 AM

you really should keep the ornates and the easterns seperate, they require 2 different types of habitats, and it also sounds like you didn't quarentine, good way to lose a colony..
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phishnuts Jul 31, 2004 11:16 AM

Well, if ornate box turtles are indiginous to TX and WI, then they are able to adapt to different habitats.Unless you are going to tell me that TX and WI have the same climates. Also Diamond Reptile Breeders have Eastern x Ornate Hybrids. Unless you beleive a stork brought baby turtles then those two differnt kind of turtles were probaly in the same habitat at one time. Anyway if you are such a know it all, why didn't you answer the questions I had? Instead you chose to admonish me.
If anyone can help me please answer the questions I had. Thank you.

StephF Jul 31, 2004 12:01 PM

Are the Ornate x Eastern hybrids that you mention CB hatchlings or adults?
Stephanie

StephF Jul 31, 2004 11:57 AM

Summer mating would not be a reason to prevent your turtle from hibernating. I found two of my easterns mating yesterday, and they will be hibernating as usual. Their egg production cycle is such that they will probably not become gravid until next spring, in spite of having mated now.
If I'm not mistaken, the area of Wisconsin where Ornates are found is more prairie than forest, and the remainder of its range is in Plains states, hence the comments about differing habitat needs. Rouen was trying to help you out with that comment.
Easterns aren't found in Wisconsin, but there would possibly be some overlap in Illinois: overall, easterns are found in the more humid, forested states east of the Mississippi.
As far as allowing breeding between the two, consider this: when the time comes for you to find homes for the little ones that could result, most potential buyers will probably not be interested in 'mutts'.
Not admonishing, just trying to clarify.
Stephanie

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