Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wanting to know if it is legal in the state of Alabama to catch a wild caught turtle and keep it as a pet. I already have large(5ftx3ft)cages I could use and duplicate its natural environment. I have eastern box turtles in my area in the surrounding woods by my house. They have already started to tear down all the woods by putting in several highways. I have already found walking through the construction site several dead turtles and a few injured turtles that have been harmed by the tearing down of the woods. I want to catch some of the turtles so there there will be some left that do not get injured or killed. If the cages I have are not big enough i could easily make bigger ones. What is the proper size cage i should build for at the most three eastern box turtles. I already learned everything i can find on feeding and raising them. I already have experience with other turtles and tortoises and already having taken care of eastern boxes before. If somebody could answer these questions it would be greatly appreciated.

crocker

i don't know about the lkegality in alabama...ask at the herp law/CITES forum
as for boxie habitats: the bigger, the better
a good rule of thumb is that the MINIMUM required space is about 2 square feet per inch of turtle
so figger an average eastern box is like 6 inches
so three would be 18 inches of turtle
so you need at least 36 square feet
so six by six is a good minimum pen size.
12 by six would be better. personally, i'd go for something like 10 by 10 if you can accomodate it in your space.
make sure to decorate the pen with lots of logs and hiding places and plant it well in some areas and leave others open
you'll need a big but shallow pan for water
maybe a cement mixing tub

you really should check as to whther you can take thgese animals elgally
alkso be aware that wild caught adults are sometimes hard to acclimate
but the bigger the pen, the easier it will be to do this.

It's really cool that you're trying to save the turtles antaking the time to do this. But since they are tearing down the forest anyway, I would just relocate them to a forested area that is outside of town or construction. That is what I do when I find Ornate Boxes walking around my town of Salina,KS.

What part of AL are you in? I'm also from AL so I'm just curious. Contact Fish and Wildlife and ask them about removing box turtles from the wild. If the area is being destroyed, something needs to be done to help them. If you do decide to keep a few, they do best in large outdoor enclosures. Mine are kept in a very natural type enclosure with lots of plants, logs, a soaking pond, and a dog house (I know, dog house is not natural, but hey, they love it If you have any questions as far as care goes, feel free to e-mail me and I will help you out the best I can. Easterns are neat little turtles with tons of personality and very rewarding pets, just please make sure that it is legal in your area to catch them before you do so. If it is not legal, see what you can have done about getting them removed from the construction area. Also, NEVER take any animal from the wild for profit, it may be legal for some species, but it's just plain wrong in my opinion. Best of luck. Christy

Eastern box turtles are protected in alabama, as are gopher torotoises. I don't know of any other protected species in Alabama, but it is my understanding that either of these two is illegal to take from the wild or keep in captivity in the state.