Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello all, a buddy of mine has a female boxie and whell, i have a boy and he would like to breed them. we dont know when the season is! if anyone knows let me know, and if you have any tips you think he needs tell me! he has alot of reptiles and is very experience hes just into snakes and doesnt know everything about boxies, obviously neither do i!! oh and one more question, his is a 3 toe and mine is an eastern TCC, he was wondering if it okay to cross breed them? i am pretty sure it would be ok, isnt 3t a subspecies of an eastern? i have also seen people breed ornates with easterns, i know this isnt that great because they are from different climates but i think the 3t and eastern are very similar right?

thanks! so i wont be completelly annoying here is a pic of my turtle (hope this works) his name is puzzles and i have had him for about 6 years now, got him full grown and very unhealthy. he has a good home now tho and is a healthy pig!

Puzzles looks like a fine boy If it were me I would NOT breed a box turtle in the winter months because the female will not have access to the outdoors to lay her eggs. Having a female lay eggs indoors can be dangerous unless the person is very experienced and has a FABULOUS indoor setup with an egg laying area-and who really does? The gravid female kept indoors may not find an area suitable for egg laying and retain her eggs, possibly getting eggbound in the process. No, I would wait till nice weather and hopefully the female lives outdoors in the summer and can dig a nest and lay her eggs in a natural way.

You may have read people messages here whoes turtles laid eggs in a tank-but it is so unnatural. I feel sorry for the noble box turtle female having to endure the stress of laying eggs in a tank.
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

so a box turtle can lay fertile eggs at any time? i hear many reptiles have a spesific season were they are fertile.
that sucks, im in az and its still been in the 70's and 80's here, how long is incubation? if its more then a month then it probably would be too cold and we'd have to wait.

Female box turtles can store sperm within their bodies for years so it's possible for eggs to develop without a male around. Usually the proper climatic condition will spur eggs to develop. Once the process begins it takes about 3 weeks. A female can retain the eggs for awhile as well. She may wait for warmer weather or for the right nest digging site. The problem with having gravid females in indoor setups is they may retain eggs to the detriment of their own health. They may become eggbound.
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

incubation varies on the temp/humidity, some hatch out around 60 days others take a little longer, just depends on the growth rate of the young, and sometimes they even hatch out too early and die before they're all the way out of the egg.

if you cross breed turtles you'll probly have a harder time finding good well educated homes for them as most hobbyists will not take on a hybrid and believe it's unethical to do so(breed them).
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