Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
This is my first post here. I have had my female box turtle for about 7 years now. We live at about 9000' in the mountains of Colorado. This summer we built her an outdoor pen but apparently didn't construct it well enough because she escaped from the pen about a week ago (We only kept her in it during the day when we were around) My question is, will she be able to survive up here? I believe she is a western box turtle but I don't know if their range includes mountains. We are having an unusually wet summer but our climate is usually dry and cool in the summer and snowy and cold in the winter.

Also, is she most likely completely gone from our yard? We've looked and have not been able to find her. I read something about box turtles having a strong homing instinct. Could she be trying to get back from were she came from?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Keep looking, most likly she has not gone to far. One year I had a male box turtle get out of his pen in Sept. It was not till the Middle of June of the next year that I found her walking accross the lawn. She some how managed to hibernate on her own and was able to keep out of sight when i was looking for him.
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Jack

Are you certain that she escaped and didn't just burrow under the ground out of site somewhere, like near a plant or under a rock or log, and if it rained after she dug under you might not see the evidence of the dirt being moved?
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

There is no telling where she is. Our yard is not a suburban one, it's full of rocks and sticks and all kinds of plants there are so many places she could hide.

I've only had one escape and it was recently. He turned up 2 weeks later near a water and food source. You may want to look in any places that would accommodate his/her humidity need and if you have a pond or even a sprinkler system nearby, be on the look out there. Eventually they need food and water.

Mine turned up in my neighbors yard under their irrigation hose next to their veggie garden which he had been nibbling on.

Regarding winter, I would not put it past the turtle to survive but where you are is quite different than where it came from. Your frost line is likely deeper so ideally you find him before winter.

Fingers crossed.

Paul

Also in the wild their range isn't very expansive (2 - 5 acres). They don't move very much in one day so they don't go far fast in normal situations. 2 weeks later, mine was found 150 feet from where he escaped to give you an idea. If they find water and food nearby, they may choose to stay close by for a bit. They do home in their native territory but its hard to say what happens when the conditions change dramatically, like say a mountain side.

Ornates (sometimes called western box tutles) are very good diggers and she could be dug way down in the pen, I mean 2-3 feet down! You should excavate every inch of the pen before you give up hope. Yes, I have seen ornate box turtles in Denver and they can survive there. But if you are in above Evergreen it would be tough, but turtles are survivors and if she can dig down far enough or close to the south side of a house, she could suvrive. Keep looking and good luck. Tess