Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I witnessed my first locked up box turtle pair today. I saw the belly of one of my turtles, so I feared the worst since it has been in the 90s today, I was affraid that one had flipped over and wasn't able to right itself and cooked in the sun, so I thought I was going to find a dead turtle. Nope it was my male 3 toed on his back and in front of him partially hidden under grass was a female 3 toed. I should've taken a picture but was in a hurry and needed to be somewhere right away.
Anyway my question is how long after seeing breeding do you guys usually see them laying eggs?
Last year I found eggs in mid July, but I never witnessed breeding.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

They lay eggs seasonally, and egg-laying season is now. Whether eggs laid this season will have been successfully fertilized as a result of the mating you witness is another matter.

I don't think egg laying season occures the same time this far north, things will always be later here. So when do you typically see breedings and then how many weeks on average after that do you see eggs laid?
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

Breeding/mating can take place at any time: upon emerging from hibernation, throughout the spring and summer months and well in to the fall. Typically, during the hottest part of the summer, little mating occurs because a) the females avoid it during egg laying season, and b) due to heat, the turtles aren't doing much of anything. They will, however, take advantage of cooler rainy days.

Egg laying here, however, ONLY takes place from late May to early July or so. Mine live outside year round and came from a construction site about 5 miles from here, so they do not have any unusual factors influencing their internal clocks.

The turtles reproductive system is such that females ovulate cyclically, and can store sperm for years (!!), which is why egg laying is not influenced by the timing of a mating.