Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here is Louie, a 6 year old CB male EBT, attempting to mate with Sonny, a very old male EBT. Louie has consistently ignored the 3 female adult EBTs in the habitat, as well as the other adult male EBT. He steadfastly pursues Sonny, much to Sonny's consternation. My outdoor habitat is quite large, nearly 200 square feet, with plenty of visual barriers (shrubs, logs, etc). When Louie is pursuing Sonny and I pull them apart, place them at opposite ends of enclosure, Louie will literally RUN the length of the enclosure until he finds Sonny again, and attempt mating vigorously. Last year I chalked it up to youthful exuberance, but now I am convinced Louie is a monogamous homosexual box turtle. I have been breeding box turtles for over a decade in this habitat and never seen anything like this. Of course homosexuality is a natural phenomenon and has been reported in most animal species, however, it is kind of cool to see it so well defined in this EBT of mine.

-----
Sloop John B
MORELIA TROPHY CLUB
moreliapython.googlepages.com/

He is probably just being aggressive/dominant towards the only competition in the pen. If you were to remove the 'submissive' male, the aggressive one would turn his interests to the females.

The "natural phenomenon" you are observing is a perfect example of one male boxturtle exerting his dominance over another, just as Steph pointed out. It is a naturally occuring event documented in many animal species and has zero to do with homosexuality.

I disagree...there is a huge difference between males sparring/fighting for dominance and copulation attempts. I have watched these EBTs in our outdoor habitat (right below my kitchen window, allowing frequent, easy observations) for over a decade, and I have witnessed well over a hundred copulations as well as sparring behavior, and this is different. Louie gets his hind legs clasped under Sonny, and attempts to copulate. This is very different from the bumping, frontal biting, ramming response of the males seen when sparring. Yes, males will sometimes climb on top of one another for dominance, but NOT to the exclusion of females. Louie's copulation attempts with Sonny are to the exclusion of the females. He has done it now for two years in a row, consistently.
-----
Sloop John B
MORELIA TROPHY CLUB
moreliapython.googlepages.com/