Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last Friday I worked 16 hours on short sleep and came home and hit the bed at 11:30PM. I woke at midmorning and decided to drive 150 miles each way to see a band I like. I returned after 3AM and was up until sunrise. I took the trash out on my way to bed and was unexpectedly greeted by an old friend. Next to the trash can was Cheese, my box turtle, who had wandered off through a breech in her fence in April 2012 ! She just looked at me and wandered over, and calmly climbed into my outstretched hand. I took her into the basement and she immediately ate half a banana and a couple of fat nightcrawlers. What shocked me is that when I shared this news with friends and family, a couple of people asked me, "Are you SURE it was really Cheese ?". She's a red eyed female (unusual enough), and is also missing her right front and rear feet. They were missing when a neighbor gave her to me in 1998. If that wasn't a positive enough ID, the warm greeting I received sealed the deal. As I carried her through the back door and down the basement , she turned her head from side to side as we walked down the steps and through the basement. When I presented her the plate with banana slices, she ran toward it. Yeah, I'm sure, Cheese is back.

That's awesome!!

Cool story. Think of all the places she went in 3 years. Must have missed those free banana and worm meals.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

Now comes the dilemma: After mourning the loss of Cheese for a couple of years, I picked up a Central American Wood Turtle. He has utilized the 10' x 10'outside pen. I would like to try to house them together if they get along. Any thoughts on the wisdom or folly of this? Compatibility? Risk of disease? Roscoe (CAWT) is male, Cheese is an old (at least 25 yrs) female Eastern Box Turtle who has missing feet on the right side. Fully healed leg stumps when I got her in about '98. I never let her hibernate till about 2005, thinking she'd have trouble digging in. She proved me wrong.

You can try it, but you might want to keep an eye on them for a day or two. I tried putting our male greek tortoise in with my box turtles pen. Next day the male greek tortoise was aggressively ramming my male eastern box turtle who was just closed up in his shell. So now the tortoise is kept seperate.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

Yeah, I got them together for a little playdate, to check out their compatibility. As Cheese, the box turtle scampered up to him, Roscoe, the CAWT, took off. Obviously feeling stressed and threatened, Roscoe bolted out of range, actually trying to climb the wall to get out of the (dry) children's pool they were in. Both turtles had been housed separately in this pool at various times, but Roscoe clearly did not appreciate the company. Oddly, when housed in separate containers he responds competitively when Cheese is given food. Won't go near the food if Cheese is visible, but scarfs it down quickly if she is out of sight. There was nothing confrontational about Cheese's approach or posture when she was near Roscoe, just wanting to look at him and interact calmly. Years ago she was very comfortable and used to sit with my little dog, Crackers, nose to nose, bobbing her head contentedly. In fact, their friendship inspired her name. In 2009 after Crackers had died while she was in hibernation, she came up in April and continually waited at the fence around her pen at "their" spot, as if she had missed an appointment. It was sadly touching. This baby is actually quite social.