ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ON THE BREEDING OF BOX TURTLES

Box turtles usually come out of hibernation in March or April and most adult males have a strong urge to mate. They may not feel like eating, but if there is a female box turtle around, he’ll feel like reproducing. Many owners of multiple box turtles will tell you stories about their male box turtle’s clumsy attempts to mate or about an anxious female looking for a place to lay her eggs. Everything is left to chance and the owners are quite surprised when they see hatchlings emerge and don’t have a clue as to how to care for them. This is NOT the way to bring baby box turtles into the world. All breeding of captive box turtles should be done in a responsible manner. The stresses and energy drain on both the male and female box turtles during breeding, egg formation, and laying are considerable and can make them more prone to illness and death. Also, related turtles should not be allowed to breed as bad genes are more likely to be passed on to the offspring. The offspring could be deformed and suffer a painful or early death.

If you do raise hatchlings, what are your plans for them? They cannot be allowed to breed, so you’ll have to keep males and females apart. You may think you will give them away, but who knows if other people will give them the good care they need. You should not release captive-bred turtles into the wild without investigating every outcome of your actions. If you release them in an area that already has a resident population, you may make it harder for all of them to find food. If your turtles have an illness, they could spread it to all the others turtles. As you can see, there are many questions that need to be answered before you allow your pets to breed. If you decide to breed your pets, then do it correctly.

Care of the breeding pair:

Do not allow related turtles to breed. This means no brother/sister pairs or mother/son or father/daughter pairings. The breeding pair should have optimum health. They should have been in your care for several years so you know they have eaten well and have gotten the necessary vitamins and calcium for good egg development. A sickly female that is allowed to breed may form thin-shelled eggs that easily break or don’t develop properly. A female with a damaged carapace should not be allowed to breed. There may be internal damage to her pelvis or to the bridge and it will not allow the eggs to pass out. Eggs retained in the body will cause death unless they are surgically removed.

After mating in the spring, the female turtle looks for nesting sites in June or July. Provide the egg-bearing females with a solitary outdoor pen that faces south and contains several good sites for egg laying. This pen should be equipped like the main pen, with hiding places, sunny and shady spots. It should also have several areas with soft top soil that is at least 8 inches deep. Place large tree limbs or rocks on top of the soil mounds. The nesting female may build her egg chamber next to a limb or rock. Digging the egg chamber is very time-consuming for her and may take up to 8 hours to build. The female begins by digging with her back feet and uses her legs and shell to press the soil up against the walls of the chamber. A perfectly smooth receptacle is made to receive the three to four, 1½", white, oval eggs. The shells are thin-walled and permeable.

Care of the eggs:

Let Mother Nature hatch the eggs if possible. If you provide the turtle with several sites to lay her eggs, she will probably pick one with the best chance of survival. It’s also best not to move turtle eggs once they have been laid. The expense and expertise needed to artificially incubate turtle eggs is best left to expert breeders.

Protect inground nest sites with a wire mesh cover. Secure the wire cover to the ground so animals cannot get under it and destroy the eggs. This will also protect the site from other turtles and keeps the hatchlings from escaping. The hatchlings will emerge in 70-90 days depending on how quickly they develop, which is dependent on the nest temperature. If the ground is hard you may want to water the area after the 100th day.

If eggs are laid above ground or in water, they are most likely infertile. Not every clutch of eggs will hatch and young females will often deposit infertile eggs on the ground or dig shallow nests. If you must incubate the eggs yourself, a good method is to place the eggs in a small plastic margarine tub that has been filled with moist vermiculite. Poke holes in the bottom of the container so excess water can drain out. Place each egg in a depression you make with your thumb. You don’t need to bury the eggs. Do not turn the eggs over as you remove them from the ground. Place them in the tub in the exact same orientation as you find them. Poke holes into the lid of the margarine tub and place it loosely on the tub. Place the tub in an egg incubator set at 85° F. Every 2-3 days mist the eggs with distilled water. If you notice the vermiculite drying up add more water. At 85° F the eggs should hatch in 65-90 days.

Care of the Hatchlings:

In the wild, hatchling mortality rate is very high and very few turtles live past their first winter. Tiny turtles are subjected to a lot of stresses and are eaten by everything from birds, rodents, and ants. If they don’t dig down deeply enough in winter they freeze, and if the springs rains come too late, the ground may not soften and they can be buried alive. As the caretaker of these hatchlings, you also have a lot to do to insure their welfare. Both the Eastern and Ornate box turtles care is similar. It should be advised to separate Ornate hatchlings from each other as they have proven to be much more aggressive and will bite at each other’s tails and legs. Always feed hatchlings separate as they may accidentally bite each other as they go for the food.

Housing:

It's best to keep box turtle hatchlings indoors for their first year. They can be placed in 10 gallon tanks with a deep terrarium moss and reptile bark substrate that have been thoroughly rinsed clean before use. Mist the substrate daily to keep the humidity high. A low wattage sock-covered heat rock can be included to give off radiant heat and an overhead lamp with a 60 watt bulb (or 40 watt in the summer) is left on for 12 hours each day. Low wattage or thermostat controlled undertank heater or flex-tape type heaters can also be used. Thermometers are attached to the tank at several locations and the heat maintained at 86° F during the day and dropped to 75° at night. A shallow water dish should always be filled with fresh water. Providing a hide box is good for their sense of security.

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