Box Turtle Status Page

Roger's 'Three-Toed' Box Turtle Notes Chart:

DATE	Turtle T1	Turtle T2	Turtle T3	COMMENTS
04-18-98	333 Grams	425 Grams	371 Grams	12:05 PM - T2 mating with T3, T2 on Top-Rear
03-21-98	336 Grams	436 Grams	373 Grams	T1,T2-10:30 AM, T3-2:15 PM out of Hibernation from Under Board near Lemon Tree
03-13-98	Sighted			Out of Hibernation from South Raised Bed, Southwest corner
03-09-98		Sighted		Out of Hibernation from North Raised Bed, Southeast corner
10-20-97	Sighted			Morning - 1/2 dug into dirt, South Raised Bed, West Edge
09-27-97	339 Grams			Morning
09-14-97			383 Grams	Evening
08-24-97	Sighted		Sighted	Morning - T1 Mating with T3
08-18-97		445 Grams		Morning
08-15-97	345 Grams			12:30 PM
04-27-97	337 Grams
03-15-97-		443 Grams
03-12-97			357 Grams
03-11-97			Sighted	Out of Hibernation - Mud on Shell
03-01-97		440 Grams
11-23-96	346 Grams	425 Grams
10-13-96			368 Grams
08-25-96		440 Grams		T2 Mating with T3
08-23-96			355 Grams
08-21-96			367 Grams
08-19-96			New Turtle	Bought at Prehistoric Pets $25
08-17-96	339 Grams			2:15 PM
04-21-96		283 Grams
04-01-96	281 Grams
02-17-96	Sighted			T1-5:00 PM Out of outside hibernation
02-02-96		Status		T2-11:00 AM Out of indoor hibernation, urinated yellow, small amount of feces
11-09-95	Moved			T1-7:45 AM Moved from Backyard to Indoor Bathtub, Sisters Giant dogs visiting!
11-07-95		Moved		T2-5:00 PM Moved from Backyard to Indoor Bathtub, Sisters Giant dogs visiting!
07-20-95	Sighted			7:25 AM - T1 mating with T2
03-19-95	313 Grams	431 Grams		T1-Out of hibernation, North Raised Bed. T2-End indoor hibernation, never ate, maybe drank
03-23-90	333 Grams
03-04-90	327 Grams	421 Grams
02-19-90	326 Grams

Turtle Status as of date: 04-22-98
For the first time, I discovered and bought some 'Super Worms' from the reptile pet store. These are large 1.5" to 2.0" long larva that are approximately 0.25" diameter. They have 6 legs near the 'mouth' end. I have never seen this type of larva before, so I thought that I would buy a dozen, and see if the turtles like to eat them. At lunchtime, around noon, I located the turtles roaming around in the backyard, and fed put the larva's in front of each turtle. Once the larva started to move, the turtles immediately locked onto them, and munched them down. Usually the turtle would chomp on the 'head' end, which was usually the darker end. All turtles, T1, T2, and T3, loved eating them.

I talked to a customer buying these 'super worms' as they are called, and he mentioned that he puts them into a canister with 'oatmeal' in it. This serves as food for the super worms. He mentioned that they will last about 1 week. I actually bought these worms the previous Sunday, and fed them to the turtles on Wednesday, so at least mine lasted 3 days.

By the way, I used to buy crickets, but had to pull their jumping legs off before feeding them to the turtles. I did this with 2 pairs of needle nose pliers! Since my turtles live outside in the backyard, this is the only way to prevent the crickets from hopping away, and then driving me crazy at night with their chirping. I've since stopped this practice since it's too much work to pull the legs. These 'super worms' are a good alternative. I will have to do some research on whether these things are of any nutritional value. They probably are not highly nutritional.

Turtle Status as of date: 04-18-98
Found 'T2' (definitely male) mating with 'T3' (female?), with 'T2' in standard male mating position (on top-rear of female). Time was about 12:05 PM, in the shade. After taking various closeup pictures of these turtles, I notice that the base of 'T3's tail was very thick, just like T1 and T2. I know that T1 and T2 are males, since they regularily assume the male mating position. However, since male box turtles have a thick tail near their base, and this 'T3' turtle also has 'reddish' eye iris coloration, I'm starting to think that this turtle is a male. I will have to do further research on determining the sex of 'T3'.

Turtle Status as of date: 03-21-98
'T3' came out of hibernation. Found next to 'T2' under Lemon Tree wood plank. Fed banana to 'T3', and it ate it. Hibernation location, unknown, but suspect under black plastic under lemon tree wood plank. Dried mud on underside, no mud on top of shell, therefore assume that this turtle partially dug into dirt, under black plastic, which was under wood plank. Carapace (top side) must have been in contact with black plastic, therefore no mud, and plastron (bottom side) must have been in contact with dirt.

Turtle Status as of date: 03-13-98
'T1' came out of hibernation. Found walking on side North side of house in morning. Hibernation spot in South raised bed, at extreme South West corner of raised bed.

Turtle Status as of date: 03-09-98
'T2' came out of hibernation. Hibernation spot in North raised bed planter, South East corner of raised bed. There is a hole in the ground at this spot.

Turtle Status as of date: 02-25-98
Been having El-Nino rain storms for the last 2 weeks or so. It rains hard on average of 2 time per week. The ground is saturated with water, and I wonder if the turtles have drowned. The ground/air temperature is still too cold for the turtles to come out of hibernation, so I don't think they will come out yet.

Turtle Status as of date: 01-23-98
All of the turtles are still in hibernation, dug into the dirt located in my back yard. Typically, the turtles dig into the dirt, with the top most part of their shell approximately 0.5 inch below the surface. I know this by the depth of the holes they leave in the ground when the come out of hibernation. Many times they come out of the ground after a hard rain.

Turtle Status as of date: 11-15-97
I have not seen any turtles past this date, so I assume that they have all dug underground, and started their hibernation cycle. The last turtle I saw was 'T1'.

This page last Edited: 04-24-98 11:00 PM

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