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Box turtles on the prowl?

daveyboy

daveyboy

Mohawk Dave
I just got back from Greenup KY and Portsmouth OH and we saw and rescued a ton of Box turtles (at least a dozen in 2 days). Is it breeding season or laying time for females because my wife now wants a box turtle. I am making her do research which means we won't be getting one anytime soon. We also saw one garter out and about, no timber rattlers, oh well. We still had a blast.:D
Peace
Paul
 
Hey Paul,

I was spraying off the driveway the other day, and found a box turtle right up against the house in the gravel. I live in the city and can't figure out how he got to where he was. There were a lot of big storms that day in the midwest, and from watching my corns get excited when the barometric pressure goes wacky, I thought he was out and about because of it. He was really moving along too. But maybe he's just on the slow prowl for a mate.
 
There have been lots of painted turtles about; I posted about a crushed one earlier. So, I have painted turtle eggs. Two definitely fertile. I'm excited for this fall, if they survive.

So far this season I've seen the turtles, some Northern Water Snakes, and a single garter snake. The garter snake was caught by this boy from Texas who was all proud of himself and squeezing the poor snake's neck like there was no tomorrow. The snake was in it's blue-eyed phase and wicked pissed, whipping around, musking, opened mouth trying to bite. But seriously, if the kid didn't know how to handle it gently, why didn't he just leave it on the ground? I would have lectured him, but I was getting out of a crew boat, and was focused on not falling in the water.

I wish I could find some Timber Rattlers, I'd be so happy. They're so rare around these parts and it makes me sad. Finding a Box Turtle would be cool; they're threatened (endangered?) in MA too. I haven't seen one since I was a mini person.

Sorry for the stories, just feel like talking.
Annie
 
We live in central Ohio where there are not box turtles so I guess I am just not used to them. We were out yesterday and saw two water snakes and about 30 male bullfrogs fighting over territory and females. We were out looking at the eagle nests (two chicks about to fledge). The area we live by is the only place in ohio where there are great plains garters. We haven't found any yet but we should this year.
Peace Paul
 
I heard a rumor...

Someone told me the other day that the turtles really like cicadas. So with all of those freakish red-eyed buggers about, perhaps the turtles are thriving because of the recent buffet of bugs. (And in my opinion, more power to 'em, I can't stand the current bug plague...my first year in Maryland and this is what I get!)

Dara
 
Rejoice in the little (harmless) red-eyed plague. You're getting to see something that won't happen again for another 17 years, and something some of us won't ever get to see.
 
Blech. I wasn't bug-o-phobic at all before, now I check trees every time I walk by and always drive with the windows up, no matter how much gas it takes to power the air conditioning...those things just make me nervous. A woman walked in to the store I work at with one on her neck, she didn't realize until she brushed at it and it flew away (and she flipped out). It's an invasion by little alien-looking buggers, I'll definitely be a happy person when it's over (if I was that interested, I'd watch National Geographic on 'em!).
 
Well, according to the bug afficianados, you'll only have to deal with them for a couple of weeks.
 
Brood X, where?

I swear for once in my life we don't have to deal with the cicadas, at all. They're by the zillions in all of the counties around here, just none in my county. And no, I'm not complaining by any means. =P

Anyway, it's breeding/laying season for box turtles. I've rescued a ton of them on the highways around my house and brought them all to safe places away from traffic. So hopefully they'll live a much longer life.

Anyway, I'm writing today to ask how in the world do you incubate box turtle eggs. My mother called me today and told me that while she was mowing the yard a box turtle was digging a hole in the yard and laying eggs. So she's got this one patch of yard that she didn't mow. She was afraid of damaging the eggs and wanted me to get them to a safer incubating spot. So I dug them up, 5 little gems and brought them to my house for safe keeping. I'm hoping that since they're only one day from being laid that accidently turning them from the upwards direction won't matter much since the embryo is still mostly a small cluster of cells.

I've got my Hova-bator set up for corn snake eggs, 15 of which are currently in there running at 82-84 degrees. I'm guessing that'd be a correct incubation temp for most reptiles in this area of the world, nothing too extreme. I was thinking of mixing up a medium of moist moss and sand, does this sound ok? And lastly, how long does it take for them to hatch?

Any advice you can give would be welcomed at this point in time. =)
 
How exciting for you, Misty! Any chance of posting a pic of the eggs next to the corn eggs? I'd love to see how large they are.

I just did a search on incubating box turtle eggs and found this bit of info at: http://www.pogospals.com/pogospals/Box_Turtle_Breeding_and_Eggs.html

"I use a plastic bowl, placing damp sphagnum moss or vermiculite at least 2 inches deep. I then make an indentation for the egg to be placed in. A thin layer of moss is placed over the top of the eggs and a lid is loosely placed on the top. Humidity is very important for incubation. You do not want it to be soaking wet, but just lightly damp. The temperature should be around 80 degrees. I keep my temperature around 82 for my box turtle eggs. Also, higher temperatures produce female hatchlings. Do not be alarmed if some of the eggs sink in. This happens in clutches. It does not necessarily mean that they are not fertile. Unless they are very flat and/or split, I will continue to incubate them. The eggs typically hatch at around 70 days, but again, it depends on humidity and temperatures."

And here's a pic of box turtles mating on the next page...I couldn't help but be childish and laugh.

Good luck!
 
I checked on the turtle forum and the same specs for corns will hatch boxies. same substrate and temps. I don't know about length of incubation but what ever you use for corns should work for boxies. Good Luck.
Peace Paul
 
Thanks for the info Edmund, it was helpful. I did a quick search on Google earlier in the afternoon and found this site really informative and helpful as well.

As for the picture of them mating, you can't help but giggle a little. :D

Sometimes you just wonder how some animals "do it". Like watching "The Most Extreme" on Animal Planet and learning how deep-sea angler fish mate. The male is tiny in comparison to the female, and he bites on to her and slowly his head dissolves and becomes a part of her. And for the longest time, researchers thought they were parasites on the fish. Pretty creepy stuff at any rate.

And here you go, a picture of the only corn snake egg I have that's separated in the container of turtle eggs (the corn egg has the lump on it).

TurtleEggs.jpg


They're a hair smaller than the corn eggs, and do have a hard shell. While not bird egg hardness, but more than snake eggs. Hopefully I didn't damage them with turning them for a brief moment. But I honestly can't see how they'd manage to hatch successfully in a muddy hole in the yard. I did rinse the mud off of them with 80° water.

I've got about 17 days left on my corn snake eggs, and now to have to wait another 60 days for little turtles to hopefully hatch out and be released..ugh, the agony. =B
 
Cool! I really thought the eggs would be bigger. Thanks for posting that. And the site you found is nice. I love the picture of the turtle on the fingertip. I've never seen one so small. I wonder how fast they grow?

Please post an update whenever you can. I'd like to know what happens.
 
Misty...that is SO cool! Good luck incubating them! It seems as if you've already gotten the info you need!

Definitely post pics after they hatch!
 
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