No problem
I'm new here but your comments inspired a question. I have wild box turtles in my yard that I feed. I have two or three that will actually come to me for watermelon or some other treat. All of my nine turtles wear a distinctive mark so that I will know who is who. About a week ago I had an unmarked unit show up. He was big and he is no longer an unmarked unit. I named him T-Rex, or Rex for short. He showed up when I was feeding Drip and Drop. Drip comes to me but Drop will head off to the woods. I figured Drop to be a male...until three days ago when the previously unmarked unit and Drop were both in the area I feed them. To my surprise, I saw Rex crawling all over Drop and realized they were mating. They stayed 'hitched' for more than two hours. This happened Aug 18, three days ago.
I find when presented with the opportunity, males will mate regardless. Which is true for most species. Females can hold eggs and lay them the following spring which is why there are variations of young in the wild. Or if she lays them in late September or early October, the babies will hatch, but overwinter in the nest and emerge in the spring. Females can also store sperm from the males and go years without mating and still lay fertile eggs seasonally.
