Keeping An Ornate Box Turtle With Three Toed Box Turtles?

[Shubooti]

Everywhere I read I seem to run into posts saying:

1. Ornates are very hard to keep well, most soon die.

2. Ornates will quit eating, get sick and die if kept with other turtles.

We recently adopted three (1.2) 3 toed and one female Ornate. All of them get along fine, and the Ornate eats like a hog, like the others, both live food and vegetables, so far (one month).

Any thoughts?

Thanks - Shubooti

 

[Maggie Cummings]

While I have read the same things and talk to others on this forum even who are against it, I must say that I have successfully kept Ornates and 3-toed together for several years. I don't have a large colony I have 4 Ornates, 3 three-toed and one Eastern. I have 2 large tort tables in the house and 2 different places outside for them. I don't hibernate them, they do go outside when and if the sun is shining and they all seem healthy and they make great pets. All mine are adults raised from hatchlings except for one 3 legged female Ornate. The SPCA in Central Oregon found out about me somehow and called and asked if I was interested in taking a 3 legged male Russian tortoise. He had been run over by a lawnmower and now he was well and they didn't know what to do with him. So I made the 200 mile round trip, what 'he' actually was is a female Ornate Box turtle not a male Russian...She's beautiful with white skin and she gets around quite well with 3 legs. I took the males tho and set them up by themselves because with her only having one back leg I didn't want to take the chance that she may have trouble digging a nest. So my males and females are separated. Is that what you wanted to know???

 

[Shubooti]

Yes, that helps, thanks.

 

[Nay]

[
Shubooti, I had my Jack RF and Louise ornate together for 6 yrs, then I joined up here. Loads of information led me to believe I was doing something really wrong. So I took the advise and seperated them. Louise paced her new pen for 3 days , would not touch a bit of food, and looked generally miserable. Jack still ate but did go round and round. I was in a dilema as to what was right, and it was actually here that I was told to go with my gut and someone sent me a video of the Owen and Mazi.(Look up on you tube) I put them back together and they went right to each other.They both ate and followed each other for a few days. I sadly report Loiuse(sometimes called Lucille) escaped somehow a few weeks ago and I can't find out how. Jack still paces, but does have Petey who was added over a year ago.
So do what you feel seems to work. Na

 

[Millerlite]

They say ornates are hard to keep, but they anr't any harder then the others. Box turtles in general can be tough if they are in the wrong set up. If they are in the right setup then box turtles are easy. As far as keeping the two together they would do fine. ornates seem to be more protein eating then the 3 toed, and they dont like as much humidity, but if kept in a big enough enclosure they will just use the microclimates and be fine. I also think ornates overlap with ornates somewhere in midwest, MO i think...

 

[Jacqui]

I have no trouble with Ornates or Three toed and find Easterns a bit harder, but then I live in their natural zone. Where you live, adds a lot to how hard or easy a turtle or tortoise is to keep.

I live in Nebraska near the Kansas border and we have wild groups of both the Ornate and Three toed. Because they do naturally share a range, you should be able to keep them together with little trouble. Just be sure you cater to the needs of them both.