My 5 turtles.

[Thalatte]

Hey I didn't know there was a turtle section... Well I have 5 turtles. One adult female ornate wood turtle, puck, and adult male ornate box turtle, Beaker, in a 500g aquarium that is 9ft long by 3ft deep and has 5-8inches of peat moss and cypress mulch with a small pond on one side and the other has a couple makeshift hides though usually they just bury themselves. They also have a very large colony of mealworms and earth worms in their substrate.


In a 20g long I have three small hatchling box turtles. One 3-toed, Meanie, one ornate, Moe, and the last is some sort of hybrid, Eanie. Thy have a paint tray with a filter for their pond, 6in of peat moss, and a half buried box for a hide.

 

[jeninak907]

Awsome little turtles! I love the color on the hybrid.

 

[turtlemann2]

it will interesting to see how the hybrid turns out. thanks for sharing we all love pictures lol

 

[terryo]

Great pictures. I love Box Turtles the best. Do they go outside at all?

 

[Millerlite]

I've has a few 3 toed eastern hybrids and a ornate 3 toed hybrid, they change as they get older my eastern/3toed had a little of both traits here's a picture they are both hybrids.

 

[Thalatte]

When weather permits the adults will go outside on weekends or any other days I have off. The babies haven't yet but will when closer to full size. Each tank is fitted with MVB bulbs on dimmers for basking as well as low output UVB tubes for full coverage.

There are a lot of birds of prey as well as feral cats in my neighborhood and I have 6 dogs that have to share the backyard with turtles and tortoises so I don't feel comfortable leaving them out when I am not home.

 

[diaboliqueturtle]

Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing, I LOVE boxies

 

[mainey34]

You have some good looking turtles.... thank you for sharing

 

[Thalatte]

Thanks everyone for looking and commenting.

 

[Gerards]

I've has a few 3 toed eastern hybrids and a ornate 3 toed hybrid, they change as they get older my eastern/3toed had a little of both traits here's a picture they are both hybrids.

Do they hybridized naturally or was it done in captivity?

 

[turtlemann2]

hybridization does occur however infrequently as ornates inhabit grasslands while three toed s inhabit woodlands. but their ranges overlaps and I'm sure at watering hole hibernation habitat all provide time to interact and mate.

what isn't known is if the hybrids are fertile as they are different species and not simply different sub species such as the the three toed gulf coast Florida all being sub species of the eastern box turtle

 

[Gerards]

hybridization does occur however infrequently as ornates inhabit grasslands while three toed s inhabit woodlands. but their ranges overlaps and I'm sure at watering hole hibernation habitat all provide time to interact and mate.

what isn't known is if the hybrids are fertile as they are different species and not simply different sub species such as the the three toed gulf coast Florida all being sub species of the eastern box turtle

Thats what I was wondering. I dont mind natural intergrade or hybrids that are sterile.

Have there even been hybrid turtles that are sterile?

 

[Millerlite]

The female I got already was gravid from
Previous owners that house her box tuetles with three toeds. But eah in nature they do overlap ornates and three toeds overlap in te Midwest and I've seen three toeds and Easters in the same woods in il. I don't know if they ever find each other out there but sure there are wild hybrids out there and they probably do fine, I don't see why they wouldn't.

 

[tickle]

Those hybrid shell looks cool nice sttups also.u should get a north American black woody and mate it with the ornate.great settups you really love and take care of them well.I love blackwood turtles so cool the ornate woods are second.if you live near Jersey I have some free eastern hatchling up for adoption in spring.

 

[Thalatte]

All of my turtles are random rescues and as such I try not to let them breed ( don't know genetics or any underlying health conditions) though baby turtles are adorable!
Here's questions for everyone. In a 9'x3' enclosure how many box turtles can be in there? At what size can they be sexed? Why isn't Moe (baby ornate) growing?

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Also as much as I would love to take you up on your offer I live in Az.

 

[tickle]

Its going to be tight when they get to adult size. For now that's fine.I say u can raise 3 to for hatchlings to like 4 inches then move them or two adults.look at the eyes red boy blackishred girl.what are feeding the ornate are the other turtles eating his food on him.worms.if you think it might be worms feed them pumpkin tot a week straight with some seeds chopped up I it.also let one or two sprout in the tank.great natural worker if they are not infested all boxies have worms just a way to get them under control in a healthy boxies some worms are bennificial.I think that is why pumpkins are rippest in fall torts can eat it and get there worms undercontrol b4 hibrinating just a thought.

 

[Thalatte]

It was kinda hard to understand tickles post so let me see if I got it right: only 3-4 hatchlings under 4in can live in the 9x3 enclosure or 2 adults? Also moe might not be growing because he has worms?
I have taken fecal samples in to get them checked for parasites and they were negative so that's not it. He eats the same thing the others do. I make sure their food bowl always has a variety of bugs in it. Such as mealworms, Phoenixworms, wax worms, darkling beetles, superworms, and in their substrate is earthworms, mealworms, and beetles.

 

[Millerlite]

Box turtles grow at different rates you might have a late bloomer, as long as he's eating and active I would not worry about size and age. 9x3 is very big and could house hatchlings for awhile, adults tend to pace a lot so the More room the better, 9x3 is a very good size tho for now

 

[Thalatte]

The hatchlings are in a smaller enclosure right now so I was wondering how many adults a 9x3 cage could hold? Also if the eye color is accurate all the hatchlings are girls if that makes a difference.
Moe actually isn't very active right now. Occasionally I get to see her but for the most part she stays buried.

 

[Millerlite]

The 5 would be fine in the 9x3 it depends tho on mes female ratio and aggression, even females can be aggressive toward one another. Eye color is not a 100 percent thing in fact I don't use it at all to sex. I have had many females with red eyes and many males with green eyes. The male I have now has green eyes you would have to wait till they are older and start maturing. They won't start fighting if they do become aggressive when they are mature you have plenty of time before then. But with enough room they will be less agressive. The 9x3 if did right could be good lots of plants and hiding spots. I like to put plants in places where they can't see straight across wall to wall, I cut the visibility down to help make it seem bigger. Also hides and multiple water dishes can help