Nice to be able to post in this forum w/o registering!
I have a large outdoor enclosure for two turtles that were released into our neighborhood after a local mother made her kids get rid of them. I decided they wouldn't make it (they'd been in captivity a few years, not sure how they aquired them) and built them a nice area in the yard. Thought I had two boys, but apparently Bob has turned out to be a Bobbie. She laid some eggs on July 2 (very late from what I've read), but when I went to put up some hardware cloth mesh around them (about 50 days later), the eggs had collapsed.....but apparently she has done this before-I found a baby in there yesterday, and another after looking again during a brief shower. The bigger one is about 2 & 3/8's inches long, the little one is a little less than two inches, and the big one is two inches wide. I was wondering if they were born this year, or last? I've heard eggs laid late in the year may not hatch until next, they appear to have been around a few months at least, but perhaps they were born last year? Cute little guys, didn't really want babies, just wanted to captive ones to live out their life well. Apparently, they are living well! :-)

(I've had them about 3 yrs., they hibernate outside, are rarely fed by me-I grow much food in their pen for them like berries, melons, squash......, have a pond, don't used pesticides or similar "cides", and have lots of slugs, crickets, and grasshoppers in there...I think they're pretty well kept. The enclosure is about 40 feet by 10 feet, and I buried a 4 foot wire mesh fence two feet deep-that's way deeper than they need in PA. from what I've seen-they rarely burrow deeply at all in our natural soils, but do like the mulch and compost piles I prepare for them...)

Oh-I'm debating whether to hibernate the little ones outside (as in nature) or keep them in over the winter.....I was thinking of building them a smaller enclosure inside the big one, w/smaller mesh wire. The main fence has squares 2x2 inches, and they could get out. I'm wondering if others got out, or if there are more babies, or if there are more nests w/eggs...anyhow, any tips on whether to care for these guys at all (they seem to have done quite well on their own), to keep them in, or what? I really lean towards letting them do their thing outside w/as little human interference as possible, although I know that lowers their survival rate....then again, I've never cared for baby turtles, so they may be better off in the natural pen......Bobbie and Tom typically hibernate in October, I think Bobbie might've stopped eating, although Tom was taking slugs, mealworms, and nightcrawlers voraciously from me this morning. I understand they stop eating about 30 days before they go under, so as not to have food in them during their hibernation period. Around here (about the 40th parallel, in Pennslyvania, near I-70), they tend to awake in early April (it just amazes me they stay dormant so long and come out OK each year!) I use all the leaves from a huge silver maple tree in the yard and bury them in there if they don't take to it (I have a couple of other smaller piles of peat/moss/rotten wood they like too, but I'm afraid they're too shallow), then I add some straw over it about Thanksgiving or so. I mark the area of the pile they are in w/a stick, then I can check on them about late March or so. We haven't had many extended periods of below zero weather the last few winters, although we've had some snow cover for a month or two at a time. Frankly, I feel the snow helps to insulate from the periods of colder air (ie-20 F or below) which usually don't last more than a week or so in winter). Sorry for the long post, but I'm into making sure they're OK. Bottom line: should I winter them outside or inside, and are they this year's babies or perhaps last year's?.....I wonder if they didn't winter over in their nest before coming out this spring......
Thanks for any help
Max

The 2" one could have come out of the ground this spring but the almost 3" one probably was born a year or more ago. It sounds like they have a nice home. Building a smaller cage within the cage is a good idea to keep the baby box turtles from predators if the main cage isn't fully enclosed or has holes they can squeeze through. As long as you put in enough food for them (natural or added), they will probably be fine. It's illegal to release turtles that have been captive into the wild but people do it often. The risks include introducing diseases, etc. to the wild turtles and also changing their gene pool, perhaps with a sub-set of the species not native to that location.

If I had to guess, I would say some of the babies have already overwintered at least once. For more expert advice, you might ask the Yahoo box turtle group at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/boxturtlelist/

I hate registering to post things myself so I made my forum like that so anybody could post. I've had a few SPAM's and things but not too many at all.

Thanks for your help, we're almost sure they were from last year's clutch, we wonder if they wintered in their next before coming out this spring, I understand from my readings that sometimes the little ones do this. I also read it would be sixty days or more until eggs hatched, and after we saw Bobbie laying eggs on July 2, I wondered how those little guys would be able to survive a winter.....they wouldn't have come out until September, which is not enough time to beef up for the winter hibernation...my wife did post on the yahoo site, haven't check that yet...thanks again for your opinion.
Max

BTW, we are not going to release them, but will probably over-winter them inside......they have special significance being the first babies in the turtle pen, but we also had to put down both our dogs yesterday, a horrible, devastating day. My wife is beside herself......anyhow, we want these guys to do well, although I'm really wrangling on what's best for them-I would like to keep them completely natural and outside all winter, but I'm worried about how they'll do. I'm sure that's what happens in the wild, and I'm sure the strongest survive and all that, but these two have special significant considering they were found the day before we put our dogs down. Again, thanks for all your help, I've enjoyed reading the other posts too.....
Take care
Max

Max, I am so very sorry about your dogs. My 17 year old dog was put down in March and I miss her so much!! I am so sorry for you loss!!
Ellen

I'm also sorry to hear about your dogs. My last dog died January 2004. My parents have laid down the law that I can never have another dog. It was one thing I had to look forward to since I can never go on vacation (my uncle just died and can't fly to the funeral either), have a date, have children, etc. We had a dog 30 years ago that lived to be 18.

Good luck with the baby turtles!