Should I seperate

[ashshatt19]

I have a very large outdoor box turtle enclosure that I am keeping multiple box turtles in and have a couple years now. This is the first year I have noticed that a couple of My females have been mating with my males. Right now I have The enclosure sectioned off into two sides so they are not as crowded and to keep the more aggressive males separate from each other and I was wondering if I needed to take the females that have mated and separate them also, before they start laying eggs. I didn't know if it would be better to keep them in the place they have been and are used to or if they needed to be on their own so they are more comfortable to lay their eggs and build their nests.

 

[Yvonne G]

When a female is ready to lay eggs she will sometimes show breeding type activity towards other turtles.

If your area is large I see no reason to move any of the turtles out.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Yvonne. I would add that if you do decide to separate them, I would move the males and leave the females where they are comfortable and acclimated. Males wander a lot more, so new territory will bother them less, and females should be kept as comfortable as possible so that they can get those eggs out without issue.