Boxie sexing

[Macheteslaststep]

Ok, so I finally got some pics of Elvis. I think it may be the plastron that's really throwing me off. All 3 adult females I have are very flat on the bottom (2 of them have red eyes though ) But all three of them have had eggs felt in them and I have seen one lay, the other two were witnessed by their old...ahem...."person". So - here he/she is! Just a reminder, I have never seen/felt eggs and have never witnessed mating or courting...maybe he/she is just too elderly to do anything? Elvis came to me as a WC that was found on a golf course. Daughter kept him in a 20 gallon aquarium on gravel, small dish with water that just fit his head, and fed him nothing, but crickets. No lights or anything. She finally lost interest after 2 years and instead of them releasing him in the woods - I took him. He had a severe URI that took 4 rounds of antibiotics to clear. He's been with me for about 7 years now.

Thanks! Saranna

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Saranna:

I've never seen a box turtle that's totally black like that. I'm guessing and Eastern? And I'm also guessing female. I had a look through your album while I was at it. Great pictures. I especially loved the dog with the baby goose. You could tell the dog knew it wasn't supposed to harass the goose because it was sort of leaning away. Very cute. You have quite a menagerie.

The males are usually a little more colorful than the females, have larger or broader back legs and feet. But the tail is throwing me. It really looks like a male tail. I don't know if male box turtles grow malanistic with old age like RES do??? Maybe its a real old melanistic male. Danny, where are you???

Wait for Danny (Egyptian Dan) to see this thread. He'll know for sure.

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Lol. I just added pics of my 3 known females to my album, but I'll post them here too. He/she is an Eastern as far as I know...and yes, he is very dark. My 3 females are all very colorful

I wonder how old he/she is if they do turn melanistic...maybe Danny can guess on that too?

Saranna

BTW Yvonne, that little gosling was Oz, he was abandoned by his parents when he hatched out. We lost him when he was 2 weeks old to the foxes. He will always be in our hearts though.

 

[egyptiandan]

You have another female Eastern Box turtle. She's probably 25 to 30 years old.

On the 3 you just posted I'm betting that the last one is the one you saw lay eggs The second one is a male and I'm willing to bet the first one is also a male. Can you post plastron, back feet and tail pictures for those 3?

Danny

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Nice try Danny...but all 3 have laid eggs The last one yes, witnessed by me. The other two females were witnessed by their old owner and were palptated last season to be with eggs I can get pics tomorrow though if you'd like, just to validate it.

I have never seen Elvis lay...maybe just too much time since she was last with a male?

Saranna

Unless the previous owner was very wrong and I felt something different? They have flat plastrons and have shown no interest in my definately known female (last picture)

 

[Macheteslaststep]

Ok, I got the pictures. First ones are of Elvira who is the orange girl pictured.



These are Elouise - the first female.



And just for fun if someone really wants to try. This is Elly, my little 3 toed. She demonstrated nesting behavior last year...she did the little back leg dance



Saranna

 

[egyptiandan]

Yes those 2 Easterns are both males It looks like the Three-toed is a female.

Danny

 

[Macheteslaststep]

How can they be males if they laid eggs? I know one of them definately did - they were in with a male RES and she said there were eggs in the kiddie pool one day. She actually said she saw both of them nesting. How could that be then? I haven't seen any mating with Elsa...could they be too young?

Saranna

 

[egyptiandan]

This person wasn't to good at sexing, so those eggs were probably the RES's Yes the first male is a young male. The second one is adult and not sure why he's not doing any breeding. You could try keeping him seperate from the females and see if that helps.
Do they hibernate?

Danny

 

[Kristina]

I'm with Danny. Both those adult Easterns look male. The tails are male and so are the back legs. The tail is longer than a females, and the cloaca is farther out that a females would be. The thickness of the legs is another sure sign.

Maybe the sex on the RES was mistaken.

Or maybe, not to make assumptions on a situation I know nothing about, but maybe you were told what it was someone thought you wanted to hear, as far as nesting behavior and eggs... Maybe also the "nesting behavior" was just normal "I'm burrowing and trying to hide" behavior.

As far as not mating with the female - familiarity breeds contempt What I mean is, a lot of times, when males and females are consistently kept together, the urge to mate is lost. I personally have only caught my Three Toeds at it once, and I bet they have done it way more than that, lol.

 

[Macheteslaststep]

I know for a fact the RES was male...I have aquatics too. They're alot easier to sex lol.

I was actually hoping for a boy...so I don't know why she would tell me she saw them laying? Yes, this was the two "boys" first year hibernating and the second year for my other three. So Elvira is a young male...when the plastron concave? He looks full grown, unless he's going to be huge O.O

I don't have any place to sperate them, but I'm also not actively trying to breed. It would just be nice to have some baby boxies to place back into the world since all of these guys were WC and are too long captive to release. I'm going to have to compare their tails to Elsa's now...I'm still skeptical *no offense...just have thought of them as females for a year now lol*

Is there anything else I can do to encourage breeding if I wanted to besides seperation?

Saranna

ETA: I compared tails....I have two boys Both of them still have flat plastrons though - so I guess both are younger and the yellow one is just bigger than the orange one?