# Eastern box turtle in my backyard



## Korbin (Jul 4, 2008)

Yeah, I'm in the US.  Check out what I found in my back yard today. She's laying eggs!


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## Dragon1 (Jul 4, 2008)

WOW:shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:
Your so lucky!
Shes so pretty!

WOW

Dragon1


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## LadySnake (Jul 4, 2008)

That's so awesome! She's a pretty little thing.


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Jul 4, 2008)

Is that a turtle or a tortoise?..She is very cute anyway..


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## carkat (Jul 5, 2008)

Great photos, amazing to see in your back yard. The only chance we get to see one of those turtles is in a Zoo here in Oz. Is the ground in your yard fairly soft? It looks damp. Do box turtles usually pick a grassed area like that for their nest?


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## Korbin (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks for the comments. I have only ever seen water turtles nesting and they do it in sand. I never thought a box turtle would do it in my lawn. The soil is very clayey so it gets very hard when its dry. It had rained for the past couple of days though, so it was very squishy when she dug the nest. I'm wondering how the babies are going to get out. I'll have to at least make sure grass doesn't grow over top of them.

The other thing that worries me is the nest being raided by a raccoon or skunk. They regularly dig them up and eat the eggs. So I put a piece of wire mesh over the nest with some bricks on it.


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## JasonL (Jul 7, 2008)

Yeah good idea, an old bird cage with a weight on top would also work. Are they common in your area?


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## carkat (Jul 9, 2008)

Korbin, 

A cage around and over it sounds a good idea. I've recently been involved in some freshwater turtle research and found out that some turtles need the rain to soften the ground, so they lay their eggs. Apparently the soil in places, is just too hard for the turtles to dig into. It seems that the rain is the 'trigger' for the nesting to occur- they know its right to nest now. 

It would be great if you could prevent the predation of these eggs by raccoons/skunks. We have trouble wih feral animals and non-native, introduced animals that dig up nests, as well as some native predators.

It probably would be a good idea to keep the grass clear of this nest. Do you know or have you been able to find out how long the incubation period is for these turtles?


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## Korbin (Jul 11, 2008)

I think I read that it will be 50 to 80 days. So the babies will come out in early fall. At that time I'll remove the wire mesh and construct some kind of way to contain the babies. At least so I can have a look at them. Then I'll probably release them in their natural environment - my backyard 

I'm a little scared of how I'm going to avoid mowing over them though.... Maybe I'll release them somewhere else.


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## wicked reptiles (Jul 11, 2008)

That headings pretty dam effective for catching peoples attentions lol!


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## Vixen (Jul 11, 2008)

Haha boxes are sweet


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