redearslider.com

A customer at the store I work at told me she was going to give me a box turtle a while back. I have wanted one for a long time, but I didn't want to take a wild one but she has been keeping these as "pets". They had a few they found on the side of the road hurt or what not and they keep them in the back yard. They mated and had babies. I wouldn't consider them wild even though they have been living entirely outside since they are used to people and she has been feeding them. She said when they wake up she will give me one (or more if I want...the second time we talked about it she said she was moving and would give them ALL to me if she sold the house, but I told here I couldn't take them all...but it did start me wondering, are boxies more social than RES? could I take 2 babies? OR, maybe if someone else in the NJ area wants to adopt one I could hook you up...even if I can't keep them indefinitely, I think I could "foster" one or two more.)

Anyway, When should I expect them to wake up? She just said they wake up "when it gets warmer" and that the babies seem to take longer than the adult to wake up. Also, I plan on keeping it indoors. They are indigenous to the area and could tolerate the temps, but i have dogs, and there are other animals in the neighborhood i worry about getting them. Am i going to have problems acclimating it to living inside? is there anything special to do? Can anyone suggest a good website or forum like this one for boxies?

Just my opinion....It is very hard to take boxies that have lived outdoors and have hibernated and to bring them indoors permanently. My Ornate lived outside all her life, and I had to keep her inside while my yard was being renovated. She tried to hibernate no matter what I did...kept the temperatures up, kept the lighting as if it were summer..etc. She got really sick and I had to give her to a friend who had a large pen in his yard so she could be outdoors again. If you got a CB hatchling you could keep it inside and never let it outdoors just fine. I know many people who did that, but it is much harder to change an older boxie's ways. You could make a predator safe pen with a screen top. Many people do this. Right about now most hibernating boxie's are coming up. Do you know what kind they are? Most likely Eastern's in NJ. Good luck...

The lady just came by the store today! She said her husband saw one of the turtles walking around the other day and it was covered in mud, but she said it decided it was getting cold again and went back in the ground.

It didn't sound terribly likely they could go BACK into hibernation this late in the season, but I didn't argue. Is that possible?

I got the impression the babies have only hibernated once, maybe twice...do you think it's already set in it's ways as far as indoor/outdoor living? I am just so overly paranoid about predators/ stupid neighborhood kids/ quick weather changes.

Oh and I didn't see them but I am also assuming Eastern box.

Lot's of times they come up and then decide it's too cold and go back under. It is just my opinion , but I am pretty sure it would be very hard...stressful...for a boxie that lived outside for most of it's live to then have to stay inside in a much smaller environment. I think it would also be very cruel. It would be the same thing as taking a person who is free..like yourself...and then saying you can't leave your house ever again. You would have food, clothing, water...everything you need .....but no fresh air...natural sunlight and NO freedom to wonder about and just feel the sunshine on your face. Sorry, but that is just my opinion. This is my Nora. It was starting to get warm and she came up, and sat in the sun a little bit and then just went back under for another week before she came out again.

It may have been on the austin's turtle forum that I saw this but a poster there made a lovely outdoor pen. She took a large kiddie pool and basically built a triangular frame over it and covered that in chicken wire to keep the inhabitants safe. It basically looks like a wooden and wire "tent" shape with the habitat inside of it.

Perhaps you could rig something like that up to keep curious animals away. The nice thing about the kiddie pool was it was far enough from the sides that curious paws could not reach into it.

imderanged, where are you in new jersey? I'm in southern new jersey. I am looking for a baby box turtle.