Mmathis
TurtleMommy
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2011
- Messages
- 14,256
- Reaction score
- 8,317
- Location
- NW Louisiana -- zone 8b
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
Not much going on with the pond right now, so I decided to take the time and corral my energy to give the box turtles' habitat some much-needed attention. The main part of the project was to take some real estate away from the only female boxie and re-fence it so that the boys would have more room. Boy box turtles, for the most part, tend to be jerks and don't always get along well. There's all that "testosterone" I guess, that goes along with marking and protecting territories. I've watched them a lot recently, and there is 1 male boxie in particular that must be the "alpha." I've watched him chase the others away from the food, or otherwise intimidate them with his "posturing" to the point that the other guys really do seem intimidated to be out and about in their own space.
So, not only have I added more space for the boys, but I'm going to get creative and turn that space into little "turtle condos." IOW, the feeding station will now be broken up into multiple stations so that no one turtle can physically see the others while they're eating. And I'm going to break the rest of the open space into sections -- not sure exactly how yet, but I have a few ideas. One is to use more plants and have more variety with their "hides."
It's just a shame that I won't get to watch their reactions until spring. They haven't gone into brumation [reptiles brumate, which is the cold-blood's equivalent of hibernate] yet, and are still out, but they're slowing down now and not showing much interest in food. I'll take some pics as I go along.
So, not only have I added more space for the boys, but I'm going to get creative and turn that space into little "turtle condos." IOW, the feeding station will now be broken up into multiple stations so that no one turtle can physically see the others while they're eating. And I'm going to break the rest of the open space into sections -- not sure exactly how yet, but I have a few ideas. One is to use more plants and have more variety with their "hides."
It's just a shame that I won't get to watch their reactions until spring. They haven't gone into brumation [reptiles brumate, which is the cold-blood's equivalent of hibernate] yet, and are still out, but they're slowing down now and not showing much interest in food. I'll take some pics as I go along.
