probably because of the recent rain to lay eggs would be my guess. especially given how dry it's been, i think that's the reason you found 2- they are seizing any opp. i often do find them along the rd after a good shower. we didn't get as much as i'd have liked- only 1/2" here, but i'm really hoping for more today. we didn't lose power.

i am but a babe herpetologically speaking. my neighbor is head herp guy at the science museum downtown, and he's our source of info. i don't know what we'd do without him. i can send you some of the info he sent me when we were having trouble with one of our babes not wanting to eat. i'd also do good bit of research online.

we've never kept adult boxers for more than a few days. we photo them so we can i.d. them if we see them again, feed them, talk to them & let them go on their merry way. we normally find 3 to 4 adults a year on our prop. just found an adult a few weeks ago. and just yesterday we found a brand new baby- he's absolutely adorable. and fierce, too- not afraid of our older ones. that was the second babe this year, but it's been 4 years since we've found wee ones. i think they are much better at hiding.

Alas, I no longer see many on my property...too near Greensboro, and too many houses nearby now. We did see one on a trail near the Gsb. water supply last Sunday. It was the first big one I had seen all season.

We are fortunate to have an apparently thriving population in our neighborhood. We have rescued two babies from near drowning in our swimming pool (one I had to give turtle CPR to revive). Normally we do like Tammy and just take their pictures for future IDing and let them go, but these little ones needed extra care and would have been dead without it, so we decided to keep them.

If you are planning to keep them it is best to build an outdoor enclosure for them. They will be happier and healthier that way. If you decide not to keep them, you will need to let them go soon, near where you found them. They supposedly don't do well being relocated and could also transmit diseases that the local population isn't immune to.

Here is a basic care sheet.

Here is a link that might be useful: care sheet

I'll tell you exactly why they're crossing the road now.

Melons are ripening and the smell of a truly ripe canteloupe is irresistable to a turtle.

........to get to the flower bed? I found this guy abt 7 this morning (mon) tucked down in the salvias, elephant ears and glads.

{{gwi:581244}}

What the heck is a turtule?! The excitement got to me. Well, we let them go today. They were lovely visitors. THey ate some of our yard-long green beans, some apple, a HUGE slug and a couple of earthworms. Thanks so much for all your guidance. Now we have tadpoles in the lotus pot. Yippee! -amy

I love box turtles! We always stop to help them cross the road; just recently my DH said he wished he had 2 who could set up residence in our backyard.

I confess I even want to help snapping turtles that are trying to cross the road, but DH won't let me touch them. He insists their necks are long enough to whip that head around and bite me, and I don't know, so they've had to fend for themselves.

I haven't seen any turtles in my current yard, but I did get them at my townhouse. I had a lazy compost effort there which consisted of dropping vegetable scraps off the deck into my hosta bed below. That's where the turtles always came, too. My clean-up crew. :o>

laura- believe your dh. he's right- unless you get them by the end of their long tail, they can bite you. they're the only kind of turtle that doesn't have me coming to a screeching halt to help. and a lot of the bigger sliders & such can and will bite, but they can't reach near as far and are pretty safe to pick up. just stay away from the beak and those sharp, sharp claws. they don't try to hurt you, but as they are flailing trying to escape, the claws can really scratch up your arms. i infected my kids, too- liv got off the bus one night last year all upset because they almost hit a turtle, and wanted me to go rescue, even though it'd been like 10 mins. so we did, and it was already gone- some other samaritan must have escorted it. my favorite save was a little spotted turtle right in the middle of the road. sadly, they are pretty rare now. bog or musk turtles are really cute, too.

Keep an extra shovel in your trunk. They are great for scooping large snapping turtles across the road. I also stop if I see a fresh hit turtle. If it's dead you can check it for eggs and hatch out the babies. One year I hatched 70 eggs obtained from road killed turtles. The Vet school and Piedmont Wildlife Center will both treat injured turtles.

those are wonderful tips, hosta! i bet it is common to find eggs in roadkill, as that seems to be a prime motivator for their movements. curious- what kinds of turtle eggs did you hatch? same procedure for each type?

After Hurricane Fran we had a random 1.5 foot turtle in our fenced in back yard!! Made no sense! We took him back down to the creek on the other side of our neighborhood. Hope he made it!

Most of the eggs I hatch are sliders, but about 35% are box turtles. They can both be incubated the same way.
Put the eggs in a covered tupperware container and cover with "slightly" moist vermiculite. I leave the top part of the egg uncovered to keep an eye on them. Put them up in a warm closet or some place that gets in the high 70's and open the lid weekly to let fresh air in. Don't turn the eggs once you start incubating. They usually hatch in 3-4 months but can take longer.
Mike

thanks for the great info, mike. we just got yet another baby today- a little yellow belly. i'd stopped at the store to get some crickets & parrot food and they said they had something extra for me. someone found him wandering in a warehouse of all spots. his back looks pretty muddy. i figure he washed with the heavy rains the other night. anyhow, he was set into our pond- who knows if he'll stay or head down to the swamp in back. sure is a cutie though- i'd guess at least a few mos if not a year.

We get them in our back yard sometimes. Turtles are just wonderful. I've been offline for a while. A tree near 10 feet from the house got struck by lightning and crashed on the house. No bad structural damage or injuries, just a broken window and it landed on the %$&*(^%$#@#@@@^&*&%$ brand new AC (excuse the language). All fixable. Sorry to vent, but Amy DID ask if anyone else got hit by the storm... -Ais.