Why wont my turtles mate?

Question
I have a pair of box turtles that won't mate.What's the matter?

Answer
Hi Maddelynn, I'm assuming that you have a pair of North American box turtles rather then one of the Asian species. Do you happen to have a rough estimate of their ages? Box turtles don't breed until they are at least 4 or 5 years old. Sub-adults can also be incorrectly sexed which leads to the next possibility. Are you quite certain that you have a male and female? Mature males will usually have red or orange coloured eyes in contrast to the brown eyes of the female. The tail is also longer and thicker and the botton shell should appear concave or indented. There are several sub-species of Eastern box turtle and although they can hybridize you should have better breeding succes with two of the same sub-species.Finally, you didn't mention whether your pair was hibernated over the winter. Hibernation is a key element in the breeding and fertility level of box turtles. Feel free to follow up if you would like to discuss any of these possibilities further.