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male and female box turtles living together

22 16:04:07

Question
Hi - My two rescued box turtles have lived together for two years now. This year the male mated ALOT with the female and I don't know if she laid eggs or not. They are in a 4 x 8 outdoor pen with two ditches inside. Lately the female has been staying under ground a lot and when she finally comes out the male instantly attacks her, stays on top of her and bites at her when she tries to peek out of her shell. It's September and he already mated a bunch of times with her since spring. I'm afraid she is being bullied and is now not eating. I want her to eat plenty before it gets cold and they burrow down for the winter. I know we should not have them eat for about two weeks before hibernating but she hasn't eaten in weeks. Should I separate them?
thanks,

Dave

Answer
Hi Dave,

I would definitely separate them ASAP.  In the wild, their territories are very large and a male wouldn't have constant access to a female the way they do in captivity.  This is why it's usually recommended to have at least two females for every male, and with some males the ratio should be even higher.  Separate them and make sure the female is active and eating; if not, you should probably overwinter her indoors to make sure she survives the winter.  For next year, if you can expand the pen and put in more hides and sight breaks, it will help reduce the stress on the female, but you may have to separate them again or consider adding another female or two (in which case you'll need a bigger pen anyway).  Hope this helped!