can they mate

Question
i have a question my uncle has two type sof turtles a box turtle and a red ear slider and he was wondering if u put them in the same cage will they fight/ breed.......the box turtle is a male and the red ear slider is a girl....i dont think they will fight but i think they might breed and we dont want to put them n the sam place if they will breed...what do you think??

Answer
I think your uncle needs to do more research on turtles, or let these go where they were found if he caught them, while they still have time to prepare for hibernation.

They might fight, they might breed. But that's not really the point. The point is that someone keeping turtles should know enough, to know that Box turtles and Red Eared Sliders live in completely different habitats, and that they should not be housed together unless you are going to build a large dry land and aquatic outdoor habitat to accommodate both the Slider and the Box turtle. Sliders spend most of their time in the water and basking on logs, Box turtles are land turtles who like to burrow in the soil, so unless you have a large dual environment outdoor habitat, I don't see how you can keep them properly together. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't have them. If you keep them together in a silly aquarium, you probably aren't going to have sufficient room for them, or you are going to drown the Box turtle, or cause the Box turtle to become ill being housed in excessively wet conditions with a Slider, or you are going to make the Slider ill by keeping it in excessively dry conditions for the Box turtle.  

http://www.aboxturtle.com
http://www.boxturtlesite.info
http://www.anapsid.org/mainchelonians.html
http://www.anapsid.org/reslider.html
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com