When a male and female box turtle first meet eyes in the spring, (after hibernating that year) the "mating dance" begins. As the male starts circling the female on all fours, he fully extends his head and bobs it up and down, attempting to impress the female as much as possible.

If she allows him, the male will make his way on top of the female and start biting at her head and front legs, attempting to get her to open the rear end of her shell. If the female cooperates the male will than hook under her carapace with his back feet and lean back onto his carapace becoming vertical, or even as far as onto his back. Hopefully a successful penetration accrues.

The mating process can last up to 3 hours, the female may end up dragging the male around, this doesn't hurt the male and when it is all over they will both act as if nothing ever happened, and part ways.

If all goes well, the female will end up gravid, and begin looking for a nesting site in the spring and early summer. She may become restless, stop eating, and try to escape even the largest pens while looking for a spot to lay her eggs.

Once she finds a suitable place (often near something large and heavy, like a tree stump or a rock) she begins digging with her back legs. This could be in the early morning or early evening.

Digging takes about an hour, and nothing will distract her at this point. The only thing that will get her to stop is if she runs into a root or large rock, then she starts over in a new location. Once she has laid her eggs it will take another hour to cover the nest back up. When she is done the nest sight will be filled in such a way you would never have known one was there at all.

The female may lay more than one clutch a year, 5 to 30 days apart, and each clutch can have 2 to 6 eggs.

WARNINGS:
-If eggs are laid inside a water dish, and left there for more than a few hours, the eggs might already be dead due to drowning!

The nest will be left unguarded, and hopefully undisturbed by other turtles and animals. After 90 days, in late summer to early fall, the eggs will begin to hatch, and make their way up to know the world for the first time. Most hatchlings do not wander more than several yards from the nest sight, and settle down in a nice patch of leaves or grass. If it is the last clutch of the year (hatching in fall), it may stay in its egg and winter over, and then emerge the following spring.

(Click Here for more information on the hatchlings after they emerge.)

If you know where a nest is, sometimes it's best to bring the eggs inside for incubation. To do this first you need the right tools:

-A plastic bin or pie tin
-'Vermiculite' (found in garden and pet stores) to fill your bin/pie tin.
-A pencil, charcoal or marker used to mark the top of eggs with.
-And possibly a soft bristle brush to dust dirt off of eggs.

Now that you have got the right tools, begin digging out the nest sight.

When you find eggs, take your pencil and mark the top of the egg, and add the date, then carefully move the egg into your bin. If you turn the eggs one of two things could happen; the yoke will crush the embryo and they will die, or the air bubble inside the egg will not be at reach and they will drown, so it is very important you place the eggs into your bin exactly the way you found them!

TOP TIPS:
-You can also use paper towels inside an egg-tray for gathering!

-You can spread bacteria to the turtle inside the egg by handling it, so wash your hands first and make sure they're warm and dry.

Whether it ends up male or female, it all goes back to when they were developing inside the egg. Like crocodiles and other reptiles, if the temperatures around the egg were warm (82°F) it will end up a female. If the air was colder (77°F) it will become a male. For breeders it is ideal to keep the temperature at 80°F to raise the chance of producing an even number of both male and females with no shell deformities (like extra scutes). Shell deformities can accrue when the temperature is too high or too dry, so it is important to keep the humidity at about 80%.

After 75-90 days of incubation you will start to see some cracks on the egg forming. It's very exhausting and could take up to 3 days for a turtle to break a large hole in the shell using its "Egg Tooth". The egg tooth is a sharp peace at the end of the nose they use to crack open the egg, and it will eventually go away.

It is important that you do not disturb a turtle while it hatches, no matter how tempting it is, do not give in to the urge to 'help' the turtle out of its egg shell!

Above Image Provided By: Mark J.

New born hatchlings still have their yoke sack, (which is on their navel), the hatchling uses it to absorb the last bits of nutrients from and it will soon shrivel up and fall off on its own (Do not attempt to remove or wash off the egg sack). Hatchlings also have an egg tooth on the tip of the nose they use to get out of their egg,

The hatchling may stay inside its egg for a few days, Once it has crawled out it is time to move it into an Indoor Hatchling Habitat.

(Click Here for more information on Hatchling Housing)
(Or Click Here for more information on Incubation)