I hate to be a kill joy here, but someone needs to mention several inconvenient things about turtles and tortoises in captivity: 1) The Mediterranean tortoises (there are several species, generally much confused) are not a good choice for someone looking for a garden tortoise in most of North America or Europe. Sentimental efforts to imitate Gilbert White's account of Timothy (which was in fact a girl tortoise, not a boy tortoise) have condemned who knows how many hundreds of thousands of these creatures to a sad existence and early death in captivity in unsuitable climates. Some countries control the importation of these animals, usually with the same efficiency they have in controlling the importation of drugs. There are interesting parallels between the centuries-old trade in tortoises and the centuries-old trade in collected bulbs (and drugs). 2) Box turtles themselves, although native to much of North American in one form or another, are not all that easy to keep in captivity. If kept as house pets, they don't do well in the long run. They do better if penned outside. If allowed to roam, roam they will, eventually out onto a road where they meet their doom. They are surprisingly agile, and most people greatly underestimate their ability to climb fences and other barriers. Should you be lucky enough to get one to thrive, it faces other dangers: captive box turtles are typically too fat to withdraw into their shells. These turtles, when attacked by raccoons or other predators, are likely to have their legs gnawed off. 3) If you feel yourself weakening and are about to acquire a box turtle or a Mediterranean tortoise, please first take the time to contact someone who has some expertise in keeping these creatures. Because they take a long time to die, people are under the illusion that they are easily kept in captivity. They are not. They have peculiar dietary, dormancy and biorhythm requirements which are at odds with our human life styles. Wild collected animals typically have a significant parasite fauna which is likely to cause complications sooner or later. When I was a kid, box turtles were so common that on a weekend hike it was not unusual to encounter one after another. Now, it's unusual to find even one. Most of them have been crushed or smashed by cars or collected for the pet trade. Here in Maryland, it's legal to keep one box turtle (or so I've been told. I guess the authorities don't want them breeding in captivity). The domestic trade in box turtles is now a thing of the past in many states. But they are still collected for export to Europe where there is a long tradition of keeping box turtles; and as with all of our turtles, unknown numbers are annually exported to the soup bowls of Asia. If you want to help our turtles, support those organizations which set aside large tracts of land for wildlife conservation. And agitate for stricter enforcement of laws meant to curb the illegal international trade of wildlife. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where every couple of years or so a box turtle will wander into the garden. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/