Hello everyone. I have had an account here since 2004, and have been on both ends of the spectrum, hobbyist and business. I have struggled many years with selling box turtles and Tortoises, and if there was any such thing as a medium to allow one to sell them and preserve them at the same time. It is a very complex subject. I started out as a hobbyist and the lure of money got to me. I have now learned that one makes bad choices when money is involved if not careful. I have been absent from the selling threads for a while as I tried to work out in my mind how to be a responsible hobbyist. Many but not all of the sellers on here simply hunt the turtles, and then sell them, forever lowering the population in that paticular area, unlike animals such as many mammals and other species, turtles have a slow growth rate, and low number of offspring. I say this with a heavy heart as I too did this years ago. I used to return a portion of my hatchlings to the wild, and felt this was payback to nature, but it comes up short in the larger scheme of things. I have decieded to keep a large colony of box turtles, and provide offspring to the public, and in part hopefully cut down on wild caught, as if there is a need, if people can get them captive born, it would take a burden off of nature. I feel this is a good practice, as it would releive pressure on nature. I believe if there were more captive breeding programs the wild poplulations would survive longer. As i have went from F1 to F5 generations over the years, it is clear to me that box turtles can thrive in captivity, and with appropriate accomodations have a good life deviod of parasites, predators and starvation even cars! I love my turtles, and getting back to my roots has enabled me to enjoy and understand them more than ever. Just wanted everyone to know my standpoint and to hopefully convince others to take the responsible path with these animals, you will be happier knowing that you are not doing harm. Carlos Monday