Yes they can, and the larger a rootball you can manage, the better the transplant. They will need a lot of water for first few months, and expect a lot of leaf drop.

Or, crotons can be pruned back hard and they will rejuvenate. I imagine a lot of naked branches with leaves just on top, right? cut the branches back to about 12-18" BELOW the height you would want a croton in that spot to be at. They will be naked for a couple months, but with spring soon, they will break new buds from the naked stumps quickly.

Transplanting any NOW would be best, as it's a bit cooler and the sun isn't fully intense.

All correct advice up until the last line. Crotons do not form new roots when the night time air temp is below 70 degrees. Wait a few more weeks, until we get out of these annoying cold spells, and then follow longwood's directions.

If you do dig the entire plant from the ground, you will need to water it every day, for about 3 weeks. Then every other day for about 3 weeks.

thanks for the help. I'll wait until it's warm and let you know how it goes. There are 8 of them that need to be moved. There is a ninth one that I would like to move, but I think I might need a backhoe for it... it's huge.

I know that they can endure severe pruning. I just didn't know if they could take being totally removed from very established positions. The 40-year old crotons in front of my father's house were "pruned" by hurricane Andrew, and they all came back. They were tipped over, defoliated, and hacked back, but not blown out as most bushes were. Thanks again!