I was filming the box turtle that lives in Alice’s back yard who was out sunning on a fairly cold day in January, “when what to my wondering eyes should appear”…. but a tiny little head and pointy black ear…. 1-16-2010
{The Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles, normally called box turtles. | Terrapene carolina carolina is native to an eastern part of the United States. | Occasionally, it is referred to as the Common Box Turtle to distinguish it from the other five subspecies of eastern box turtles. | Eastern box turtles have a high, dome-like carapace and a hinged plastron that allows total shell closure. | The carapace can be of variable coloration, but is normally found brownish or black and is accompanied by a yellowish or orangish radiating pattern of lines, spots or blotches. | Skin coloration, like that of the shell, is variable, but is usually brown with some yellow, purplish or white spots or streaks. | This coloration closely mimics that of the winter leaf of the tulip poplar. | The color of the shell and skin of an eastern box turtle differs with age; younger turtles of the type are often more vibrantly colored than the older. | Furthermore, males normally possess red eyes (irises) whereas females usually display brown eyes. | Eastern box turtles feature a sharp, horny beak, stout limbs, and their feet are webbed only at the base. | Staying small in size, males grow to up to seven inches, and females to about eight. | In the wild, box turtles are known to live over 80 years, but in captivity, usually live only between 30-50. | Virtually all turtles have a covering of scutes, or modified scales, over the bony shell. | The number, size, form, and position of these scutes can help in identifying the turtle. | Only in the soft-shelled turtles and leatherback sea turtles are obvious scutes absent, leaving skin to cover the bones. | Eastern box turtles have many uniquely identifying characteristics which separate them from North American tortoises and water turtles. | While the females plastron is flat, in males it is concave so the male may fit over the back end of the females carapace during mating. | The front and back of the plastron are connected by a flexible hinge. | When in danger, the turtle is able to close the plastron by pulling the hinged sections closely against the carapace, effectively sealing the soft body in bone. | The shell is made of bone covered by living vascularized tissue and covered with a layer of keratin. | This shell is connected to the body through its fused rib cage which makes the shell permanently attached and not removable. | When injured or damaged, the shell has the capacity to regenerate and reform. | Granular tissue slowly forms and keratin slowly grows over the damaged area to replace damaged and missing scutes or scales. | Unlike water turtles such as the native eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), box turtle scutes continue to grow throughout the turtles life and develop growth rings. | Water turtles typically shed their scutes as they grow. |The eastern box turtle is found mainly in the eastern United States, as is implied by its name. | They are populated as far north as southern Maine and the northwest of the Michigan Lower Peninsula, south to southern Florida and west to eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. | The eastern box turtle is considered uncommon to rare in the Great Lakes region; however, populations can be found in areas not bisected by heavily traveled roads. | In the Midwest, they are a species of Special Interest in Ohio, and of Special Concern in Michigan. | Eastern box turtles prefer deciduous or mixed forested regions, with a moderately moist forest floor that has good drainage. | They can be also found in open grasslands, or pastures. | The eating habits of eastern box turtles vary greatly due to individual taste, temperature, lighting, and their surrounding environment. | Unlike warm-blooded animals, their metabolism doesnt drive their appetite, instead, they can just lessen their activity level, retreat into their shells and halt their food intake until better conditions arise. | In the wild eastern box turtles are opportunistic omnivores and will feed on a variety of animal and vegetable matter. | There are a variety of foods which are universally accepted by eastern box turtles, which include earthworms, snails, grubs, beetles, caterpillars, grasses, fallen fruit, berries, mushrooms, flowers, bread, duck weeds, and carrion. | Studies at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Maryland have also shown that eastern box turtles have fed on live birds that were trapped in netting. | Many times, they will eat an item of food, especially in captivity, just because it looks and smells edible, such as hamburger or eggs even though the food may be harmful or unhealthy. | Box turtles are also known to have consumed poisonous fungi making their flesh inedible by native American hunter gatherers. | Anecdotal evidence suggests that hatchling box turtles are more carnivorous than their sub adult and adult versions. | There is as yet no concrete evidence to support this theory. | Thousands of box turtles are collected from the wild every year for the domestic pet trade, especially from Texas, the Carolinas, and Arkansas. | The eastern box turtle is protected throughout most of its range but many states allow the capture and possession of box turtles for personal use. | Although the United States has banned their export, some box turtles still end up in the Asian food market. | Captive breeding is fairly commonplace, but not so much that it can supply the market demand. | Although box turtles may make hardy captives if their needs are met, and are frequently kept as pets, they are very difficult to keep owing to their many requirements. | Eastern box turtles require high humidity, warm temperatures with vertical and horizontal thermal gradients, suitable substrate for burrowing, and full spectrum ultraviolet lighting that mimics sunlight. | A basking area at one end of the enclosure is important to offer the turtle the ability to warm itself and is critical to sexually mature males and females for development of sperm and egg follicles respectively. | Eastern box turtles are semi aquatic in the wild and love to immerse themselves completely in water. | Therefore, a large, easily accessible water dish for bathing and drinking is important to their health. | Water should be fresh and clean and available at all times. | Because box turtles seldom get the nutrients they need to foster shell growth and skeletal and skin development, they also may require vitamin supplements to keep them healthy such as calcium, vitamin a, and folic acid. | Captive diets include various live invertebrates such as crickets, worms, earthworms, grubs, beetles and larvae, cockroaches, small mice, and fish (not goldfish). | Mixed berries, fruit, romaine lettuce, collard greens, dandelion greens, chicory, mushrooms and clover are suitable for box turtles as well. | While some high quality, moist dog foods may be occasionally offered, whole animals are preferable. | Reptomin is a suitable food for hatchling and immature/subadult box turtles. | The box turtle is one of several species of turtles. | It can refer to either those of the genera Cuora or Pyxidea, which are the Asian box turtles, or more commonly to species of the genus Terrapene, the North American box turtles. | They are largely characterized by having a domed shell, which is hinged at the bottom, allowing the animal to close its shell tightly to escape predators. | Otherwise the two genera are very different in habitat, behaviour, and appearance, and as such are not even classified in the same family. | Even though box turtles have become very popular pets, their needs in captivity are complex and the capture of turtles can have serious detrimental effects on the wild population. |The box turtle can commonly live up to twenty years, with verified cases of lifespans as long as 40 or 50 years. | There have been unverified cases of box turtles living as long as one hundred years and more. |North American box turtles are omnivores. | Their sharp eyes and keen sense of smell help them in finding food such as snails, insects, berries, fungi, slugs, worms, roots, flowers, fish, frogs, salamanders, various rodents, snakes, birds, and eggs. | During their first five to six years, the young are primarily carnivorous while they grow. | Adults tend to be mostly herbivorous, but they do not eat green leaves. | Box turtles have been known to eat road-kill. | Babies and young turtles need more protein and prefer a carnivorous diet, and then include more and more plant matter as they get older. | A study by Davidson College revealed that a box turtle snapping its jaw shut can produce sounds as loud as 75 dB. | This sound can be used to scare away predators or possibly even be used as a mating call. | While it appears that most Terrapene carolina mating occurs in one-to-one encounters, there are occasions when two males will contend for access to a single female. | These encounters consisting of butting, shoving, and perhaps attempting to overturn each other. | One of the males eventually becomes exhausted and retires from the field while the other wins access to the female. | Habitat destruction is the biggest problem facing box turtles. | Woodlands converted into farmland have reduced the turtles range in many US states. | Remaining land is often fragmented with roads and housing projects, breaking up the animals habitat. | As they try to cross manmade additions, turtles are often killed by cars, animals, and other dangers. |A further threat to these animals in North America is the capture and sale of wild-born box turtles. | A 3-year study in Texas indicated that over 7,000 box turtles were taken from the wild for commercial trade. | A similar study in Louisiana found that in a 41-month period, nearly 30,000 box turtles were taken from the wild for resale. | Once captured, turtles are often kept in poor conditions where up to half of them die. | Those living long enough to be sold usually suffer from conditions such as malnutrition, dehydration, and infection. |Indiana and other states have laws against collecting the turtles from the wild. | In many states, it is illegal to keep them without a permit. | Collecting box turtles from the wild may cause irreversible damage in the populations, as these turtles have a low reproduction rate and have a hard time finding a mate. |Most turtle and tortoise societies recommend against box turtles as pets for small children. | Box turtles are easily stressed by over handling and require more care than is generally thought. | Box turtles can be easily injured by dogs and cats so special care must be taken to protect them from household pets and neighborhood animals. | Box turtles require an outdoor enclosure, consistent exposure to the sun and a varied diet. | Without these, a turtles growth can be stunted and its immune system weakened. |Finding box turtles in the wild and taking them as pets, even for a very short period of time, can have detrimental effects. | Box turtles want to stay within the same area where they were born. | If one is moved more than a half-mile from its territory, it may never find its way back; but may spend years unsystematically searching. | This exposes the animal to danger and also disrupts the breeding cycle. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||}
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