TSAF: The Common Box Turtle

Less common than it used to be.

Today’s special animal friend is the common (or eastern) box turtle, Terrapene carolina. This cute, hard-shelled reptile is mainly terrestrial and looks like a tortoise, but genetic analysis has confirmed that they are in a different family from tortoises. There are five subspecies of the common box turtle, found in the eastern United States and in Mexico. They are about 6 inches long by 4 inches wide, with a high, domed carapace.

Box turtles conceal themselves under leave litter, in rotting longs, and in other animals’ burrows much of the time. They are most active early in the day or after a rain. They eat an extremely varied, omnivorous diet of invertebrates, berries, roots, amphibians, reptiles, birds, eggs, and carrion. In hot weather, they spend time near water and occasional soak. They can also cool themselves through evaporation by coating their front limbs with saliva or the rear limbs with urine.

Mating takes place in the spring. Males circle around females, shove them, and bite their shells. The females apparently like this, because it leads to mating, which is awkward, as you might imagine. A female can store sperm for up to four years, so they don’t mate each year unless there is abundant food to support the annual production of a clutch of eggs. The female lays 1 to 11 eggs in a depression dug in soft soil. The eggs hatch in late summer, 70 to 80 days after laying.

Box turtles have the longest lifespan of any terrestrial – to exclude Greenland sharks – vertebrate other than tortoises. The oldest known specimen was 138 years old. 35 years is a common lifespan for those that survive the hatchling stage. Many mammalian predators eat turtle eggs and hatchlings, as do some snakes and large birds. Invasive red fire ants can be a threat even to turtles with fully formed and otherwise secure shells.

The eastern box turtle is rated Vulnerable by IUCN. The main threat is habitat loss. Fire prevention in forests both changes the ecosystem in ways that are detrimental to the tortoises and results in massive, intense wildfires that destroy rather than maintain habitat. Many are also victims of auto impacts as development encroaches on habitat. Turtles who have been using the same routes to food and shelter for decades do not understand the road that has been built across their path. They are also collected for the pet trade, which is illegal in most states, although captive breeding for sale is legal.

TSAF recommends that you do not get a pet that will live for 138 years. It is not fair to the animal.