Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I dunno, but I found this big guy trying it this afternoon! By the time I turned around and stopped at the side of the road, a car was coming from the opposite direction! I practially threw myself in front of the car! (nah, not really, but I did get close to the yellow line so the driver would have to move over and miss the turtle!) I got him over to the side safely, snapped a few pictures, and then we were both on our way. I wish I had remembered I had strawberries in the car. I would have given him a good-bye treat! BTW, it's a Blandings Turtle.

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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Truly awesome! I love those guys. What state do you live in? They are getting harder to find in a lot of areas. Here's a captive bred Blandings that I have. I hope to start a breeding project with them.

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AWESOME!!

I thought the turtle crossed the road to get to the Shell station but, nope this is better!!
LOL

Great pics thanks for sharing.
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PHRatz

Lol Phratz!

I'm in central, west Michigan. This is the second Blandings turtle I've helped across the street around here, so there must be some around!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

It is so nice to know that there are still other people out there who will help a turtle cross the road. Thank you for being a good person.

Notes to bad people:
1. Turtles are not speed bumps
2. Turtles are not kick balls, skipping stones, or pool decorations
3. Turtles on logs are there for your target practice
4. Be nice to turtles, you never know it may not be long before you are the slow one on the side of the road with all your belongings on your back.

>>I'm in central, west Michigan. This is the second Blandings turtle I've helped across the street around here, so there must be some around!

That's awesome. I don't get so see wild turtles other than box unless I travel away from home.
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PHRatz

I'll quickly admit I'm not an expert in this area, but aren't Blanding's box turtles? They have a hinged plastron.
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

They certainly do look like some sort of box turtle, but they are not. There are several other species of turtles that have hinges, such as mud turtles. Some people group Blandings with Chicken turtles. If you've ever seen the two of them eat, you may understand why. Now, Blandings are all by their lonesome and nobody seems to know who they're related to. They're very unique turtles, and you're lucky to have them near you.

thanks for clearing that up for me! : )
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Cute! And you are a better photographer than I! lol What do you mean by breeding program? I have often kicked around the idea of breeding Eastern boxies and releases the babies, but I don't haven't researched it much.
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Oops, I never notice these replies when they end up so far down the list. By breeding project, I simply mean that I'd like to start a self-sustaining breeding colony. That way, I could supply captive bred animals to people who'd like to have Blandings turtles. I think that captive breeding is key to easing the collecting pressure on wild populations. The breeder I buy turtles from has animals which were wild collected back in the 1960's. Their lineage is nearly untraceable. Wildlife officials would have to be pretty desperate to let me release any from this stock in the wild. They try to be very genetically specific. That is, only release animals that are nearly identical to the animals which were originally there.

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Jenea

1:1 Tricolor Hognose
0:0:2 Florida Redbelly Snakes
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
0:0:1 Green Tree Frog
1:2:2 Mediterranean Geckos
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

np
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.9.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband