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Do box turtles mouths (or "top lip" come down to a point? I'm trying to figure out if i have an ornate box turtle in my possession.

None of mine do. Snapper's do though. Can we get more of description? Ornates have a yellow and black pattern. A box turtle will have a full undershell and if it's old enough the shell will hinge near the front legs.
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Does yours look like this?

Its hard to see the details of the turtle...
Mine does have the yellow black "design" on the shell, and a pointed "upper lip"
I'll try and get a pic up soon.

If it doesn't have the yellow markings it isn't an ornate and you can rule out florida.

it *definitely* has the yellow markings.

Three-toed box turtles typically have a tan shell, sometimes with markings on it. This is a photo of an average three-toed.

(I'm posting this and an eastern so you can get an idea of the variations for ID-ing your own turtle)

Thats definitely not him, he has very vivid yellow markings on his back

This is an eastern box turtle.

Notice that most easterns have the yellow or orange markings on the shell. In easterns these markings are not the crisp lines of a florida or ornate, they are more blotchy and irregular. Also notice the colorful skin. Male easterns, like this one, typically have a lot of yellow or orange skin on their head, neck and legs. Ornates do not typically display yellow or orange on their skin (at least not very brightly).

Is your turtle's head green? That would be an identifying characteristic.

This is an ornate box turtle.

Notice the lines on the shell are more sharply defined and definately lines, rather than blotches. This turtle looks very similar to a desert box turtle. Sometimes the shell pattern of the Florida box turtle is confused with the ornate, but I will post a picture of a florida and a desert for you to compare with.

This species is very similar to the ornate, but less brightly marked.

This turtle has a similar shell marking to the Ornate, but it has a keel down it's back and you can see that the head markings are different. Ornates and desserts also have a more balanced appearance and can be squat looking, while a florida has the highest point of its carapace farther to the rear than midway down it's back and has kind of a leaned back appearance.

This species is HIGHLY variable in coloration and pattern, and it may mix frequently with three other species: the three-toed, the eastern, and the florida. The easiest way to ID them is by their extreme size. They are significantly larger on average as adults, then the other box turtle species.

>>Do box turtles mouths (or "top lip" come down to a point? I'm trying to figure out if i have an ornate box turtle in my possession.

A box turtle's top beak can be overgrown when kept as pets so it is often hard to use that features as an identifying trait. It would be better if you used the shell and body color to ID it. Of course there are many pictures of ornate box turtles on the internet that you can look at as well. Tess
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Tess
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