Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There is a wooded area behind my work in Central NJ which has been surrounded by miles development for several decades. Although somewhat inland, this "island" area is very coastal plain in soil and vegetation. I like to walk back there at lunchtime and I was pleasantly surprised in 2003 when I found my first box turtles back there. Since then I have found a few more and try to photograph them. In the less than 10 individuals I found, two of them (one male an done female) both had a "dent" in the rear of the shell. They otherwise seemed healthy. The male I found in 2004, the female in 2006 very close to where I found the male. I wonder if this is form inbreeding?
This is the male:

And the female:

Who knows?

It would be difficult to know for sure if it were inbreeding without doing some serious investigating (DNA comparisons): what you show in the photos looks similar to pyramiding, in which case the shell shape may be a result of environment and diet. The turtles may not have a particularly varied diet, which may be affecting their shell growth.

I have also read that higher incubation temperatures at critical points of development can produce shell abnormalities but I don't know if that is accurate information.

Nice looking turtles!

At first glance I too suspect as Steph. suggested a shell deformity due to a high protein diet. It could be attributed to the coastal type vegetation area harboring a high percentage of one or two types of insects while lacking a variety of plants needed for proper nutrition.

Possibly they were transplants from a previous boxie owner who released them after their shell was formed; thinking this is a nice secluded area.

The shell area in question almost looks sunken under the ruler which would be attributed to something else.

I don't think it's a genetic inherited malady. Without more information; it's tough to say.

Ric K.

looks like pyramiding to me.

Interesting. I have not seen personally seen cases of pyramiding up close, and I thought it effected most of the scutes. The few others I have seen in this area have had normal shells, and these two otherwise looked very healthy, despite their "lumpy" appearance. The male was/is worst than the female, Ocan't imagine his spine dipping in like that, but he was obviously fine otherwise and survived to adulthood. Although they could have been releases, this area is not open to the general public and I think they were most likely born here as part of a relic population. I love seeing them!

Interesting post. I have a few comments. I would guess that those two turtles are possibly captives released. The person may have realized they weren't doing such a good job and released them to an area where they would be protected. Now that is a complete guess, but I have seen box turtles that aren't properly taken care of and they look like that alot. Now I've spent much time checking out small and large populations of box turtles in nj and I've never seen that. If inbreeding results in that kind of characteristic then I think I would have found it before since some of the populations I've found are on areas no bigger then a couple acres. It seems like turtles such as boxies and spotted would inbreed alot. This is based on my idea that both species live in small patches of land for most of their lives. For instance there is one female box I find in the same 30 yard circle evertime I go out. You would think that the offspring in these areas would show signs of inbreeding. But the two juvies I found are well formed. The diet thing could be a reason. I always wonder what box turtles in the heavy pine barrens area eat. I never see slugs and worms, or really anything eat. So maybe if this section is pine barrens like it is having a hard time finding other sources of food. However, last saturday I did find something unusual and that was a female boxie eat a cactus plant in the pines. Never thought they would eat that with all the spikes on it, but she seemed to be enjoying it. Do you have anymore pictures of the box turtles from there?

something to keep in mind, in good well populated areas wild box turtle ranges over lap, they're not like mammals that leave scent marks or what have you, they simply stay where they know where the food is and when it will be ready to eat.
as for eating, they will eat things that we would find suprising, the wierdest thing I have ever seen a wild turtle eat was poison ivy, it was a male N.A. wood turtle that was eating it.

I have enjoyed everyone's response and opinions!!I
actually grow our own NJ Opuntia cactus for my own turtles, although I have always given them the fruit, not the pads (which are painful to the human touch).
Although they could be released captives, this is a small area and any released captive would have to stick to the small area and not wander. They were found two years apart from one another in the same area. Diet could be a possibility, I suppose, although I see worms, carrion, and lots of small fruits (blueberries etc.) and mushrooms. They probably have been isolated longer and more severely than most of the other NJ populations, due to its location, so maybe it is a recessive deformity but the other individuals have been normal. In addition to these two I have found one small juvenile, one adult empty/bleached carapace, two females in their prime, one male just reaching prime, one very old female and one VERY old male.
I will post more pics in a day or so when I get them into photobucket.