Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking for a positive identification so that I can properly care for/ house this turtle. I have been told Western, Ornate, three- toed..etc.
It DOES have three toes on the hind feet. Thank you.

I didnt realize I hadnt uploaded this one. Thanks.

Three toed or Terrapene carolina triunguis.

I have set her up in a pen 3 foot by 5 foot (solid on three sides) with a soil sand mix with green moss over that, hiding logs, shallow dish for drinking/soaking, UVB light and ceramic heater on one end. Temp range from 70-86 F. I have offered her greens, strawberry, nasty canned stuff for Box turtles, corn, mealworm, and wax worms.

She ate wax worms.

Do you see anything wrong or anything I need to change with the setup? I know outdoors is ideal, however here it would be a deadly thing- dogs, raccoons. I can give her supervised outdoor time daily, however.

I don't have a weight on her, however she feels real heavy. Not at all like a hollow shell.

I would say very likely female, but not 100%.

I have two males that are very brown, brown heads and brown eyes.

Three toed males seem to show little concavity to the plastron although recently I've notice a slight difference between the males and females. Yours looks more like my females.

Another thing to look at is the tail. In males, the tail is usually longer, larger at the base and the vent hangs lower.

Also, watch her when she soaks. If she is male, eventually she'll expose her "privates", an alarming sight if you've never seen it before, but completely normal.

Sexing can be very easy at times, confusing at others.

On feeding, try crickets and superworms. Wax worms are fine as part of a diet, but they have alot of fat in them. If you have dandilions around, dig a few up and plant them in the substrate in your enclosure, if you have soil substrate, or you could plant them in some small pots. I give mine dandilions, collard greens (when I can find them in decent condition at the store) romaine lettuce, tomatoes, blackberries, strawberries and an occasional banana as well as cantalope.

If I'm out of bugs or in a hurry I supplement with biljack dog food.

Female, for sure.

Mine love slugs and nightcrawlers (Petsmart has nice nightcrawlers) and pillbugs/sowbugs/rolypolies and any roaches or beetles. And wild blackberries.

If you build an outdoor pen, 4x8, you can make a very secure lid with a 4x8 piece of lattice!

Nanci
-----
*****
1.0 Classic Corn, 0.1 Lavender, 0.0.1 Cali King, 0.1 Nelson's Milk
1.0 Tricolor Hog, 0.1 Eastern Hog, 1.0 Florida King
0.1 Eastern Box Turtle, 1.0 Florida Box Turtle
0.0.2 Desert Torts, 2.0 Feral Pigeons

Those splashes of color I am not used to seeing on three-toeds, but I have not seen a lot of three toeds. But the splash of orange or whatever on the back make me think it's a hybrid between T. c. triunguis and T. c. carolina.

well, I just looked at "her" again, and there isn't as much color as I thought I saw the first time. But I'm used to seeing three-toeds more uniform in color, and there is a "hint" of pattern I would expect from an eastern on "her" carapace.

She's a T. c. triunguis. That shell pattern is pretty common. There are many with plain, almost patternless shells, but there are also many with that faint starburst pattern too.

I also agree: it is a Three-toed box turtle Depending on where he is from, he may or may not have had harsh winters. The first winter you may want to overwinter him in a controlled manner so you can keep an eye on him.

My three-toeds are from around Katy, TX and when I moved to the Midwest I hibernated them at their normal winter temps and not at the frigid Midwest temperatures. I think it helped, but who knows?
-----
Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Hello, I would say its a female three toed. Looks similar to mine!!