Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Went walking in the woods today and spotted four boxies,2 females and 2 males.This big guy has quite a chip out of his shell but he is still handsome.

Awesome! Nice beautiful red eyes!
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Cliff

My Collection:
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles
0.1 Ornate Box Turtle
0.0.1 Desert Ornate Box Turtle
1.1.1 Redfoot Tortoises
2.1 Russian Tortoises
1.0.1 African Sulcata Tortoises
1.0 Burmese Python
0.1 Virginia Opossum
1.0 German Boxer
1.0 Pit Bull
1.1 Chihuahuas

Gotta love a wild boxie with a "survival mark" of some sort. I wonder if this missing piece of shell is from some sort of predator trying to pry him open; that's what it looks like to me.

Yeah, it looks like a predator or loose dog used him as a chew toy, luckily gave up, nice looking animal anyway, rich color.
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Jeff Benfer

1.0 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.2 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 Okeetee Pantherophis guttatus

I'm almost 99% sure that his chipped shell is from combat from another male. Males usually lock on to that portion when fighting. I read an article that mentioned that common injury in gulf coast boxies.
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2 Taricha granulosa
1 male Terrapane carolina carolina
10 gal. tropical fish tank.

I seriously doubt that. A lot of those kinds of injuries happen when the turtle is a baby and the shell is still soft. I've had adult box turtles off and on for years and have seen them latch on to each others shells without ever breaking off a chunk. By the time they're adults and the shells have hardened, it takes something with more jaw power than another turtle to do that kind of damage. A raccoon might bite through bone like that, but not another box turtle.

You are probably right, but that is a lot of missing shell and I thought I saw a puncture hole to the right, so could be from years of battle though huh? but if that's from fighting you should have seen the other guy!!! He was messed up worse
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Jeff Benfer

1.0 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.2 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 Okeetee Pantherophis guttatus