Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in southern Alabama and I was planting stuff in my garden and found a baby turtle. It is about the size of a quarter. It is a olive-brown color, with what seem to be 4-5 tanish bumps down the middle of his shell. His legs are a dark brownish color and his feet are not webbed like a water turtle its feet look like land turtle feet but his shell looks like a water turtle. It has no stripes or any real distinct markings on it. but it does have a pattern on the bottom of its shell. it is very friendly though and doesnt seem to mind being held, But I dont know what to feed it because i dont know what it is.
PLEASE HELP!!!

It sounds like what you have there is a baby box turtle Terrapene carolina sp. According to Conant and Collins Field Guide there are 3 subspecies of T Carolina that occur in Alabama. They are Eastern (T.c.carolina), Three-Toed (T.c.triunguis) and Gulf Coast (T.c.major). My guess is they all look similar when they are young because pictures are only showm of the Eastern.

Eastern occurs in the Northern half of AL. Gulf Coast occurs in the extreme southern regions of AL. Three-Toed occurs in the southern 1/2 of AL (has 3 toes on all legs..usually a good indicator, but not perfect). All three subspecies will intergrade.

It will eat crickets, earthworms, slugs, mealworms and maybe some fruit. I would suggest giving it plenty of calcium in its food. Use a supplement powder. At that age they grow a lot and plus they must use that calcium to thicken that shell. The shell is fairly thin compared to an adult. Also make sure it gets direct sunlight or a UV bulb. Have hides in the terrarium and a place where it can soak in water (a shallow waterbowl) away from the light if possible. Use soil, spaghnum moss or cypress mulch as substrate so that it may burrow. If possible put a potted plant in there (perhaps Pothos). Pothos tends to serve as a hiding place and an occasional snack for your turtle. You could always use plant some of the weeds from your garden in a pot and place them in there. Have fun with your turtle. I'd like to find a baby box one day. There may be more around your garden. How cool would that be?
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum
0.0.1 Leopard Gecko egg cookin...she looks good!

THank You so much for the wonderful info. We thought it was possibly a box turtle too, but thought maybe we should ask anyway. We have a spur thigh tortoise right now and a couple of slidders. we have had some experience will different turtles. I just hope I can keep this one alive. It is so small, Just a little bigger than a quarter. So tiny. I keep looking to see if there are more so i dont run over them with the tractor, but will see.
Thanks again,
Marcy

If it looks like this guy, you have a baby box turtle!