Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After some months I have come to the informal conclusion that the new female box I acquired has both characteristics of a three-toed and a gulf coast. Her skin coloring and three toes point to a three-toed, but the relative darkness of her shell and her sheer size (over six inches) point to a gulf coast.

Looking at many maps, it seems that the ranges of these two subspecies totally border one another. Does anyone know from direct experience whether or not there exists a large population of wild box turtles that share the above characteristics? I can imagine that certain populations of "three-toeds" may be larger in size where they are in contact with populations of gulf coasts.

Any reflections or experiences would be welcome.

could be a intergrade because they are the same species. but in the wild each one likes to find a mate of the same subspecies if they can, so its possible but not something that happens all the time. but you know that gulf coasts can have three toes, right? skin color and stuff like that , shell markings, whatever, dont really tell you what you have. 3-toeds have 3 toes and a plain yellow plastron. thats really the thing with them that you look for. gulf coasts get big, the edge scutes flair out sideways, and the plastron has dark pigment on it but not like a pattern. those are the things you look for in gulfcoasts. so you tell us the turt is big and has 3 rear toes. if its got dark markings on the belly shell and if the edges flair out, its g-c for sure.