Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, i posted this question in another forum, but i'm not sure how much traffic it gets. I found this turtle, i believe it's a box turtle of some type, outside of my apartment. I live around Sacramento, CA. Northern, CA. I don't think it's native, any of you have any idea of what it is? Thanks

looks like a female three toe box turtle or a gulf coast and no they do not range into Cali, she's probly either a dump or an escapee.
how big is she?
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My Site
1.2.1 Terrapene Carolina Triunguis
0.1 Nymphicus hollandicus
1.1 Melopsittacus undulatus
1.0 American Cocker Spaniels
1.0 American Short Hair? Cat
1.1 Rouen Ducks

She's about 6 inches long. Do three toes boxes have three front digits? This one has 5 front digits. Thanks for the info.

probly a gulf coast box than, 3 toes rarely get over 5 inches, the name three toe refers to the back feet but three toe box turtles can have four rear toes, and gulf coast box turtles and eastern box turtles can have 3 or 4 toes.
what do you plan on doing with her?
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My Site
1.2.1 Terrapene Carolina Triunguis
0.1 Nymphicus hollandicus
1.1 Melopsittacus undulatus
1.0 American Cocker Spaniels
1.0 American Short Hair? Cat
1.1 Rouen Ducks

Well, i've kept a lot of snakes before but never a turtle. I have an extra cage lying around that's 3ft x 3ft on its side, so i've been keeping her in there. Since it's not a local species i guess letting it go into the wild isn't an option. I'll try to keep her for now, i need to find my old heat mats, night temperatures get pretty low in the living room. I'll be researching her more. Thanks for all the help

-Chris

Was just Looking at the pic - I'm 98% sure it is a Female Gulf Coast boxie. She's really a nice looking one. I think she is a long term captive escapee. Her shell is so nice. Too nice. Good luck with her.

this is somebody's poor former pet is what she is. damn idiots! well she looks pretty good though.

looks like 4 toes in the back? but that's not difinitive

coloration of carapce is close between gulf coast and three-toed. but this looks closer to three-toed. plastron also looks like three-toed coloration, but that can be viariable enough to be a close call.

coloration of the head and front legs really speaks more to three-toed, than any other coloration factor. but those are supporting indicators of identity at best.

the most important morph features, which leads me conclude this is a three-toed though, is that the carapace is very high domed and not elongated as in gulf coast. also rear scutes are not flared to degree as would be seen in a gulf coast.

this is a big, healthy, female three-toed I'm sure. she may possibly have a cross with a gulf coast somewhere in her family pedigree. but I don't see enough here to call her a gulf coast herself.

Mick
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"When tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign foe."

James Madison

Mick, Again, I find myself disagreeing with you. I admit, the coloration is closer to a 3 toe, But the physical features go for Gulf. She is HUGE. She had 4 toes, I know it is not definitive - So, I went out to my "gulf coast section" enclosure, picked one up & the one in the pic is almost identical - including the plastron - the only difference was the coloration and not by much either. Still this boxie has the features of both. (Unless I have my 3 toed section & my gulf coast section mixed up for all these years. I still gotta go for gulfie.) I do agree with you strongly in that it could be a hybrid. However, I have been known to be wrong before - I'll leave it at that. One more thing - Of course she was somebody's pet - shell is just too perfect.

it was stated that she was "about 6 inches long". that's not a specific measure, but also, still not outside the size of a mature three-toe. Most of the three-toes I have seen in the woods of east Texas were that big. 4-6 inches is average adult size.

no, the 4 toes don't really mean anything.

the coloration of the carapace, and especially the plastron is way too light, constant, and strongly indicative of three-toed.
as I said that's not definitive to hang an ID on either, but it goes a long way toward supporting evidence.

the substantial lack of flaring in the rear scutes on such a mature turtle, and, the shorter domed/less elongated carapace; still strongly favor three-toed over coastie, in my opinion.

the reason I stated she had to be somebody's disposed of pet...was because she was WAY WAY far away from home, not because her shell looked so good. most wild turtles have better shell growth than captive ones.

eastern ( carolina ) subspecies morphology is some of the most difficult to determine and make an ID on. but we will have to agree to disagree on this. I'm still comfortable with three-toed ID because I think there are more descriminators for it than gulf coast.

Mick
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"When tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign foe."

James Madison

Hey everyone, just got her new enclosure set up today. I've been feeding her a herbivorous diet so far, some greens and fruit. She loves the cantaloupe. I tried feeding her a slug, but she didn't have any interest at all. Thanks for the help with the ID, so i guess we're down to three toed or eastern gulf. Do you guys have any idea about what age she could be? I'll ask a few neighbors if they lost a turtle, try to figure out who her keeper is. If i can't find the past owner then i guess i got myself a new herp.If you need any more pictures from any angles that might help in the ID just let me know and i can get them up for ya. Thanks again

-Crisis

Heres a picture of her working on a chunk of cataloupe.