Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We adopted this turtle and have had him for a while now, don't know what kind he is and I can't find a picture of any that I think match him. He has 4 toes on his back feet. He is displaying quite a lot of aggression and desire to mate lately.
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It could either be a three toed box turtle, or a tan phase Gulf Coast Box turtle. From the picture, it looks like a Three Toed Box Turtle, but if it has four toes on its rear feet, I would say gulf coast. Unless its a mix.

If you could take a picture of its rear feet, and the bottom part of its shell, it may be helpful.

It has a terrible over-bite, that needs to be corrected - either by a vet, or feeding him on a rock, this will help wear down its beak. Cuttle fish bones may help as well.

Other than that, looks healthy.

Bill

Thanks! Very poor care was taken of him prior to us getting him. He's seen a vet, he does eat on a rock and he has a cuttlebone, the vet says it will just take time.
He does indeed have 4 toes, so I was thinking perhaps a hybrid, since he looked a lot like picture of three-toes I've seen. I will try to get more pictures.

Great to hear that you have taken him to a vet. Maybe you can take a straight line measure of him.

Another hint is the color of his plastron. If it has any black, then it's a mix, or a Gulf Coast Box Turtle.

The tan phase of the Gulf Coast can have all tan plastron. What sometimes gives them away is the size of the turtle.

Your definitely looks like a three toed though.

It is probably just an inter grade.

The Three-toed box turtle, as its name implies, generally has three toes on each hind foot. However, specimens with four toes have been observed, so this is not a fail-safe method for identifying a Three-toed box turtle.

Common three-toed, least colorful but most hardy.

Enjoy!