Eastern box turtles are one of the most commonly seen turtles in the wild. They are a subspecies of the Common Box Turtle and is largely terrestrial. Eastern box turtles have a high, domelike carapace (top of the shell) and a hinged plastron (bottom of the shell) that allows total shell closure. The carapace is typically brownish or black and accompanied by a yellowish or orangish radiating pattern of lines, spots, or blotches. Males normally possess red eyes, whereas females usually have brown eyes.
Forest, Grassland, Wetland, Urban
Exclusively North American, box turtles are found in the eastern United States, ranging from southern Maine to Florida along the East Coast, and west to Michigan, Illinois, eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Common
Diurnal
Omnivorous, eats snails, insects, berries, fungi, slugs, worms, roots, flowers, fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, birds, and eggs
In the heat of the summer, Eastern Box Turtles largely restrict their activity to mornings and after rain. When it gets too hot, they hide under decaying logs and leaves, crawl into mammal burrows, or in mud. When it is very hot, they go into shady pools and puddles to cool off. In the spring and fall, they may be out foraging during all daylight hours, and they sometimes bask in the sun to get warm. They are diurnal and scoop out a shallow indentation in which to spend the night.
This species eats a wide variety of animals, so may effect various prey populations. Also, box turtles may disperse seeds as they eat berries of different kinds of plants.
Least Concern
