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Eastern Box Turtle
This is Yertle the Turtle. We rescued her from a woman who purchased her at a pet store several years ago in another state and felt she could no longer give her the type of attention she deserves. Yertle will be joining our new reptile programs very soon.
Eastern box turtles are one of the most widely recognized turtles in the US, and one of only two species of box turtle in the US. Their numbers are now dwindling due to habitat destruction and pesticides in their habitat.
Normally, they live to be 40 to 50 years of age, the oldest one on record lived to be 138 years old!
In The Wild
Classification: |
Terrapene Carolina |
Native Region: |
The Eastern Box Turtle's range extends as far north as southern Maine and the northwest of the Michigan Lower Peninsula, south to southern Florida and west to eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. |
Diet: |
Omnivores, eating mostly slugs, snails, earthworms, blueberries, blackberries and the like. |
Behavior: |
Terrestrial, they prefer heavily vegetated areas, such as forests, fields and marshes |
Social Structure: |
Solitary |
Interesting Facts: |
They are the state reptile of North
Carolina Box turtles are some of the only turtles that can close their shells completely to protect themselves from predators. |