Their sex organs are located in the cloaca. Courtship begins with the male circling and shoving the female and biting her carapace. Watch an awkward courtship and an overturned box turtle right himself. Sometime in late spring to mid-summer, the female digs a hole in sandy or loamy soil and lays her eggs usually four to six, and called a clutch , then covers them up and goes away. Females inhabiting southern areas may have more than one clutch per year.
The eggs are left on their own; their mother never returns to them or her hatchlings. Incubation takes 70 to 90 days.
Unlike humans and other mammals, the embryos lack sex chromosomes that would turn them into males and females. Eggs that incubate in the lower range produce males.
Higher temperatures produce females. Eggs incubating mid-range have a chance of being male or female. Florida Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina bauri , hatchling. The egg tooth is a hard, sharp protuberance located at the tip of their upper beak.
It will fall off in a few days, but for now, the little turtles will use it to peck their way through the shell. When they hatch, the turtles are still attached to their yolk sac. Baby Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, with cord and egg sac attached. The tiny turtles are vulnerable. If they can survive the seven to 10 risk-filled years it takes for them to reach adulthood, their shell will become nearly impregnable. Plus, they can protect themselves by closing up inside it.
If they make it to adulthood, box turtles have an average life expectancy of about 50 years. Many live to be over years of age. Their days are spent foraging and eating, and sometimes mating. Those that live in desert areas burrow underground to stay cool.
They may call to find mates or while mating. There are reports that baby box turtles will vocalize to get attention. Distressed or ill turtles may make sounds. This is the more widely used term for their period of dormancy. Technically, though, they experience brumation, which differs in the metabolic processes involved. They do several things to prepare for it.
They stop eating to empty their digestive system. Usually they move into wooded areas and edges—sometimes traveling several hundred feet from their summer grounds. There, they burrow down into loose soil or under decaying vegetation, sometimes in the same place year after year. Several may hibernate together. Their heart rate slows from about 40 beats per minute to about one every five to ten minutes. If the ground is soft enough, turtles may dig themselves down deeper and deeper as temperatures fall closer to freezing.
In the spring, as temperatures rise, little by little the turtles move upward. Box turtles are opportunistic omnivores and eat whatever is available. They especially like earthworms, snails, beetles, caterpillars, fallen fruit, flowers, leafy plants, and grasses.
They sometimes eat carrion. The Desert Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata luteola , includes cactus in its diet. Young turtles, whose shells are not yet hardened, are at greatest threat of predation. I started Backyard Ecology as a way to share my love of exploring nature and learning about different plants and animals. I invite you to join me as we ignite our curiosity and natural wonder, explore our yards and communities, and improve our local pollinator and wildlife habitat.
Learn more or subscribe to my email list at www. The winter birds have started showing up over the last several weeks and among them are the dark-eyed juncos Junco hyemalis. Dark-eyed […]. The luna moth Actias luna can be found throughout much of the eastern half of the U.
It is one of our […]. The big brown bat Eptesicus fuscus is one of our largest bat species in Kentucky and the eastern U. It is slightly […]. The zebra swallowtail Protographium marcellus, formerly known as Eurytides marcellus is native to the central and southern regions of the eastern U. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Range map of each of the four subspecies of common box turtle found east of the Mississippi River. Photo credit: Alexandra Demucha. Eastern box turtle. Florida box turtle.
Photo credit: Bob Peterson, cc-by 2. Gulf Coast box turtle. Also, when found on roads, well meaning people move them to places they think are better for them rather than simply placing them on the side of the road where they were headed.
When moved, turtles may spend the rest of their lives trying to get back to the place they were moved from. This, coupled with the high mortality rate of box turtles being hit on roads, has resulted in Eastern box turtles being a species of special concern in Indiana.
Donations to the Nongame Wildlife Fund are vital to continue this research. Eastern box turtles have been documented to exceed 60 years of age. Very old specimens may reach ages of more than Populations are declining throughout their range.
Habitat loss, road mortality and collection by humans are some of the leading factors in box turtle declines. Box turtles are protected in Indiana and may not be collected from the wild. Forests are the preferred habitat of the Eastern box turtle, although they may be found in grasslands and wetlands. Predators of the box turtle include raccoons, skunks, coyotes, dogs, ants, crows, snakes and hogs.
Eggs are especially vulnerable to predation, along with young turtles whose unhardened shells offer little protection. The Eastern box turtle is terrestrial, spending most its life on land. Box turtles are most active in morning and evening. However, they also may be observed during cooler temperatures after a rain.
During hot and dry weather, turtles will occasionally seek out shallow water. Colder temperatures in October and November cause box turtles to seek shelter in shallow burrows, where they will spend the coming months in winter dormancy.
Spring emergence typically occurs during March and April. In Indiana, mating has been observed in late April and May, but may take place throughout the summer and into the fall. Female turtles normally deposit one to seven eggs in an excavated nest before covering them with dirt. The eggs hatch three to four months later. Hatchlings usually measure about 1 inch long. Unlike other animal species, visual cues are critical for finding mates.
A male must see and recognize a potential mate before approaching her. Therefore, high adult population density is critical for reproduction.
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