Eastern Box Turtle
A hinge-shelled turtle, the Eastern Box Turtle is native to the eastern United States, and is often referred to as the Common Box Turtle. They are a very popular type of turtle and are often kept as pets.
Physiology
The turtles have a high dome shell on the back and can come in a variety of colors, from brown to orange. Depending on their age, the color of the turtle will change over time. As well, the male turtles will have red eyes while females will have brown.
Typically, they will grow up to seven inches in length, and live for upwards of 80 years in the wild. In captivity, they will usually reach 40 years of age. One interesting feature of the eastern box turtle is that when the shell is broken, it has the ability to regenerate itself and reform into its original shape.
Habitat
The turtles will primarily live in the areas of Maine, down to Florida, and as far west as Kansas. They are not found in the Great Lakes regions, due to the heavy traffic of roads. They will usually try and be in an area that is quite moist, and can also be found in fields and pastures.
Diet
The eating habits of the eastern box turtles depends on where they are, what they like and even the lighting of the area they are in. Typically, they are omnivores and will feed on both animals and vegetable matter. They will often eat snails, beetles, caterpillars, grasses, fruit, berries, mushrooms, flowers and earthworms. On occasion, while in captivity, they will even eat hamburger and eggs.
Captivity
Thousands of eastern box turtles are collected from the wild each year to be sold in Western countries as pets. This practice has caused a great deal of problems for the species as their numbers begin to deplete in the wild.
Conclusion
The eastern box turtle is a very common turtle in the United States, and this has caused it to become known as a great pet, which in turn has caused its numbers in the wild to go down, while the overall number of the animals have stayed strong.
The turtles are one of the most identifiable types of turtles in North America and are common as official animals of towns and other areas. They are also well protected in many areas do to their status as the years go by towards endangered.