Who Lives Here: The Bachelors

  

This spring we added two new Three-toes Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina triunguis) to our turtle garden family.  They were a Craigslist find.  On a whim I looked up "box turtles" and found a listing for two adults.  Let me give you a little tip, don't randomly shop in Craigslist.  They have things you want, you will see then and then later that day you will be happily driving to a Home Depot parking lot to make a purchase. 

Their previous owner was a teenager who had owned them "for a few years" and brought them in a small Cinnamon Toast Cereal box.  Not even a family size one.  I don't know how that seemed like a good idea, or even how he got them both into the way to small box.  They both have a little shell damage that was unexplained and were both full grown adults.  The damage will eventually repair itself, over the course of a few years and isn't causing the turtles any distress.

Box Turtles are a little different than both aquatic turtles or tortoises.  They are omnivores, eating both plants and meat (mostly worms, grubs and pill bugs in our case).  They live on land, but enjoy water a lot.  Some will even swim a bit.  Cinnamon and Crunch both enjoy water.  Three-toed box turtles have pretty plain shells, but can have very colorful faces and legs.  Typically Three-toed Box Turtles have three toes on their back legs, but occasionally they have four.  Usually other types of Box Turtles have four toes, but occasionally have three.  Turtles can be confusing.

Here is Cinnamon.  He had fabulous red marking on his face and legs.  Of the two, he is less afraid of people and much more inclined to eat in front of people.  He is pretty active and can be a little aggressive when it comes to treats like earthworms or grubs.

Here is Crunch.  He has both red and white markings and is a more reserved than Cinnamon. Even still it isn't uncommon to catch him sitting out in the open or swimming in their pool.

They have one additional bunk mate, a Dessert Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata luteola), you can see him below with Cinnamon.  He came from a rescue organization north of San Antonio.  A quick day trip with a coworker resulted in another new friend for our family.  Like their name suggests Dessert Box Turtles like drier conditions and are very similar to Ornate Box Turtles.  Their diet is basically the same as their Three-toed cousins.

His name at the rescue was Damien and he is full of personality.  We tried to remane him, but Damien stuck.   You regularly find him sitting around like he's been waiting for you to come and snap a picture or two of him.  He was a regular feature on the rescue's Facebook page.

His shell has some deformities that may signal improper care in his past and he definitely had an overgrown beak.  His mouth should look like the other two turtles and not have the part that hangs down.  We've started working on the beak very carefully with a dremel tool and made some good progress.  It needs a little more work, but we will wait a few weeks as to not stress either of us out too much.  Here is his after shot.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these three guys.  The Bachelors can all be found in their nice turtle pen located next to Ella, Petunia, Bubba and a few other friends.