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An eastern box turtle with an orange-and-brown patterned shell walking on pavement.
Photo: Joshua Liverman, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Eastern Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina

A land turtle of the eastern United States that can close its shell like a box and may live more than 100 years.

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About the Eastern Box Turtle

Box turtles live in open woods, pastures and marshy meadows from southern Maine to Florida and west to Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. A hinge on the bottom shell lets them close up almost completely. They eat snails, insects, berries, mushrooms, worms, roots and flowers. Young turtles eat mostly animals, while adults eat mostly plants. Many stay within an area about 250 yards across.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Terrapene carolina[1][2]
Size
Shell 11 to 18 cm (4.3 to 7 inches) long.[1]
Lifespan
Can live over 100 years. The oldest recorded was 138.[1]
Diet
Omnivore. Snails, insects, berries, mushrooms, slugs, worms, roots and flowers.[1]
Habitat
Open woodlands, pastures and marshy meadows.[1]
Where it lives
Eastern United States, from southern Maine to Florida and west to Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.[1]
Babies
3 to 8 eggs, usually 4 or 5. Incubation usually lasts about three months.[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN Red List, common box turtle, assessed 2010).[2]

Fun facts

  • A hinge in its lower shell lets a box turtle close itself up almost completely.[1]
  • Box turtles can live more than 100 years.[1]
  • Nest temperature decides whether baby box turtles become males or females.[1]
  • A box turtle's shell can heal and regrow even after serious damage.[1]

Vocabulary

plastron
The bottom part of a turtle's shell.
carapace
The top part of a turtle's shell.
hinge
A joint that lets something open and close, like a door.
hibernate
To spend the winter in a deep, inactive sleep.
omnivore
An animal that eats both plants and other animals.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. “Terrapene carolina (box turtle).” https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Terrapene_carolina/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Terrapene carolina (Eastern Box Turtle).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/21641/9303747 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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