Western Box Turtle

1 Overview

The Western Box Turtle is a distinctive member of the ornate box turtle group, with a vividly coloured carapace, living in open grassland and taking about five years to reach adulthood. It favours insects and occasionally eats berries; widely distributed, it is one of the more common box turtles.

Chinese Name: Western Box Turtle

English Name: Western Box Turtle

Binomial: Terrapene ornata

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Family: Emydidae

Genus: Terrapene

Distribution: southern South Dakota, eastern Iowa and Illinois, south to Louisiana and Texas, west to southwestern Arizona; with separate populations in northwestern Indiana and adjacent Illinois.

Appearance: the plastron has a distinct hinged joint, often as long as the carapace, with continuous yellow radial patterns on the scutes. Males have red eyes and a slightly concave rear plastron; females have yellowish-brown eyes.

Habitat: mainly open grassland, also pastures, open woodland, and the arid, sandy corridors of waterways.

Reproduction: oviparous, 2 to 8 eggs per clutch, elliptical, about 35 mm long, with a brittle shell.

Diet: omnivorous, but more insect-oriented than other box turtles, occasionally eating some fruits and vegetables.

2 Physical Characteristics

The Western Box Turtle is a relatively common box turtle, yet one of the harder species to keep, adapting poorly to captivity — still, many try because it looks so good.

It has a high-domed carapace with no keels, a brown or black base colour marked with distinctive bright yellow radiating stripes. The plastron has a distinct hinged joint, often as long as the carapace, with continuous yellow radial patterns on the scutes. Males have red eyes and a slightly concave rear plastron; females have yellowish-brown eyes.

Adults reach about 14 cm, with four claws on each hind foot. The brown base carapace carries bright radiating markings. Compared with other box turtles, the upper carapace is less rounded, and the face and forelimbs show yellow markings. It is the most drought-tolerant box turtle and, like the three-toed box turtle, is common in the pet trade — large numbers appear each season — but sadly it adapts poorly and is hard to keep.

3 General Care

The Western Box Turtle lives in the drier American West where food is less abundant, so wild individuals tolerate harsh conditions well — yet this tough turtle shows maladaptation under intensive captive care.

Care overview: omnivorous but more insect-oriented, occasionally fruits and vegetables; a large appetite but slow growth, needing over five years to mature. More timid than the Carolina box turtle and prone to respiratory infections that can cause sudden death from exhaustion, so it is not ideal for beginners.

Environment: a relatively dry terrarium works, but a water dish is still essential to avoid dehydration. Sexing is the same as the Carolina box turtle — males have red or orange eyes, females yellow; males are brighter, females larger. Females lay 1 to 2 clutches per year, 2 to 4 eggs each, with about a 60-day incubation.

Wild care note: in the morning they bask briefly, then forage; at noon they seek shade. Around livestock they dig in dung for beetles, and they also eat grasshoppers, caterpillars, cicadas, mulberries and carrion. After heavy rain many cross roads and are killed by cars.

4 Captive Habitat

Although they share a genus, different box turtles differ greatly in their environmental needs. The Carolina box turtle likes high humidity, while the Western prefers dry conditions, so choose a species based on the environment you can most easily provide.

Part of the Western’s range overlaps the three-toed box turtle and their habits are similar, but the Western’s range is drier — especially the desert box turtle’s arid grassland along the US–Mexico border, which is nearly desert. So the Western has the turtle’s ability to store water in its bladder, tolerating drought far better than other box turtles.

To build a suitable habitat you must understand your species’ habits and your local climate. In humid regions no modification is needed for Carolina types; for ornate (Western) box turtles cover the enclosure with canvas or sheet metal to keep out heavy rain. In hot, dry regions (southern and western US) place the enclosure in shade, and if you keep a high-humidity Carolina type there, install a mister.

5 Feeding & Diet

The Western Box Turtle is omnivorous, but usually prefers animal food and only occasionally eats berries — unusual among turtles and giving it fairly balanced nutrition.

In the wild, turtles forage at dawn and dusk, digging earthworms and insects from dead wood, plus snails, caterpillars and beetles, and also fruits, grass, berries, mushrooms and wildflowers. They feed mainly on land; a few semi-aquatic types (such as the golden thread or three-lined box turtle) also feed in shallow water at the edge.

In captivity, long-term success requires time spent watching their feeding and frequently adjusting the diet for balance. Animal protein (mealworms, crickets, earthworms) should make up about 50%, or you can substitute box-turtle pellets. Most Western Box Turtles prefer to eat on land, so don’t scatter food in water — place it on land for better results.

If kept indoors, besides daily food, vitamins and calcium powder must be supplied at least weekly, mixed into the food, and they must get regular sunlight or a UVB reptile lamp, or the calcium cannot be absorbed.