Detailed Pictures of 'T1'
(Male Three-Toed Box Turtle)
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detailed photographs, and therefore, the time to display them all may seem
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NON-COPYWRITE NOTICE: All photographs contained on this
page are hereby Released into the Public Domain. You may copy, use, distribute,
publish, sell, or alter them without consent of Roger Louie, the creator
of these photos. It is the authors wish to have these photographs help others
to learn about the American Box Turtle species, but this is not a requirement
for their use or redistribution.
T1's Right Hind leg. Notice the characteristic 3 toenails. This 3 toenail
characteristic is only seen in the rear hind limbs.
T1's closeup mugshot. A common trait of American Box Turtles is that Male
eye iris coloration is usually Red, or Reddish. This is true for Males of the
subspecies Florida Box Turtles, Gulf Coast Box Turtles, Three-Toed Box
Turtles, and Ornate Box Turtles. On the other hand, Eastern Box Turtle
Males are known to have an eye 'iris' color of Orange-yellow. Beware, don't
use eye coloration as a sole method of determining box turtle sex. Use it
in conjunction with other male traits.
The coloration as seen above is typical of my 2 male box turtles. I wouldn't
exactly call it red, but it is somewhat 'reddish'.
Tess Cook,
who maintains the 'Box Turtle Care and Conservation Web Page',
mentioned to me that when turtles are born the amount of sex
hormones are low, therefore it is difficult to determine
whether a turtle is a male or female. Now, since the amount of
hormones can vary from month to month in adults, the eye
coloration with males can also vary. I guess that is why the
books either say Red, or Reddish.
Bye the way, according to most books, Female box turtles, in many cases,
have Brown, or Yellowish-Brown colored eye iris's.
T1's right front view picture. Notice that it's front limbs have 5 toenails,
where as in a previous picture, it's hind limbs have 3 toenails. I'm not sure
if the 5 front toenails is specific to any particular subspecies, but I
thought that I would point out the differences between front and rear limbs
for Three-Toed box turtles.
T1's Carapace (The Top side of it's Shell). All of my quantity 3 Three-Toed
box turtles, male or female, look somewhat similar to this. In general, their
color is Brown, and there is no distinctive coloration, no spots, and no radial
line patterns as found in other types of American Box Turtle subspecies.
T1's Plastron (The Bottom side of it's Shell). I have read in more than
one book that Male Three-Toed box turtles have a slight 'indention' on their
plastron. I assume this 'indentation' would help during the mating process.
(T1 mating with T3) For this male
turtle, T1, it doesn't seem to have that 'indention' as would be expected.
Also notice that 'T1's tail, specifically, the 'base', or starting point of it's tail, is
very 'thick'. This is a general Male trait of all American Box Turtles. Females are
supposed to have 'thinner' tails at the base. I will try to prove this when I get a hold
(eg: find) my Female Three-Toed turtle 'T3', then photograph it.
T1's tail. According to the books, male box turtles are
supposed to have 'thick' tails at the base of the tail. Also,
their 'vent', or in human terms, the anus, is located farther
away from the base of the tail. Female box turtles are
supposed to 'vents' that are located closer to the base of
their trails, and their tails are shorter than males.
This page Edited/Updated: 05-07-98 4:45 PM
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