Natural History
LIFE
Three-toed box turtles have shells that are an olive brown and brown color. They are commonly small animals, approximately 4 to 6 inches long. Their skin tends to have yellow markings, with males also have orange and/or red markings on their head. When these animals reach adulthood, they will began breeding in June or July. The female box turtle then lays 3-8 eggs, which hatch roughly 3 months after being laid. Three-toed box turtles can live anywhere from 25 years of age to over 50 years.

HABITAT AND RANGE
Three-toed box turtles are native to the south-central area of the United States, ranging from areas in Missouri to Oklahoma, down through Alabama and Texas. Their habitat constrains them to areas near water with a combination of both wooded and grassy habitats.

DIET
The diet of a three-toed box turtle is mainly herbivorous, containing a variety of plant life. However, box turtles are also known to venture out and eat snails, worms, insects, spiders, frogs, snakes and lizards.

CONSERVATION STATUS
The three-toed box turtle's population is vulnerable due to a decline in its population. Reasons for this decline are due to habitat destruction, over-collection, and death by vehicle collision (Maryland Zoo, 2020).

SOURCE: Maryland Zoo. (2020, July 22). Three-toed
Box Turtle. Retrieved July 29, 2020, from
https://www.marylandzoo.org/animal/three-toed-boxturtle/
Elmwood Park Zoo. (2020). Three-Toed Box Turtle.
Retrieved July 29, 2020, from
https://www.elmwoodparkzoo.org/animal/3-toed-boxturtle/

Taco's Story
Hartman Reserve Nature Center’s three-toed box
turtle, Taco, is a common household pet and was
surrendered to us around 20 years ago. He is one of the
oldest animal ambassadors at Hartman Reserve. The
naturalists at Hartman have deduced that Taco is a girl
because female box turtles tend to have dark red and
brown eye colors, consistent with Taco’s colors,
whereas males are more vibrant.