Animal
Eastern box turtle
The eastern box turtle lives on land, in forests and meadows. When it is scared, it pulls in its head and legs. Then it closes its shell like a box.
The eastern box turtle is a small land turtle of eastern North America with a high, domed shell splashed with yellow and orange. A hinge on the bottom shell lets it close up almost completely, like a box with a lid. It eats mushrooms, berries, worms and slugs and can live for decades.
Terrapene carolina is a mostly terrestrial turtle of eastern North America and parts of Mexico whose hinged plastron lets it seal itself inside its shell. A slow-reproducing omnivore that can live for many decades, it is listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable (assessed 2010) because of a widespread, gradual decline.
Photo: Brian Stansberry, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the eastern box turtle
The eastern box turtle is a small turtle that lives on land.
Its shell is round and high, like a helmet. It is dark brown with yellow and orange spots. It can close its shell up tight, like a box.
The eastern box turtle is a land turtle about as long as a grown-up's hand. Its high, rounded shell is dark brown with bright yellow and orange markings, which help it hide among fallen leaves on the forest floor.
Its most amazing trick is in the name. The bottom of its shell has a hinge, so when danger comes it pulls in its head, legs and tail and shuts the shell almost completely, like closing a box.
Terrapene carolina, a reptile (class Reptilia) of the family Emydidae called the Eastern Box Turtle by the IUCN, includes several subspecies; the Smithsonian's National Zoo uses 'eastern box turtle' for the subspecies T. c. carolina and 'common box turtle' for the species. The eastern subspecies typically measures about 15 by 10 centimeters, with a high-domed carapace marked with orange and yellow on dark brown.
The plastron (bottom shell) is hinged and in two lobes, so the turtle can withdraw its head, limbs and tail and close the shell almost completely. Box turtles also have a hooked upper jaw, slightly webbed feet, and males that are generally larger, with shorter, thicker tails and short, curved hind claws (Smithsonian).
Quick facts
- Group
- Reptile
- Length
- up to 0.15 m
- Lifespan in the wild
- 25 to 35 years
Forests, fields and meadows
Box turtles live in eastern North America.
They walk around in forests and grassy fields. They like places that are a little damp, near streams and ponds.
Eastern box turtles live in the eastern half of North America, from southern Canada and Maine south to Florida and west to Texas. A few kinds also live in eastern Mexico.
Unlike most turtles, they live mainly on land. They like open woodlands, the edges where fields meet forests, shrubby grasslands and damp meadows, often near streams or ponds. Each turtle usually stays in a small home area, often 230 meters across or less, and neighbors' areas overlap.
The IUCN describes the species' range as North America south of the Great Lakes and east of the Rocky Mountains, from southern Ontario to the Florida Keys and Texas, plus northeastern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. Subspecies include T. c. carolina (southern Maine to Georgia and west to Illinois), bauri (peninsular Florida), triunguis (eastern Texas to Kansas and Alabama), and two Mexican forms, mexicana and yucatana, whose rank is still debated.
Habitats include open broadleaf forest, field-forest edges, shrubby grassland, marshy meadows, stream valleys and palmetto thickets. Reported densities range from 2 to 24 turtles per hectare of suitable habitat, and individuals keep overlapping home ranges, usually 230 meters or less across (Smithsonian).
Continent
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Eastern North America south of the Great Lakes and east of the Rocky Mountains, from southern Ontario and Maine to the Florida Keys and Texas, plus northeastern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula. In Canada only southern Ontario.
Places: United States, Canada and Mexico.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Mexico, Belize, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Namibia and 3 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Mushrooms, berries and worms
Box turtles eat plants and small animals.
They munch mushrooms, berries, leaves and flowers. They also eat worms, slugs and snails.
Box turtles are omnivores. On the forest floor they eat mushrooms, leaves, flowers, berries and other fruits, and they also catch earthworms, slugs, snails and insects.
Box turtles also help spread the seeds of some plants and help them sprout. Young box turtles eat more animals than adults do, then switch to more plants as they grow.
The IUCN describes Terrapene carolina as omnivorous, feeding on mushrooms, plant stems, leaves, flowers and fruits, slugs, snails, earthworms and many other foods; the Smithsonian adds insects, fish, small amphibians, eggs and carrion. Box turtles disperse seeds and help some of them germinate (IUCN).
The Smithsonian reports that young box turtles grow rapidly and eat mostly animal food, spending more time in water where prey is easier to catch; after about five to six years they move onto land and shift toward plants.
Did you know?
The box turtle is a state reptile.
The eastern box turtle is the official state reptile of Tennessee and of North Carolina.
Tennessee and North Carolina have both made the eastern box turtle their official state reptile (Smithsonian).
A shell that closes like a box
The box turtle's bottom shell has a hinge, like a door.
When it is scared, it pulls in its head and legs. Then it closes its shell. In the photo, this turtle is resting with its head tucked in.
A box turtle's top shell is high and domed. The bottom shell has a hinge across the middle, so its front and back can swing up and close against the top shell, almost sealing the turtle inside.
The yellow and orange markings help it blend in with damp earth and fallen leaves. It has a hooked upper jaw for biting food and strong legs covered in scales. In the photo, a wild box turtle is resting on a trail with its head pulled partway in.
The high-domed carapace and hinged, bilobed plastron let all box turtles close their shells almost completely; the Smithsonian notes that a threatened box turtle pulls in its head, tail and limbs and waits for the danger to pass. The colorful markings camouflage the turtle among damp earth and leaf litter of moist forests.
Other features include a hooked upper jaw, often with a marked overbite, scaly limbs and slightly webbed feet. In the eastern subspecies the hind feet usually have four toes. The photo shows a wild turtle in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, resting with its head drawn back under the front of the shell.
Small nests, long lives
A mother box turtle digs a hole with her back legs.
She lays a few eggs and covers them up. The babies hatch on their own. Box turtles can live for a very long time.
Box turtles nest in May and June. The female digs a nest in soft, sandy soil with her back legs, lays usually four or five eggs, covers them and leaves. The eggs hatch on their own after about two and a half months, and the warmth of the nest decides whether the babies are boys or girls.
Hatchlings are only about 3 centimeters long. Box turtles grow up in about five to eight years and usually live 25 to 35 years, but some have lived more than 100.
Females produce one or two clutches a year of usually three to five eggs (range 1 to 11), and many do not breed every year; the Smithsonian notes that females can store sperm for up to four years. Incubation takes about 73 days (50 to 110), and hatchlings measure about 30 millimeters (IUCN). Sex is temperature-dependent: the Smithsonian gives 22 to 27 °C as more likely to produce males and above 28 °C females.
Maturity comes at about five to eight years, depending on sex and subspecies. The IUCN considers lifespans of 50 to 80 years probably not unusual, though most turtles today do not pass 25 to 35 years, and estimates a generation time of about 35 years. The IUCN puts the maximum reproductive potential of box turtles at about 7 to 11 eggs per female a year.
Slow, steady and home-loving
Box turtles like the morning and the time after rain.
When it is too hot, they rest under logs or leaves. In cold winters, they sleep in the ground.
On hot summer days, box turtles are busiest in the early morning or after rain, and they rest under logs, leaf piles or mud when it gets too warm. In spring and fall they bask in the sun to warm up.
In the north, they spend the winter in a sheltered spot, in a sleepy state called brumation, from about October or November to April. Box turtles have a strong homing sense that helps them find their way back to their home area. They may walk about 50 meters in a day.
Box turtles regulate body temperature by behavior: in summer they are most active early in the morning or after rain and shelter under logs, leaf litter, mud or old mammal burrows in the heat; in spring and fall they are active all day and bask (Smithsonian). Northern turtles brumate in an insulated hibernaculum from about October or November to April, while southern ones stay active through winter.
They travel about 50 meters a day, keep small overlapping home ranges, and show a homing instinct. Aggression is uncommon, although competing males may spar by biting at each other's shells. Moving a box turtle away from its home area can stress it and expose it to roads (IUCN).
Did you know?
A box turtle can close its shell almost all the way.
A hinge on the bottom shell lets a box turtle shut itself in almost completely when it feels threatened.
The bilobed, hinged plastron closes against the carapace, sealing the withdrawn head, limbs and tail almost completely inside.
Helping box turtles
There are fewer box turtles than before.
If you see one, leave it where it lives. People help by protecting forests and watching for turtles on roads.
Eastern box turtles are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, because their numbers have been slowly going down across most of their range. Forests and fields have been turned into farms and towns, cars hit turtles crossing roads, and animals such as raccoons and crows eat many eggs and babies.
People also take box turtles home as pets or for turtle races. Turtles moved to new places get stressed and are more likely to be hit by cars, so the best thing to do is to watch a box turtle and leave it where it is.
The IUCN lists Terrapene carolina as Vulnerable (A2bcde+4bcde), assessed in 2010 and flagged as needing an update, with a decreasing trend. Many monitored sites show a persistent gradual decline that probably exceeds 30 percent over three generations (about 50 years). Causes include habitat loss, pollution and pesticides, vehicle strikes, heavy predation on eggs and young by predators that thrive near people (raccoons, foxes, opossums, crows), collection as pets and for turtle races, and possibly disease and changes in forests.
The genus has been listed by CITES since 1994, after which commercial exports ceased. The Smithsonian notes that many states protect wild box turtles from capture and that protected areas and wildlife crossings help.
IUCN Red List
How is the eastern box turtle doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable (this animal)
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Vulnerable
At high risk of disappearing from the wild.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
A box turtle can close its shell almost all the way.
A hinge on the bottom shell lets a box turtle shut itself in almost completely when it feels threatened.
The bilobed, hinged plastron closes against the carapace, sealing the withdrawn head, limbs and tail almost completely inside.
-
Box turtles can find their way home.
Box turtles have a homing instinct that helps them find their way back to their home area, even from unfamiliar places.
The Smithsonian describes a homing instinct that guides box turtles back to a home base; the IUCN notes that turtles released away from home suffer stress and more road deaths.
-
Some box turtles have lived more than 100 years.
Most box turtles live 25 to 35 years, but some have lived to more than 100.
The IUCN considers 50 to 80 years probably not unusual, though most individuals today do not pass 25 to 35 years.
-
Box turtles help spread plant seeds.
Box turtles help spread the seeds of some plants and help certain seeds sprout.
Box turtles disperse seeds and facilitate germination of certain plant seeds (IUCN).
-
The box turtle is a state reptile.
The eastern box turtle is the official state reptile of Tennessee and of North Carolina.
Tennessee and North Carolina have both made the eastern box turtle their official state reptile (Smithsonian).
Words to know
- carapace
- the top part of a turtle's shell
- plastron
- the bottom part of a turtle's shell
- hinge
- a joint that lets something open and close, like a door
- omnivore
- an animal that eats both plants and animals
- brumation
- a sleepy, slowed-down winter rest that reptiles take when it is cold
- home range
- the area where an animal usually lives and moves around
Discovery challenge
-
What can a box turtle do with its shell?
What special trick gives the box turtle its name?
Which shell feature lets a box turtle seal itself in?
- Close it up like a box
- Take it off
- Fill it with water
Show the answer
Close it up like a box
It pulls in its head and legs and closes its shell like a box.
A hinge on the bottom shell lets it close its shell almost completely.
A hinged, bilobed plastron that closes against the domed carapace.
-
Where do box turtles mostly live?
Where does the eastern box turtle spend most of its life?
How would you describe the box turtle's way of life?
- In the ocean
- On land, in forests and fields
- Up in tall trees
Show the answer
On land, in forests and fields
They live on land, in forests and grassy fields.
Unlike most turtles, box turtles live mainly on land, in woods, meadows and field edges.
Predominantly terrestrial, in open forest, field edges, shrubby grassland and meadows; juveniles use water more.
-
Which food do box turtles eat?
Which of these is a box turtle food?
Which item is part of the box turtle's omnivorous diet?
- Mushrooms
- Rocks
- Seaweed from the ocean
Show the answer
Mushrooms
Box turtles love mushrooms, berries and worms.
They eat mushrooms, berries, leaves, flowers, worms, slugs and snails.
Fungi, plant parts, fruit, slugs, snails, earthworms and many other foods.
-
If you find a box turtle, what is best?
What should you do if you find a wild box turtle?
Which response to finding a wild box turtle avoids the harms of moving it?
- Take it home
- Watch it, then leave it where it is
- Carry it far away
Show the answer
Watch it, then leave it where it is
Leave it where it lives. That is its home.
Box turtles know their home area. Watch it, then leave it right where you found it.
Moved turtles try to home, which causes stress and road crossings and can spread disease; leaving them in place avoids this.
Places where you might see it
-
Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
-
Watch
Country
Mexico
Mexico is a large country in southern North America, between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It has smoking volcanoes, ancient cities built by the Maya and other peoples, and about 132 million people, many of them in and around Mexico City.
Explore next
-
Watch
3D
Animal
Common snapping turtle
The common snapping turtle is a big freshwater turtle of eastern North America. It hides in the mud of ponds and rivers with just its nose poking up, eats almost anything it finds, and can live for many decades. Each summer, mother turtles walk over land to dig nests in sand and gravel.
-
Watch
Animal
Painted turtle
The painted turtle is one of the most common turtles in North America. Its dark shell and skin are decorated with bright red and yellow markings, and on sunny days dozens may pile onto one log to bask. It lives in ponds, marshes and slow streams from Canada to northern Mexico.
-
Watch
Animal
Desert tortoise
The desert tortoise, also called the Mojave desert tortoise, lives in the deserts of the south-western United States. It spends most of its life in underground burrows, stores water in its body, and can live for 50 years or more. Sadly, it is now critically endangered.
-
Watch
Country
United States
The United States is a large country in North America made of 50 states, from icy Alaska to the warm islands of Hawaii. It has the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River and Yellowstone, and about 342 million people live there.
-
Watch
Country
Mexico
Mexico is a large country in southern North America, between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It has smoking volcanoes, ancient cities built by the Maya and other peoples, and about 132 million people, many of them in and around Mexico City.
-
Watch
Animal
White-tailed deer
White-tailed deer live in forests, fields and even towns from Canada down to South America. They are named for the white underside of the tail, which they hold up like a flag when they run. Males grow new antlers every year.
-
Watch
Animal
Corn snake
The corn snake is a slender, colorful snake of the pine woods, fields and old barns of the southeastern United States. It has red blotches outlined in black and a black-and-white checkered belly. It has no venom: it catches mice and rats by squeezing them, and it spends much of its time hidden in burrows.
-
Watch
Animal
Aldabra giant tortoise
The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the largest land tortoises on Earth. Wild ones live on Aldabra Atoll, a ring of coral islands in the Indian Ocean, where more than 100,000 of them graze, browse and shape the land like elephants do in Africa. They can live for more than 100 years.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Explain how the box turtle's hinged shell protects it.
- Describe the box turtle's habitat and omnivorous diet, including its role in spreading seeds.
- Retell its life cycle and explain why few eggs and slow growth make it vulnerable.
- Know what to do when finding a wild turtle: observe and leave it in place.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 12 minutes
Talk about it
- How is a box turtle's shell like a box with a lid? How is it different?
- Why might a turtle that lays only a few eggs be harmed more by road traffic than an animal that lays hundreds?
- Why is it kinder to leave a wild turtle where you found it?
Try at home or in class
- Make a model shell from two paper bowls joined with tape on one side so the bottom can swing shut like a hinge.
- On a walk after rain, look for things a box turtle might eat, such as mushrooms, berries, worms and slugs, but do not touch wild mushrooms.
Key vocabulary: carapace, plastron, hinge, omnivore, brumation, home range
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Terrapene carolina (Eastern Box Turtle), 2011 global assessment , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Eastern box turtle , Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.