Please help me assess this box turtle

[clsanchez77]

Hey all, this is my second thread regarding a box turtle I was handed this past weekend.

My first thread is about the outdoor pen I will start constructing this week and can be found here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-box-turtle-owner.106110/#post-986847

For this thread, I took some pictures of the turtle in my garage. I am hoping to ID the turtle, species, sex and maybe age. Also, could use some help assessing the turtle's health.

My neighbor and her brother washed a good deal of the paint and attachments off. I was going to leave the rest of it along for now, I think the turtle has enough stress for the moment.

I appreciate your advise.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I recently found a Florida gopher tortoise that some idiot had spray painted green and yellow. He was wandering around a gas station parking lot in a busy intersection in an area with NO fields or any grassy areas at all. I gentle removed most of the paint with a "Scotch Brite" pad and released him towards the everglades where there are many tortoises so he'd have a shot at normal living. I think you have a native turtle that needs to be released. Just my 2 cents. Unless, that is, it's not native to your area. That much I don't know.

 

[lisa127]

Under all that paint it's hard to tell, but that looks to me to be a male gulf coast box turtle. Poor guy all painted like that. Other than the paint he looks pretty good. I do not agree though, I don't see how he can be released. And he looks to be very black in color I think, which would indicate a gulf coast from Florida area.

 

[tortdad]

Gulf coast was my guess too

 

[clsanchez77]

Thanks guys.

Zeropilot, I do not believe this turtle is native to the area. My neighbor and I have never seen one like this before.

Keep in mind I am in the city/suburbs and we are fully built out from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. There are no safe habitats here to 'release' turtles. I reported in another thread that many turtles occupy our drainage canals, but these canals are lined with our major roadways. Its a rather sad sight come every spring. The turtles sun bathing on the drainage pipes is fun to watch. The ones that did not make it across the road is not. We do have the spillway connecting the river to the lake, its a pretty big swamp when the gates are closed, but I do not believe this turtle came from there. Many people release animals in one of our larger parks but there is nothing natural about it. It's sad to see that many animals abandoned but comical experience at night in that I have never seen a wild pack of pet bunnies roaming before.

I have no idea when the turtle was removed from captivity or from where. If it is a gulf coast turtle, my guess is the turtle is not from around here and instead was collected on vacation. Gulf Coast Alabama and Florida Panhandle is the default vacation for most of us in New Orleans. If I had to money down on this, I would guess my new buddy was collected as a souvenir and then painted because that is what idiots do.

I am waiting to hear back from a friend who works with reptiles and is from here, but I believe all of our turtles locally are snapping turtles and released pets.

Lisa, thanks. I agree, the skin is more black that I am used to seeing in the local turtle population. Also the shell has a fair amount of yellow on it, at least where it is not painted. The paint that you see is what is remaining. My neighbor worked on it pretty aggressively. I decided not to work any further until I can get the turtle acclimated to a new home. Your thoughts on it being from Florida matches my suspicion that this turtle was probably grabbed by someone on vacation.

Seems there is not many vets in the area that work on reptiles. Everyone here is cats and dogs. I found one online using Yelp and sent a message. He is really close to my house as well, nice bonus. Do you all know any online resources to help me locate a reptile vet? I want to make sure I can get a clean bill of health on this guy.

I have checked a few of the pet stores around the area and none of them sell box turtles. Everyone around here only sells aquatic turtles.

Again, thanks for your help.

 

[lisa127]

Good luck with him. I adore gulf coast boxies, especially the florida ones.

 

[Yvonne G]

Yes, I agree. Gulf Coast (Terrapene carolina major) and the third picture clearly shows the ever-so-slight indentation on the plastron that means 'male.' I also agree you should not release him. It's never a good idea to release a turtle or tortoise that has been kept in captivity for any length of time. Not releasing a captive turtle is totally different from releasing a wild, freshly caught turtle.

 

[clsanchez77]

Yvonne, I completely agree with you. My background is in aquarium fish and we deal with the same ethical issues there as well. The Chinese carp and the Volatin Lionfish should be the poster child about releasing captive animals back into the wild. Albeit that is more of an invasive species concern. Maybe stray cats and dogs is the better example. Regardless, that kind of work should be left to professionals who can rehabilitate the animal. That is not me, but I will give this guy the best home I can and I can definitely do better than the previous owner.

 

[lisa127]

You couldn't release him anyway. As I said before, he looks like the gulf coasts from the Florida panhandle. so not native to your area. I'm quite jealous. Love those big old guys.

 

[clsanchez77]

lol. How big do they get? Do you think my 8-ftx8-ft pen will be big enough. I have to taper one corner but he will still have 50 square feet.

 

[clsanchez77]

http://www.boxturtles.com/gulf-coast-box-turtle/

 

[lisa127]

lol. How big do they get? Do you think my 8-ftx8-ft pen will be big enough. I have to taper one corner but he will still have 50 square feet.

Yeah, that will be big enough. Gulf coasts can get much larger than other boxies. I had an old male many years ago that was simply huge. His SCL was just over 8 inches. I have a boxie now that is a three toed/gulf coast integrade. She is getting her size from her gulf coast genes. She turned 3 years old back in August and is huge. She is 6 inches SCL and 665 grams in weight. Bigger than other species of box turtles well into adulthood.

Yours does not look real young, so he should be pretty big already.

 

[Moozillion]

Hi, clsanchez77,
I live just across The Lake from you, in Covington. Dr. Gregory Rich in Metairie is an exotics vets who works with reptiles. I have not needed him myself, but one of our vet techs used to work for him and says he saw turtles frequently. You may want to give him a buzz, if you'd like your turtle assessed medically.

 

[clsanchez77]

The recommendation to "
For plant matter, focus on things that often grow in swamps and marsh lands, such as mushrooms, moss, and grass. They can also eat berries and fruit."

Hi, clsanchez77,
I live just across The Lake from you, in Covington. Dr. Gregory Rich in Metairie is an exotics vets who works with reptiles. I have not needed him myself, but one of our vet techs used to work for him and says he saw turtles frequently. You may want to give him a buzz, if you'd like your turtle assessed medically.

Thanks! I think that is the same vet I found on Yelp. He is on Esplanade just a few blocks from Causeway. I will check him out!

 

[clsanchez77]

Yeah, that will be big enough. Gulf coasts can get much larger than other boxies. I had an old male many years ago that was simply huge. His SCL was just over 8 inches. I have a boxie now that is a three toed/gulf coast integrade. She is getting her size from her gulf coast genes. She turned 3 years old back in August and is huge. She is 6 inches SCL and 665 grams in weight. Bigger than other species of box turtles well into adulthood.

Yours does not look real young, so he should be pretty big already.

He is currently 7" to 8". Seems I may have located a vet so I will make an appointment and hopefully a clean bill of health and good estimated age.

 

[lisa127]

He is currently 7" to 8". Seems I may have located a vet so I will make an appointment and hopefully a clean bill of health and good estimated age.

yeah, that is gulf coast. Other subspecies do not get that large.

 

[clsanchez77]

I just picked up the Zoo Med Tortoise House for $95. Now I can get him out the rubber maid container and give him some more roaming space until I start work outside.

 

[lisa127]

I just picked up the Zoo Med Tortoise House for $95. Now I can get him out the rubber maid container and give him some more roaming space until I start work outside.

For a boxie that large you really need to connect two of them. One is not large enough. That is a large box turtle. My gulf coast/3 toed integrade is a tad smaller than him and has an enclosure of about 10 square feet which is too small as it is. One zoo med house is only 6 square feet.

 

[clsanchez77]

For a boxie that large you really need to connect two of them. One is not large enough. That is a large box turtle. My gulf coast/3 toed integrade is a tad smaller than him and has an enclosure of about 10 square feet which is too small as it is. One zoo med house is only 6 square feet.

Thanks, will do. It's only temporary. I'm actually letting him roam the backyard during the day when its warm. The night time temps have been unusually low overnight so he is staying in a rubbermaid container in the garage overnight. I am figuring it will take me a few weeks to layout the new pen.

 

[lisa127]

Thanks, will do. It's only temporary. I'm actually letting him roam the backyard during the day when its warm. The night time temps have been unusually low overnight so he is staying in a rubbermaid container in the garage overnight. I am figuring it will take me a few weeks to layout the new pen.

Yes, I need to keep in mind not everyone has my weather...lol. At the moment we have high's in the 20's during the day and lows of about 10 at night, with below 0 windchill. My mind is not in the outdoors mode at the moment.