Turtle ID

[Jesse1234]

Live in Michigan USA, recently found this guy in a neighbors pond. This is a residential area with no direct wood or water access. Improbable that it wandered from such area. Believe it is a tortoise any help would be greatly appreciated !

 

[Yvonne G]

Looks like maybe a wood turtle??? Let's ask @Markw84

 

[tortoiseplanet]

That's not a tortoise. Some kind of turtle.

 

[Jimies mom]

Gopher? Native from Florida to CA ?

 

[Jimies mom]

That's not a tortoise. Some kind of turtle.

How do you tell?

 

[Markw84]

OK This one is weird. It has substantial aberrant scutes going on so hard to ID "normally".

Believe it or not, I think it is an Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina, that had MBD and flattened shell. That plastron from what I see is hinged and built to close completely!

Had a hard time believing it at first, and went online to see some pictures of some old ones for comparison. Here's one I found that is similar coloration but "normal" shell. Old too.

This one here in this post by the OP is a good one for your aberrant scute thread. This one is pretty old!

 

[Big Charlie]

OK This one is weird. It has substantial aberrant scutes going on so hard to ID "normally".

Believe it or not, I think it is an Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina, that had MBD and flattened shell. That plastron from what I see is hinged and built to close completely!

Had a hard time believing it at first, and went online to see some pictures of some old ones for comparison. Here's one I found that is similar coloration but "normal" shell. Old too.

View attachment 209046 This one here in this post by the OP is a good one for your aberrant scute thread. This one is pretty old!

The beak looks awfully long too. Would all these defects happen in the wild?

 

[tortoiseplanet]

How do you tell?

I mean if your experienced with torts you can just tell by the face and shell.

 

[tortoiseplanet]

But looking at it a second time it's really hard to tell. Try putting some meat and vegetables and see which one he goes to, if he smells and ignores the meat he's then most likely a tortoise and if he eats the meat before the veggies then he's most likely some kind of box turtle. Just a suggestion idk if it'll work honestly but give it a shot.

 

[Jimies mom]

But looking at it a second time it's really hard to tell. Try putting some meat and vegetables and see which one he goes to, if he smells and ignores the meat he's then most likely a tortoise and if he eats the meat before the veggies then he's most likely some kind of box turtle. Just a suggestion idk if it'll work honestly but give it a shot.

Worked! Started with cat &dog food (desperate measures and all )while I dug for worms in the yard. Ate everything! Oh I feel soooooooo much better, such a cute lil thing,I was worried. Thank you! !!

 

[tortoiseplanet]

Worked! Started with cat &dog food (desperate measures and all )while I dug for worms in the yard. Ate everything! Oh I feel soooooooo much better, such a cute lil thing,I was worried. Thank you! !!

No problem! Glad that worked

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

 

[Markw84]

I mean if your experienced with torts you can just tell by the face and shell.

Very simple actually - a "tortoise" has elephantine back feet. A turtle does not.

However, some "turtles" are quite terrestrial and require a good bit of land area as their main habitat.
Most "tortoises" will relish any meat they can find and consume greedily, even though it is not a good diet for them.
Most "forest" tortoises need some meat in their diet and have similar diets to box turtles.

That is why it is important to know what type of turtle you actually have. Read up on the box turtle care sheets.

The beak looks awfully long too. Would all these defects happen in the wild?

Good question! My guess - this turtle was captive incubated and raised at least it's first several years. I certainly could have been from a natural nest that perhaps got too hot, but the flattened shell, I would not expect in a turtle exposed to natural conditions.