Aquatic stage in Terrapene carolina

[Saloli]

Okay so I have been wondering whether T. c. triunguis and T. c. bauri have an aquatic stage like T. c. carolina, T. c. major and T. c. mexicana. Those three subspecies hatchling and very young juveniles generally spend a great deal of time in the water at least until their carapace starts to dome. If any of you have noticed this in the ttbt or the flabt I'm curious.

 

[turtlemann2]

i would "assume" the florida box did have an aquatic stage if the gulf coast does just MUIO

 

[Tccarolina]

Okay so I have been wondering whether T. c. triunguis and T. c. bauri have an aquatic stage like T. c. carolina, T. c. major and T. c. mexicana. Those three subspecies hatchling and very young juveniles generally spend a great deal of time in the water at least until their carapace starts to dome. If any of you have noticed this in the ttbt or the flabt I'm curious.

Can you source this? I wasn't aware that this has been documented. I believe they spend most of their time in moist leaf litter hiding and eating what comes along.

 

[pryncesssc]

I think I have read somewhere that hatchling floridas will spend a lot of time in shallow water and even forage in the water . Mine eats worms if you put them in the water bowl and I fill the bathtub enough so one side is deep and the other has barely any water and she seems to prefer swimming around the deep end so Idk ....

 

[yagyujubei]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111103120457.htm
Here's an article I found awhile ago, Painted, snapping and baby box turtles have been found dead in these.

 

[Len B]

I read the article and here are my thoughts,under normal weather conditions, would box turtles be driven to that body of water, By looking at the dried mud there is a drought condition in the area. I have seen box turtles bury in moist sand where the water has stopped flowing in stream beds during droughts,they need the moisture to survive and will get it any way they can. I have found many box turtles young and old over the years and never found one in a body of water except mud puddles left after heavy rains or areas where the soil stays wet but no real standing water. --This is just my personal experiences from the places I have lived, and some of them had very little standing water for them except when it rained.--easterns are what I have experince with.

 

[lisa127]

From what I understood, Gulf Coasts are much more aquatic than the other subspecies at any age.

 

[Tccarolina]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111103120457.htm
Here's an article I found awhile ago, Painted, snapping and baby box turtles have been found dead in these.

Thanks for the link, very interesting!

---

I read the article and here are my thoughts,under normal weather conditions, would box turtles be driven to that body of water, By looking at the dried mud there is a drought condition in the area. I have seen box turtles bury in moist sand where the water has stopped flowing in stream beds during droughts,they need the moisture to survive and will get it any way they can. I have found many box turtles young and old over the years and never found one in a body of water except mud puddles left after heavy rains or areas where the soil stays wet but no real standing water. --This is just my personal experiences from the places I have lived, and some of them had very little standing water for them except when it rained.--easterns are what I have experince with.

I would agree with this.

With so many water predators (raccoons, egrets, bullfrogs, bass, maybe some snakes, etc.), I imagine stream and pond edges are pretty dangerous places for a not fully aquatic baby turtle like a boxy.

Steve

 

[Saloli]

Can you source this? I wasn't aware that this has been documented. I believe they spend most of their time in moist leaf litter hiding and eating what comes aloong.

It has been noted in several field studies and in captive situations (mexicana at Gladys porter zoo). They become more terrestrial as their shells change shape. Though there probably is variation in this where populations from drier areas would do this, but what explains the Mexican box turtles. I was just down in Brownsville and the current curator of the reptile house said they spend about as much time in the water as their aquatic boxers do. I can't think of any of the sources at the moment for the easterns and gulfs but I have also observed this behavior in mine in the past. My old gulf male when I was younger spent most if his time in the water.