Eastern in the wild

[Torch]

Today on an errand my service agent saw a box turtle crossing the road. Knowing my love of boxies, he brought it to the office so I could take some pictures. He also noticed some shell damage he wanted me to see.

Ascertained the turtle was just fine, took some photos, then hopped in the car to release him on the other side of the road from where he was found (a nice wooded area). He was a little skinny but it rained this afternoon- I'm sure he found some bugs later on.

Looks to be a male. It was a nice little treat to just be able to admire this guy.

 

[wellington]

Nice looking Boxie. I would have thought the beak would have been shorter though, grazing around in the wild.

 

[Eric Phillips]

Nice looking Boxie. I would have thought the beak would have been shorter though, grazing around in the wild.

Thought the exact same thing, makes me think it may of been captive then released

 

[wellington]

Thought the exact same thing, makes me think it may of been captive then released

Yes, I had thought maybe captive, but got away. I don't know enough about Boxies to know if a longer beak is that common with wild ones.

 

[Torch]

Yeah I wondered about his beak too. But I didn't feel it was enough to justify keeping him. My three toed is a hatchling; I have plenty of space but no outdoor pen or materials to build one.

 

[wellington]

No and long beak wouldn't be cause to keep him. However, if he is not really wild and was at one point a pet and either got away or was let loose, that could explain the beak and the under weight.

 

[Torch]

Here's another nice male I pulled off a busy road last year. Relocated him to a MUCH better spot about a mile away. Hope he's doing OK too.

One day I'll have easterns, they're my favorite boxies, but I'd rather have captive needs than collect from the wild.