Ebt pyrimaiding? Please help.

[turtlelou]

Yesterday my neighbor brought me turtle she had found behind my house in the woods. We have a huge park behind our house.
He is huge and shows signs of pyrimaiding somehow. If he were wild could this happen? I was thinking maybe someone left him there. Also he seems extremley shy. He hides and that seems weird for how big he is. Ive noticed that he leaves his legs and arms hanging out if im seen. He just lets them danlge like he cant walk well. I have yet to see him move myself but he does move often. I have even found him on top of rocks and in my garden bed. I dont know what happened to his shell. It most certainly is deformed but only from the middle down. The top to the middle of his shell is smooth and pattern is fine. Any ideas?

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[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

First question we MUST ask you is are the eastern box turtles native to your part of the world? If the answer is 'yes,' then you should put him back where you found him.

If the answer is 'no,' then it would be ok to put up fliers around the park asking if anyone has lost a turtle. Don't be too specific about his description.

If you can't find his previous owner, then it would be ok to keep him.

I don't see too much wrong with him, and, yes, these things happen in the wild too.

One thing I've noticed about box turtles is that they really aren't too shy. You might be right about someone dumping him in the park, maybe someone who wasn't very nice to him.

I hope you get to keep him. He's a beauty.

 

[turtlelou]

Yes he is native to my area. I have had box turtles growing up and I have yet to see one this big or this shy.
I'm concerned about his legs though. Why wouldn't he try to pull them in too? Sometimes I think he looks dead. He leaves them out so far and they seem weak looking.
I guess he did ok in the wild if he is wild. I'd just hate to think someone mistreated him and that's the cause of his shell. I'd also hate to think someone would dump him.
I bet he is pretty old.
I am giving him his choice to return. He came from my backyard. He has stayed in the garden since I got him. He has uprooted my grasses and has been under them since last night. He did eat a tomato I sat out from the garden yesterday .

 

[diamondbp]

Years back when I was in the woods nearly everyday I would come across wild box turtles on occasion with slightly deformed shells that would appear as if they were captive raised in a poor environment but because if the remote location I know it was impossible .
I theorize that if a hatchling experienced certain environmental factors that it can effect it's shell growth for years to come. Perhaps a overly dry incubation period, spending longer than usual in the nest cavity after hatching, lack of certain foods or even over abundance of certain foods, etc.

Just a humble theory of mine.

 

[turtlelou]

Years back when I was in the woods nearly everyday I would come across wild box turtles on occasion with slightly deformed shells that would appear as if they were captive raised in a poor environment but because if the remote location I know it was impossible .
I theorize that if a hatchling experienced certain environmental factors that it can effect it's shell growth for years to come. Perhaps a overly dry incubation period, spending longer than usual in the nest cavity after hatching, lack of certain foods or even over abundance of certain foods, etc.

Just a humble theory of mine.

That is a great theory!