Many years ago, my son had some box turtles and a desert tortoise. He bought a rottweiler pup. Then he asked me if I would take his turtles and tortoise because the pup wouldn't leave them alone. That's how I got started in this enterprise, and that was about 1978.
So, one of the box turtles that he gave me had a very distinctive dog chew mark along the front of her carapace above her head. I named her L'orca (meaning little Orca) because that was the name of the pup who made the marks.
She laid a clutch of eggs and I incubated them in a shoe box of potting soil on the shelf in my bedroom closet. There were 4 eggs and three hatched. Two of the babies were normal and the third had an extra set of dorsal scutes. That means that instead of one set of scutes running down her spine, she had two sets, side by side.
L'orca deffinitely is a 3-toed box turtle (and I still have her). I was pretty sure that all the males were also 3-toed box turtles, however either the male or L'orca are a cross between a 3-toe and something else...either an ornate or a luteola.
My favorite baby box turtle is now about 18 or 19 years old. Her two sisters have long since been put out in the box turtle pen with the other turtles, and you can't tell them one from the other. But my favorite, because she didn't grow right, is in the baby pen so that I can see her every day.
She has a really nice pattern on her carapace and has some dark pigmentation on her plastron. She also has only 3 toes on the hind feet, but she has 4 claws, the extra one being where a fourth toe would appear. Her sisters are plain-looking 3-toed box turtles.
Here's a picture of her next to a normal-sized 3 toe box turtle. Its hard to see the double scutes, and I wasn't thinking about it, so I didn't get a picture of it:
Here's her pretty face:
Here she is from the side and you can see how she's growing mis- shapen:
This is a look at her plastron and you can see a bit of dark pigmentation:
I tried to get a shot of her toes, but she's just too darned small:
So now you've seen my favorite box turtle. I just LOVE this little turtle. I also have a very small male 3-toe that came to me as a rescue who is a favorite. He is about the same size as My Favorite, and he has really curly toe nails that get snagged on the plants in the pen. I'm clipping them all the time, however they grow in curled.
Yvonne
So, one of the box turtles that he gave me had a very distinctive dog chew mark along the front of her carapace above her head. I named her L'orca (meaning little Orca) because that was the name of the pup who made the marks.
She laid a clutch of eggs and I incubated them in a shoe box of potting soil on the shelf in my bedroom closet. There were 4 eggs and three hatched. Two of the babies were normal and the third had an extra set of dorsal scutes. That means that instead of one set of scutes running down her spine, she had two sets, side by side.
L'orca deffinitely is a 3-toed box turtle (and I still have her). I was pretty sure that all the males were also 3-toed box turtles, however either the male or L'orca are a cross between a 3-toe and something else...either an ornate or a luteola.
My favorite baby box turtle is now about 18 or 19 years old. Her two sisters have long since been put out in the box turtle pen with the other turtles, and you can't tell them one from the other. But my favorite, because she didn't grow right, is in the baby pen so that I can see her every day.
She has a really nice pattern on her carapace and has some dark pigmentation on her plastron. She also has only 3 toes on the hind feet, but she has 4 claws, the extra one being where a fourth toe would appear. Her sisters are plain-looking 3-toed box turtles.
Here's a picture of her next to a normal-sized 3 toe box turtle. Its hard to see the double scutes, and I wasn't thinking about it, so I didn't get a picture of it:
Here's her pretty face:
Here she is from the side and you can see how she's growing mis- shapen:
This is a look at her plastron and you can see a bit of dark pigmentation:
I tried to get a shot of her toes, but she's just too darned small:
So now you've seen my favorite box turtle. I just LOVE this little turtle. I also have a very small male 3-toe that came to me as a rescue who is a favorite. He is about the same size as My Favorite, and he has really curly toe nails that get snagged on the plants in the pen. I'm clipping them all the time, however they grow in curled.
Yvonne
Some Three-toeds do look like that.
