need help ID'ing tortoise (written on + holes?)

kkitties

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May 31, 2023
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Oklahoma
first time posting so i dont know if im doing this right, hi!

I live in northeast Oklahoma and this little guy walked by my window. I saw this blob of bright red on his shell, so I went to check on him in case it was a wound. it turned out to just be marker. I don't know if he's some kid's escaped pet or if some toddler got their hands on him. Does anyone know what kind of turtle this guy is? Is leaving the marker on him okay? He also has those holes, my friend is worried that he got shot by a BB gun or something...

in case you're curious, I didn't disturb him other than taking this pic, so he's still outside. I'm not sure if I can find him again but if he needs to be taken to a rescue or something I can try to find him.
 

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Tom

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first time posting so i dont know if im doing this right, hi!

I live in northeast Oklahoma and this little guy walked by my window. I saw this blob of bright red on his shell, so I went to check on him in case it was a wound. it turned out to just be marker. I don't know if he's some kid's escaped pet or if some toddler got their hands on him. Does anyone know what kind of turtle this guy is? Is leaving the marker on him okay? He also has those holes, my friend is worried that he got shot by a BB gun or something...

in case you're curious, I didn't disturb him other than taking this pic, so he's still outside. I'm not sure if I can find him again but if he needs to be taken to a rescue or something I can try to find him.
Hello and welcome. Looks like a box turtle and they are native to your area. Someone wrote something on it, but I can't make out what it says. Might have been someone's pet that has now escaped.

The marks might be bullet wounds, or it could also be canine punctures. It wouldn't hurt to put some triple antibiotic on that, but it appears to be an old wound that is already healed over.
 

kkitties

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Oklahoma
Hello and welcome. Looks like a box turtle and they are native to your area. Someone wrote something on it, but I can't make out what it says. Might have been someone's pet that has now escaped.

The marks might be bullet wounds, or it could also be canine punctures. It wouldn't hurt to put some triple antibiotic on that, but it appears to be an old wound that is already healed over.
thank you! it was a bit easier to read in-person, i believe it says "lincoln isaiah" with a big red heart. unfortunately, I don't know anybody by that name.
glad to hear that it looks to be an old wound!! still sucks that it happened.. either is a possibility, plenty of dogs around here. i unfortunately don't have any triple antibiotic on hand, but i'll try not to worry since it looks healed over!

thank you both so much for the quick response! here's some extra pictures of him that are screenshots from a video i took shortly before deciding to check on him. very low quality (sorry) but you can see some texture on his legs and his overall silhouette, so i don't know if that'll help ID him.
 

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zovick

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thank you! it was a bit easier to read in-person, i believe it says "lincoln isaiah" with a big red heart. unfortunately, I don't know anybody by that name.
glad to hear that it looks to be an old wound!! still sucks that it happened.. either is a possibility, plenty of dogs around here. i unfortunately don't have any triple antibiotic on hand, but i'll try not to worry since it looks healed over!

thank you both so much for the quick response! here's some extra pictures of him that are screenshots from a video i took shortly before deciding to check on him. very low quality (sorry) but you can see some texture on his legs and his overall silhouette, so i don't know if that'll help ID him.
Going by the shell color, it looks like a Three-toed Box Turtle which occur in the eastern half of OK. If the turtle is still there, check to see if it has 3 toes rather than 4 on its back feet (if you can see them).

The other possibility for your state would be an Ornate Box Turtle which occur throughout the entire state, but the shell color doesn't look like that of an Ornate Box Turtle.
 

kkitties

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Does it's hind legs only have 3 toes?
Going by the shell color, it looks like a Three-toed Box Turtle which occur in the eastern half of OK. If the turtle is still there, check to see if it has 3 toes rather than 4 on its back feet (if you can see them).

The other possibility for your state would be an Ornate Box Turtle which occur throughout the entire state, but the shell color doesn't look like that of an Ornate Box Turtle.
Sorry for the late response! I went out looking for him and I couldn't find him, seems like he's moved on... that means I don't know how many toes he's got, but three-toed box turtle looks about right!
Thank you everybody for helping, i was really worried about him (& also curious! I'm a casual birder who likes ID'ing birds, but apparently I'm no good with turtles!)
I feel a lot better knowing he is (most likely) a native species and that his wounds are healed over :)
 

EricW

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@Tom - I almost apprenticed back in my mid 20's. Maybe when I retire. Always wanted to do it and it seems to be growing in popularity. I watched a falconer last year in a field, was just passing by and saw him. Parked the car for a bit and watched. I was like a kid watching an ice cream sundae getting made lol.
 

Yvonne G

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It's a three toed box turtle and the holes are quite common on wild box turtles. Far as I know no one knows what causes them.
 

kkitties

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@Tom , stunning birds, wow!! correct me if I'm wrong, are those two golden eagles? (i need to brush up on my bird of prey skills...) Those two are absolutely amazing, i'd love to get up close to a beauty like them! Closest I've gotten was when a Cooper's hawk sat on the rock outside my window :)
I'm lucky to have a little patch of trees out there, so I often see wildlife from the comfort of my own home; mostly rabbits and various types of birds, but there are plenty of visitors of note. Mr. Lincoln Isaiah today, as well as a two-foot long snake yesterday (couldn't ID him either beyond maybe a garter snake, but the birds were certainly making a ruckus about him.) Last fall, I even saw a bobcat, which I found especially strange, since the area I live in is definitely suburban!
 

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EricW

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You will be surprised on Bobcats. They can be found even in metro areas. Suburbs, they are plenty, just not seen often.
 

Tom

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@Tom , stunning birds, wow!! correct me if I'm wrong, are those two golden eagles? (i need to brush up on my bird of prey skills...) Those two are absolutely amazing, i'd love to get up close to a beauty like them! Closest I've gotten was when a Cooper's hawk sat on the rock outside my window :)
I'm lucky to have a little patch of trees out there, so I often see wildlife from the comfort of my own home; mostly rabbits and various types of birds, but there are plenty of visitors of note. Mr. Lincoln Isaiah today, as well as a two-foot long snake yesterday (couldn't ID him either beyond maybe a garter snake, but the birds were certainly making a ruckus about him.) Last fall, I even saw a bobcat, which I found especially strange, since the area I live in is definitely suburban!
Harris' hawks. They do kind of look like little mini Golden Eagles. I've always thought so anyway.
 

Ricky j

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thank you! it was a bit easier to read in-person, i believe it says "lincoln isaiah" with a big red heart. unfortunately, I don't know anybody by that name.
glad to hear that it looks to be an old wound!! still sucks that it happened.. either is a possibility, plenty of dogs around here. i unfortunately don't have any triple antibiotic on hand, but i'll try not to worry since it looks healed over!

thank you both so much for the quick response! here's some extra pictures of him that are screenshots from a video i took shortly before deciding to check on him. very low quality (sorry) but you can see some texture on his legs and his overall silhouette, so i don't know if that'll help ID him.

first time posting so i dont know if im doing this right, hi!

I live in northeast Oklahoma and this little guy walked by my window. I saw this blob of bright red on his shell, so I went to check on him in case it was a wound. it turned out to just be marker. I don't know if he's some kid's escaped pet or if some toddler got their hands on him. Does anyone know what kind of turtle this guy is? Is leaving the marker on him okay? He also has those holes, my friend is worried that he got shot by a BB gun or something...

in case you're curious, I didn't disturb him other than taking this pic, so he's still outside. I'm not sure if I can find him again but if he needs to be taken to a rescue or something I can try to find hyou can always put an ad in craigslist for lost box turtle

first time posting so i dont know if im doing this right, hi!

I live in northeast Oklahoma and this little guy walked by my window. I saw this blob of bright red on his shell, so I went to check on him in case it was a wound. it turned out to just be marker. I don't know if he's some kid's escaped pet or if some toddler got their hands on him. Does anyone know what kind of turtle this guy is? Is leaving the marker on him okay? He also has those holes, my friend is worried that he got shot by a BB gun or something...

in case you're curious, I didn't disturb him other than taking this pic, so he's still outside. I'm not sure if I can find him again but if he needs to be taken to a rescue or something I can try to find him.
You could put an ad on craigslist seeing if anyone lost their pet box turtle and do some research and see if that turtle is native to Oklahoma cuz if it's a wild box turtle you don't want to take it out of its environment but if it was someone's pet then I would think it would do better off in your care than on its own but Tom or someone else would know better on that subject than me
 

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