Please Identify this tortoise

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Fernando

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My friend says that he found this tort in his back yard a couple weeks back during our last hard raing. I want to give him a care sheet but I don't know what it is. I was told it MIGHT be an Ornate Box? Is that right?

1_IMG950368.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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It IS a box turtle, but I sometimes can't tell the difference between the Luteola and the ornata.
 

shellysmom

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Yes, definitely a box turtle. If this species is native to the area in which it was found, might I recommend releasing it back out into nature? In my experience working for a wildlife rehabilitator, older box turtles used to living in the wild do not do well in captivity AT ALL. Many times they stop eating and/or just fail to thrive. If your friend really wants to keep it, it needs to live outside, in a spacious area, and allowed to hibernate 5-6 months each year. If your friend wants a tort or turtle, there are plenty of them in captivity already, as unwanted pets. I don't want to tell anyone what to do, but please consider it, for the health of the turtle. This is a great opportunity for your friend to maybe rescue a needy pet tortoise from someone who doesn't want it anymore, and let the wild turtle live out his life as intended... ???
 

Yvonne G

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No, box turtles aren't indigenous to California. It is probably someone's escaped pet. Did your friend try to find its owner?
 

Fernando

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emysemys said:
No, box turtles aren't indigenous to California. It is probably someone's escaped pet. Did your friend try to find its owner?

Yeah He asked around his home if anyone was missing a pet and no one has claimed it as of yet.

I wish a turtle would pop up in my back yard!! lol
 

tortoises101

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It's probably a T.o.luteola. They look like T.c.bauri and T.o.ornata but the T.c.bauri and T.o.ornata have different skin colors (usually darker than what you would see here), so my best guess is that it's a desert box turtle. This is just my 0.02. And yes, they're not a native species of turtle.
 
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