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COOL FACTS Three-toed Box Turtles:

• Box turtles are named after their ability to close their bottom shell up against their
upper shell to completely hide and protect its head and limbs.
• Its name refers to its hind feet, which commonly have three toes each. The front feet
can have four or five toes each.
• Shell color pattern can be quite variable but they are typically a tan or brown with some
yellow spots or light stripes.
• These turtles can live 50 to 100 years.
• Box turtles removed from their home areas rarely adapt to new areas and often don’t survive.
• Oklahoma’s other species of box
STEVE WEBBER turtle is the plains box turtle.
• They bury themselves and go dormant during winter.
• They are active from April
through October.
• Box turtles eat insects, RJ BALTIERRA/INATURALIST CC-BYNC4
worms, mushrooms, and
fruit.
• Males have red eyes and
some orange on the head
and neck, while females
have yellow-brown eyes.
• They are primarily land
turtles but can easily swim
across ponds or creeks.
Color a Critter: Three-toed Box Turtle

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