Photo of Lil Crusher and I in August at an educational event. He is well on his way to being healthy here.

When I got the text about the alligator that was found by Lake Michigan in November I never realized how attached to him I would become, but ya know, I should have. When the grizzled shelter manager tells me I need to come in because he is worried about the alligator, I should have figured that I would fall head over heels for an animal that I never would live with. He is named Lil Crusher, after Reginald "The Crusher" Lisowski a famous wrestler from our area and if you know me it makes even more sense that this guy is one of my special ones.

On that cold November day, 3 South Milwaukee police officers made waves in our local media when they found an American Alligator in a park in Milwaukee WI on the shores of Lake Michigan, the local media went RAMPANT with stories. We had just had the flamingos blown off course by a hurricane, did the alligator come that way too! Did it maybe swim up here? The stories were simply ridiculous. Continue reading "For the Love of Crusher"

Note the yellow temporal line on this adult Chinese Box Turtle
At this point in time it has become difficult and quite expensive for hobbyists to acquire Asian herps, turtles included. Even prior to importation difficulties, hatchlings of several turtle species in the genera Cuora and Cistoclemmys were being priced by breeders in the many hundreds and even thousands of dollars each. Today (2024) the prices of many taxa are even higher.

Fortunately though, a few of the species that can still be imported and/or that are easily bred remain almost affordable. One of these, long a favorite of hobbyists (me included) is Cuora flavomarginata and is known to most as the Chinese Box Turtle. The 3 subspecies are divided between China mainland, Taiwan, and Japan. The subspecies, all remarkably similar in external appearances, are C.f. flavomarginata from Taiwan, C.f. sinensis from southern mainland China and C. f. evelynae from Japan.

Like the American Box Turtles its carapace is highly domed and the turtle has a very functional plastral hinge. The carapace may vary in color from dirty olive to black, with the latter being the more common. There is a yellowish vertebral stripe and the marginal scutes are a combination of dark and light pigment. The skin atop the head and on the limbs and tail is a dark charcoal, occasionally with pale olive overtones, The crown is separated from the pinkish cheeks by a prominent yellow bar on each side. All colors are at their brightest when the turtle is in breeding condition. Both males and females attain a straight measure of 5” (rarely to 6”).The external differences between male and female C. flavomarginata are slight. Males have a broader (but not much longer) tail than females. When extended the male’s tail is almost triangular in shape.
Like many terrestrial turtle species, the Chinese Box Turtle is omnivorous. Moistened tortoise diet, canned pet food, fresh succulent fruit, insects and worms are all accepted eagerly by most captives.

Summarizing, the common name given this turtle is quite descriptive, although not brightly colored they are pretty, personable, longlived, and proving that they are easily kept, some of mine have been captive for 40+ years.
Continue reading "Thoughts on the Chinese Box Turtle"