The most variable and arguably the prettiest of the three, this is a male Eastern Box Turtle.
The USA is fortunate in being home to 6 rather distinct box turtles, 2 in the Terrapene ornata group, and 4 in the T. carolina group. The latter 4 are the Eastern, Terrapene c. carolina, the Gulf Coast, T. c. major, the Three-toed, T. c. triunguis, and the Florida, T. c. bauri. Since we chatted about the Florida Box turtle just last month, we’ll exempt it from this blog. That leaves us with the 3 subspecies that are most similar in appearance, even if the most diverse in coloration, with the Eastern race being especially so.. These three have carapaces that are high-domed, may be flattened dorsally, and except for the slightly more elongate Gulf Coast subspecies, are rather round when viewed from above. Collectively they range from southern Maine, south to southern Georgia then westward to eastern Kansas and east Texas. Hatchlings are flatter and lack the hinged plastron for which this genus is famous.

From west to east we come first to the Three-toed subspecies. It is also the most uniformly colored of the three, its carapace usually being of some shade of brown to olive brown, with or without lighter dots and dashes. The face is variably adorned with orange and white, sometimes extensively so.

In southeastern AL the Three-toed Box Turtle intergrades with the largest of the subspecies, the Gulf Coast Box Turtle. In its purist form (Mobile Bay and the Florida Panhandle), this latter subspecies is big (to 8 ½”), often has a rather flat-topped carapace, and when adult is quite dark—blackish brown-- in color. Old males may develop white patches on the face. Younger examples and intergrades are often light brownish-red.

Finally, we come to the most variable in overall appearance, the Eastern Box Turtle. It may be found east of the Mississippi River and north of Florida to the East Coast. Carapace, legs, and head are brown, but the markings on all, varying from few to profuse, may be yellow to bright orange. The latter produces a truly beautiful little chelonian.