Life History of Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center’s Box Turtle

Carpenter Nature Center’s Eastern Box Turtle was adopted by the Nature Center back in the 1980’s.  He had been a pet, but his owner was moving and could not care for him any longer. For a while, he lived with CNC naturalists. His age is unknown. We do know he is a male due to his concave plastron (underside shell).

Carpenter Nature Center’s turtle is a wonderful ambassador, teaching thousands of visitors every year about our natural environment and the diversity of wildlife life found in our region. Our turtle will live a comfortable life with humans, as it is provided with all the food it needs and safety from predators. If in the wild, he would live between 40 and 50 years old, but in captivity he may live as old as 100.

Eastern Box Turtles were classified as a vulnerable species in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Eastern Box Turtle is frequently sold as pets and many turtles killed along roads each year. Like most hatchlings, the young turtle have a low survival rate due to predation. All these factors make this a vulnerable species.

The best things you can do to help Eastern Box turtle is protect natural habitats by cleaning up garbage and using habitat-safe products and share what you have learned about Eastern Box Turtles with others.