Do Box Turtles Make Good Pets?

Why You Might Think Twice about Purchasing One

Jun 30, 2008

Because of their supposed ease of care, keeping Eastern box turtles as pets was a tradition in many parts of the United States. They were commonly collected in the wild.

North American box turtles lie somewhere between freshwater turtles and tortoises in their morphology and habits. The turtles spend lots of time on land, but require high humidity in their environment to thrive, as well as pools of standing water in which to soak. However, except for the three-toed subspecies, the turtles are not good swimmers, but they are not also adapted to the desert climates in which many species of tortoise live. These turtles live throughout much of the United States and Mexico, because they are opportunistic feeders, consuming both plant and animal matter in their diets. Many pet stores once carried wild-caught box turtles for sale, but collection for the pet trade has reduced wild populations of box turtles in the wild, especially in the Great Lakes states. Today, the box turtle is protected in many states in the Midwest, but it is still taken from the wild, particularly in the states of Arkansas, Texas, and the Carolinas.

Many of these turtles are taken from the wild, which means that the turtles suffer a great deal of stress in their capture and transport to the pet store. The turtles then have to adapt to captive conditions, further stressing them. It is little wonder that many captive turtles develop health problems that will require veterinary care. Ear abscesses, parasite infections, and swollen eyes are common diseases for box turtles. The first two are probably more likely in captivity because of the stresses of capture and confinement. This stress reduces the turtle’s immune system and its response to both pathogens and parasites. The latter happens because of a lack of humidity in the turtle’s environment. This condition can be rectified with regular misting the turtle’s environment with water, using a plant mister.

However, even if these conditions are met, it is just as likely that a turtle would die from some unforeseen disorder. In the wild, box turtles maintain home ranges roughly the size of football fields. In captivity, it is unlikely than any turtle caretaker can provide for this sort of space, even under the best conditions. Not having the sort of home range that provides for another sort of space certainly might affect turtles in ways that we cannot fully understand.

Finally, it should be noted that box turtles are wild animals. They are creatures of instinct with relatively small brains. Although they rarely do so, they can inflict a nasty bite if they feel threatened or insecure. One should never be under the delusion that a pet turtle loves you in the same way that a dog or cat does. The turtle is merely used to your presence. It tolerates your handling and your food, but it certainly does not think of you as its best friend.

It is as a wild animal that we should appreciate the box turtle. It plays a role in its ecosystem, the deciduous forests of the United States. It eats snails and slugs, which, if they became too numerous, would devour most of the low growing foliage. This would be detrimental to all sorts of game species, such as white-tailed deer, which require low growing browse during the winter months. Thus, for both the welfare of the turtle and the welfare of the ecosystem, we should perhaps think twice about taking these animals in as pets.

The copyright of the article Do Box Turtles Make Good Pets? in Turtles is owned by Scottie V. Westfall. Permission to republish Do Box Turtles Make Good Pets? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.