Ornate Box Turtle

Ornate Box turtle for sale is one of the most popular box turtles for sale online in the United States and is also known for being one of the more colorful species of box turtle for sale in the world.   The average size is 5.5″.

The bulk of this species’ shell, tail, head, and limbs are mostly dark brown or black in color. They have concentric rings on their shells that are indicative of their age, as well as elaborate thick, yellow lines that surround their scutes. All adults have yellow spots on their heads, but subspecies T. o. luteola has more yellow stripes on their shells and body than T. o. ornata. Additionally, sexual dichromatism exists in this species. Bright red eyes and green heads are characteristic of males, with brighter colors perhaps improving reproductive success. A female’s eyes and head are typically brown or black.

On average, adults weigh between 198 to 538 g. The carapace averages 120 mm in length for adults. Although still roughly dome-shaped, western box turtles are known for having relatively convex carapaces. The plastron averages 120 mm long for females and 116 mm long for males. Differences in the average shell size between females and males is generally contributed to the fact that females tend to be slightly larger than males.