Drawing courtesy of Jeff Dawson

•  The box turtle has a hinged shell called a plastron (the bottom shell of the turtle).
• The top shell of the box turtle is called a carapace.  It connects to the plastron.
• This is the reason the box turtle is called a "box" turtle.  It's shell is like a box!

• Here's what the actual plastron's look like!
• Thank you Tess Cook for sharing these photos of your box turtles!

Click here to see turtle anatomy and learn more!

• Box turtles come in a variety of colors; tan, dark brown, yellow, orange, or olive.

• The shell can be a solid color, but most often there is a block pattern or blotching.

• Male box turtles have red eyes and females have yellowish-brown eyes.