The ornate box turtle is a small land turtle with a bright shell. It lives in prairies and open forests of central North America and can fully close its shell for protection.
The ornate box turtle differs from related species with its bright shell pattern and ability to fully close it. It is important for nature because it eats harmful insects and disperses plant seeds.
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
pecking
Worker
birth time
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
days
Warm summer
worms
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
mollusks
beak
adult
Maturity
invertebrates
insects
About health
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm, winter not very cold
Carapace size
Colors
Sex
very hot and almost no rain
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
rains are very rare, almost a desert
conifer cones
Trophic type
all living animals without backbone
Filters
Upcoming birthdays
standing fresh waters — lakes, ponds, oxbow lakes
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
leaf
Desert and dry shrubs
rains almost always, very humid
Very hot and almost dry
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
cones of coniferous trees with seeds
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
dry, cold winter, lots of grass, few trees
Warm summer and frequent rains
berries
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
fruits
Lifespan average
leaves
Regeneration
Carapace color
summer warm, rains frequent
leaf litter
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
swampy freshwater biotopes — peat bogs, marshes, river mangroves
live snails, mussels, oysters
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
65 to 130 grams, 25 – 60 centimeters
Pets
Nearctic realm
Repeatedly strikes or probes substrate with beak to obtain food.
juicy berries — bilberry, rowan, rosehip
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
paw
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
desert and semi-desert
turns
Rascals
olfaction
Flooded grasslands
Litter size
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
all rivers and lakes
Describes food handling or digging performed with the forelimbs.
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Foraging among accumulated fallen leaves on the forest floor.
Bro
lakes and ponds
freshwater marsh and wetlands
Taxons
seeds, berries, fruits
freshwater pelagic
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
arid terrestrial biotopes with sparse vegetation
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
climbing
My weight?
searching and collecting food with beak and claws
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
burrow
Potential Habitat
lots of grass, few trees, rains are rare
Very hot summer
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Plastron color
young shoots and leaves of plants
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Gestation
vision
summer very hot, above +25…+30 °C
{name} birthday
live annelid worms
Food is gathered directly from leaf surfaces.
Nearctic realm
No results found
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
On the map
lunge
all life stages
Female ♀
Cold and almost dry
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
open water in the water column of a freshwater body, away from the bottom and shore
birth year
lots of grass, few trees, rains occur
Maturity
sq mm
yr
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Very dry
Neither
Moving up vertical surfaces like trunks or rocks to reach food.
What do they eat?
dry and cold almost all year round
Where do they live?
from birth to death
early young
water often floods the land, lots of grass
Freshwater
Temperate mixed forest
Very hot and dry
Duration
live insects
This is me
claws
Steppe
freshwater
Always very wet
Gamers
How are they built?
Temperate steppe
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
very hot during the day, cold at night, almost no rain
Limbs color
Carapace count
Asexual
swap
freshwater environment — rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Head color
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Cold steppe
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
Primarily detects and locates food using eyesight.
embryo
Carrot
Hard, projecting mouthpart used to probe, pluck, or crack food.
summer warm, many oaks, birches, maples
Length
kg
very hot and dry, rare rains, cacti live
Rapid forward strike to seize prey.
Observations
◉{N} more on tap