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Have you seen a box turtle digging lately? It’s that time of year! Box turtles dig holes and deposit eggs. They dig with their hind feet, as you can see here. Once they have laid their eggs, they leave them on their own to hatch. These turtles typically lay eggs once a year, and lay only 2 to 8 eggs per clutch. Video Credit: Deb Davis | Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

These are not the typical boxes you open up this time of year…they’re box turtles! 🎁 A box turtle is a type of turtle capable of completely sealing itself inside its shell. These turtles have hinges on their plastron, the bottom part of their shell, that allow them to lift the front half of the plastron up toward the carapace, or upper shell. This unique defense mechanism enables the turtle to hide safely when threatened. We have a variety of Asian box turtle species at our Turtle Survival Cent