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Atlas / Library / Emydidae / Eastern Box Turtle
CITES II
Emydidae

Eastern Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina

Traceable. The figures above appear in the page we cite, which we opened on 10 Aug 2026. That means you can check them, not that we have confirmed they are right. reptifiles.com

Photograph: Brandon McCracken · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end29–31 °C
cool end21–24 °C
Humidity60–80 %
Enclosure168×91×46
14:00
Day

Drag the sun. The sheet states a night temperature, so the rail follows it.

CITES II is a global listing and holds in every country. National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/terrapene-carolina

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
21–24°Cool side
29–31°Warm side
10°Night

Day: a real gradient, 29–31°C warm against 21–24°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 10°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 29-31 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 10 °C

Humidity

60–80%Target RH

The sheet statesaverage of 60-80%, with daytime humidity never dropping below 51%

UVB

T5 6%UVI 3–4

The sheet statesArcadia T5 HO 6% or Zoo Med T5 HO ReptiSun 5.0, back 13-14"/33-36cm below the lamp (17-18"/43-46cm if there is no mesh), UVI of around 3.0 - 4.0

Diet
roughly 50% animal matter and 50% plant matter; young turtles as much as they can eat every day, near adulthood reduced to every other day

Identity

Origin

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

29–31 °C60–80 % RHUVB tube5.5 ft1.5 ft
warm sideUVB tube
50100150200 cm
5.5 × 3 × 1.5 ft · 168 × 91 × 46 cmWidth × depth × height
153dm² of floor
Substrate: not in our dataWater: not in our dataHides: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet statesminimum 5.5'L x 3'W x 1.5'H, or 14 square feet of floor space

Temperature
warm 29–31 °C / cool 21–24 °C / night 10 °C
Humidity
60–80%, never below 51% by day

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Common questions

Is it easy?

Not as easy as it looks. It needs a big planted pen, damp substrate and shade, and small indoor boxes usually fail.

How long does it live?

Very long. Fifty years is normal and some pass a hundred.

What does it eat?

Worms, snails, insects, mushrooms, berries and greens. Young ones want more animal food than adults.

Can I hold it?

Briefly, and low over a table. They stress easily, and a stressed box turtle stops eating.

What it needs

Enclosure at least 168 × 91 × 46 cmbecause enclosure — minimum 5.5'L x 3'W x 1.5'H, or 14 square feet of floor space
A heat sourcebecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 10 °C
A thermostat to regulate itbecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 10 °C
A thermometerbecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 10 °C
A way to check the night figurebecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 21-24 °C / night 10 °C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — average of 60-80%, with daytime humidity never dropping below 51%
UVB 6-6% (T5), stated as requiredbecause uvb — Arcadia T5 HO 6% or Zoo Med T5 HO ReptiSun 5.0, back 13-14"/33-36cm below the lamp (17-18"/43-46cm if there is no mesh), UVI of around 3.0 - 4.0

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

reptifiles.com — lu le 2026-08-04speciesplus.net — lu le 2026-08-08reptile-database.reptarium.cz — lu le 2026-08-08

Others in this group

Red-eared SliderTrachemys scripta elegansmarginatedTestudo marginataYellow-bellied SliderTrachemys scripta scriptaPainted TurtleChrysemys pictaCommon musk turtle (Stinkpot)Sternotherus odoratusEastern mud turtleKinosternon subrubrumMalayan Box TurtleCuora amboinensisChinese Box TurtleCuora flavomarginata

What this sheet states

77%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.