<Li> Desert box turtle, Terrapene ornata luteola H.M. Smith & Ramsey, 1952 </Li> <P> Box turtles have diploid somatic cells with 50 chromosomes . </P> <P> Once maturity is reached, the chance of death seems not to increase with age . The survivorship curve of box turtles is therefore probably similar to that of other long - living turtles . The average life span of adult box turtles is 50 years, while a significant portion lives over 100 years . The age of a growing box turtle in the wild cannot be accurately estimated by counting the growth rings on the scutes; Their growth is directly affected by the amount of food, types of food, water, illness, and so much more . Box turtle eggs are flexible, oblong and are (depending on the taxon) on average 2--4 cm long weighing 5 - 11 g . The normal clutch size is 1 - 7 eggs . In captivity and in the southern end of their range, box turtles can have more than one clutch per year, while the average clutch size is larger in more northern populations . Turtles can defend themselves from predation by hiding, closing their shell and biting . The risk of death is greatest in small animals due to their size and weaker carapace and plastron . While the shell of an adult box turtle is seldom fractured, the box turtle is still vulnerable to surprise attacks and persistent gnawing or pecking . Common predators are mammals like minks, skunks, raccoons, dogs and rodents, but also birds (e.g. crows, ravens) and snakes (e.g. racers, cottonmouths) are known to kill box turtles . </P> <P> North American box turtles are omnivores with a varied diet, as a box turtle will "basically eat anything it can catch". Invertebrates (amongst others insects, earth worms, millipedes) form the principal component, but the diet also consists for a large part (reports range from 30 - 90%) of vegetation . The diet is amended with fruits (amongst others from cacti, apples and several species of berry), gastropods (Heliosoma, Succinea). While reports exist that during their first five to six years, box turtles are primarily carnivorous, while adults are mostly herbivorous, there is no scientific basis for such a difference . </P>

How can you tell the age of a box turtle