All North American box turtles belong in the Emydidae family of turtles. This large family also includes the sliders, map turtles and pond turtles from North American and Asia. Box turtles are separated from all the other turtles in this family into the genus, Terrapene .
All box turtles have a hingeon their bottom shell or plastron.
The box turtles most commonly kept as pets are Terrapene carolina carolina, or the Common Eastern box turtle, or the Three-toed box turtle and or the Gulf Coast box turtle. The three common T. carolina subspecies inhabit areas close to woodlands and forage on insects, worms, snails, slugs, fallen fruit and annual plants. The seeds of many plants like summer grapes, black cherries and pokeweed have a better germination percentage when they pass through the box turtle's digestive tract. Box turtles may be an important agent for seed dispersal in the woodland ecosystem. The most common box turtles found in the pet trade or along road sides and fields are the Common Eastern, Three-toed, Gulf Coast and Western Ornate box turtles.