The fully developed plastron has a single front hinge that allows this turtle to completely close its shell. The plastron is yellow with many well defined dark wavy stripes. The skin color is dark, from black to olive, and there are numerous yellow, orange, or red spots on the front legs and head. The feet are not webbed and have a rather club-like appearance. Males have red or orange eyes and a longer tail with the cloacal opening past the marginals.
Females usually have brown eyes and much smaller tails.
Hatchling box turtles are similar to adults, but may have more yellow coloration on the shell. The subspecies found in Iowa is the Ornate box turtle Terrapene ornata ornata. The box turtle is only found in few, small scattered populations along the Mississippi Alluvial plain in eastern Iowa, and in isolated pockets with suitable habitat in western, northwestern, and parts of eastern and southern Iowa. Habitat Box turtles require sandy open areas. These habitats are disappearing rapidly in Iowa.