Humans have eaten turtles and turtle eggs since earliest history. Tortoiseshell, a commercial product made from the shell of certain marine turtles, was used for centuries to make serviceable and decorative objects. Plastic imitations largely replaced it in the 20th century.

Turtles are popular pets, but they are potential carriers of dangerous bacteria called salmonella. In the 1970's the sale of certain kinds of turtles was banned in the United States. Turtles should be purchased only from a reputable pet store, and wild turtles should be avoided.

If you find a box turtle in the wild, do not take it home. A wild box turtle already has a home. Its home is its territory. A turtle knows all the rocks, logs, trees, and ponds in its territory. If you take a turtle from its home, it will suffer from stress and it could die. Additionally, wild turtles can sometimes carry diseases that you can catch.

There are other good reasons to let a wild turtle stay in the wild. Because there is a worrisome decline in wild box turtle populations, many box turtles are protected by law. That means, depending on the area you are in, it could actually be illegal to remove a box turtle from its habitat (the area where an animal lives).

Increasingly, box turtles are being bred in captivity (living under the care of humans) for sale in pet stores. This may help maintain wild populations in the United States and Asia and ensure that turtles in pet stores are healthy and free from bacteria and parasites.

Box turtles live in the wild in North America and Asia. They live in a variety of habitats where water is readily available. Of the many different kinds of box turtles, four kinds found in the wild in North America are common as pets: the eastern, the three-toed, the Gulf Coast, and the ornate box turtle.

The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina, lives in the eastern and central United States from Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Illinois, Tennessee, and Alabama. It is also found in Mexico. The three-toed box turtle, Terrapene carolina triunguis, lives in the Mississippi River Valley in several states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.

The Gulf Coast box turtle, Terrapene carolina major, is found in U.S. states along the Gulf of Mexico. The ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata, lives in the central and south-central United States. You can find it in Illinois, Indiana, and South Dakota into Louisiana and Texas. It is also found in Mexico.

In China, the turtle symbolizes long life and fertility. It is also a fertility symbol in parts of Africa. It was held sacred by the ancient Greeks and by certain American Indian peoples. In Hindu mythology, the earth rests on the back of a giant turtle.

Asia has an astounding variety of pond and marsh turtles. The Chinese box turtle and the Malayan box turtle are two examples of Asian turtles that are kept as pets.

Rapid economic growth and land development in many parts of Asia have reduced the turtle’s wild habitat. Additionally, many turtles throughout Asia are captured for food, for use in medicines, and for export for the pet trade. The shipment was intercepted by customs agents.

With the loss of habitat and so many turtles being captured, many species of Asian turtles are in peril. An international treaty that was created to regulate trade in threatened plant life and wildlife restricts the export of box turtles. These restrictions apply both to box turtles that are native to Asia and to those native to the United States. Many countries have signed this treaty and are working to protect box turtles.