WATER TURTLES
Bog Turtle
Range
Bog Turtle
• North America’s smallest turtle (3” to 4.5”); NC’s rarest
• Have noticeable bright orange, yellow or red blotch on
each side of face
• Live in isolated spring-fed fen, sphagnum bogs,
marshy meadows and wet pastures
• Eat beetles, insect larvae, snails, seeds and millipedes
• Females mature from 5-8 years and mate from May to
June
• Deposit 2-6 eggs from June to July which hatch after
42 -56 days of incubation
• Placed on NC’s threatened list in 1989
Yellow-bellied Slider
Range
ENDANGERED
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Yellow-bellied Slider
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Yellow patch on side of head – on females and juveniles
5 to 8 inches
Underside of shell is yellow
Males smaller than females with longer, thicker tail and long
fingernails
Juveniles eat more carnivorous diet
Adults are omnivores – feeding = underwater
Males mature between 3-5 yrs
5-7 year old females lay 4 to 23 eggs from May to July
Eggs incubate 2-2.5 months and hatch between JulySeptember
Help control invertebrate and vegetation populations
Live in fresh water
Redbelly Turtle
Range
Red Belly Turtle
• 10-15” in length
• Like deep water
• Eat both plants and animals-insect larvae, crayfish,
worms and tadpoles
• Active from May thru October
• Females lay 10-12 eggs in June-July which hatch
sometime in late summer.
• Young sometimes winter over in the nest until spring
• Like to bask in the sun
Snapping Turtle
Range
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Snapping Turtle
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8-14 inches weighing from 10 to 50 lbs
Large head, small plastron, long tail & strong limbs
Males larger than females
Prefer to stay in the water where they are passive
Will lunge and bite at enemies, if on dry land
Produce a musk
Eat both meat and vegetation
Range
Common Musk Turtle
Common Musk Turtle
• 2 to 4.5”
• Small plastron with single hinge
• Also called the “stinkpot” turtle b/c of its ability to secrete
a smelly musk from two glands on each side of its body
• Snout is projected slightly and eyes are yellow or white
• Has barbels on both the chin and the throat
• Prefer lakes, ponds and quiet streams – dwell on bottom
• Males have thick tales with sharp and horny end
• Due to mobile body shape, can be found 6’ up a tree
• Injured from fishing and boat propellers
Painted Turtle
Hatchlings
Range
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Painted Turtle
• 4-7” in length
• Most widespread turtle in North America
• Live in ponds, lakes, marshes and slow-moving rivers
with soft muddy bottoms
• Spends most of the time in the water but will sun itself on
logs or rocks and sometimes in large groups
• Omnivores – young mostly eat meat but adults eat both
meat and vegetation
• Females lay 5-10 eggs which hatch in 10-11 weeks
• Can survive w/o oxygen at 37.4 F for up to 5 months
which is longer than any other air-breathing invetebrate
Spotted Turtle
Range
Spotted Turtle
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3.5 to 4.5”
Secretive
Semi-aquatic with yellow spots on a smooth carapace
Also have orange and yellow spots on head, neck and
limbs
Prefer shallow, well-vegetated wetlands such as
marshes, wet pastures, bogs, fens and swamps
Reach sexual maturity between 7-10 years; can live to
30 years
Usually HBC when traveling between wetlands
World Conservations Union lists as threatened
Striped Mud Turtle
Range
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Striped Mud Turtle
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3-4” in length
Have large plastron with two moveable hinges
Males have thick tail
Found in canals, ponds, lakes, cypress swamps but not
in swift moving water
Nest from March thru October and usually build nest
near the shoreline in sand piles or decaying vegetation
Young hatch in 3-4 months and are quarter size
Eat plants, small aquatic animals and carrion
Given the name “cowdung cooter” b/c will eat manure
Range
Stripeneck Musk
Turtle
Stripedneck Musk Turtle
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3 to 4.5”
Many dark stripes lining head and neck
Two barbels on the chin
Are diurnal and do most of feeding in the
morning
• Found in rivers and streams
• Omnivorous preferring snails and insects
• Listed as special concern in North Carolina
Eastern Mud Turtle
Range
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Eastern Mud Turtle
• 3-4” in length
• Is semi-aquatic so spends a lot of time on land
• Carapace is is keeless (lacks any pattern) and can be yellowish to
brownish
• Plastron is large with two moveable hinges
• Eyes are yellow with dark clouding
• Eat aquatic plants and organisms
• Live in shallow streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes
• The male has a longer tail with prominent claw at the tip and two
small horny patches on the inner surface of each hind leg.
Photo © Jim Harding
Spiny Softshell Turtle
Range
Spiny Shoftshell Turtle
6 wks
• Has rubbery, skin-covered shell with flexible edges that
lacks scutes
• Nose is long and pig-like
• 5-19” in length
• Live in rivers, lakes or reservoir with sand or mud bottom
and little vegetation
• Bask on logs or banks and will bury themselves in the
sand or mud
• Very fast swimmers and agile on land
• Females lay 4-38 hard-shelled eggs in June that hatch in
August or September
• Eat crayfish, tadpoles, insects and occasional small fish
Diamondback Terrapin
Range
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Diamondback Terrapin
• 4-9” in length
• Have concentric ridges (pyramids) on carapace and
large back feet
• Lives in coastal marshes
• Eats fish, crustaceans, mollusks and insects
• Solitary except to mate; Males=3 yrs, Females=6 yrs
• Females only breed every 4 yrs or so
• Lay 4-18 eggs in the spring that hatch after 60-100 days
• Can adjust their water needs by secreting salt from their
tear ducts when their systems becomes too salty
River Cooter
Range
SPECIAL CONCERN
River Cooter
• 9-13” in length
• Young cooters have a characteristic “C” on the 2nd side
scute but on older cooters this is often not visible
• Found mainly in rivers and large streams
• Like to bask on logs and rocks
• Very skiddish and hard to approach
• Powerful swimmers
• Females are larger than males
• Females lay around 20 eggs in May to June which hatch
in August or September (90-100 days)
• Herbivorous
Florida Cooter
Range
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Florida Cooter
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9-13” in length
Look very similar to the River Cooter and Redbelly Turtle
Has a rounded chin
Inhabit wetlands, marshes, ponds and other still waters
Like to bask on logs and rocks
Herbivorous
Females lay around 20 eggs that hatch in about 90 days
Chicken Turtle
Range
Chicken Turtle
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4-6” in length
Has similar appearance to the painted turtle
Netlike appearance to carapace
Long and striped neck with vertical stripes running down the back legs
Carapace is much longer than it is wide and is hingeless
Females larger than males and may nest anytime during the year
May retain eggs for up to 6 months, if nesting conditions are not right
Inhabit freshwater with sluggish or still waterways
Males have long thickened tails
Wander long distances from water
Prefers tadpoles and crayfish but will eat plants
Green Sea Turtle
Joseph MacKenzie, PA
Range
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Green Sea Turtle
• 36-48” in length and weighs 250-450 lbs
• Actually colored brown; hatchlings are colored black
• Inhabit salt water but will occasionally enter sounds and rivers
during summer months
• Like warm shallow water
• Travel hundreds and thousands of miles to their own hatching
grounds to mate and nest
• Females deposit from 110-115 eggs at night taking 2 hours to
do so
• Clutches are deposited very 2-4 years
• Temperature of incubating eggs determines sex of hatchlings
• Flesh is used in soups
Atlantic hawksbill Sea Turtle
Range
THREATENED
Atlantic Hawksbill Sea Turtle
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30-35” in length weighing 95-165 lbs
Scutes on the carapace tend to overlap one another
Heads are tapered into a V-shape
Lateral and posterior area are serrated except in the old
Males have a long and thicker tail, bigger claws and
concave plastron
• Most commonly found in no more than 60 feet of sea
water where there are hard bottoms or reef habitats
containing sponges
• Mate every 2-3 years
• Use of shell in trade and commerce has lead to decline
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Range
ENDANGERED
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Loggerhead Sea Turtles
• Approximately 36” in length and weight 250 lbs
• Named for their relatively large heads
• Have callous-like traction scales beneath their flippers that
allow them to “walk” on the ocean floor
• Reach sexual maturity around 35 years of age
• Mating occurs from Late March to Early June, eggs are laid
between late April to early September and hatch between late
June to mid-November
• Females lay 3-5 nests in a single nesting season
• Occupy 3 different ecosystems over the course of their lifetimes
– terresterial zone, oceanic zone and the neritic zone
(nearshore are)
• Eat conchs and whelks and bottom dwelling invetebrates
Atlantic Ridley Sea Turtle
Range
THREATENED
Atlantic Ridley Sea Turtle
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Also known as Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle
23-27.5” weighing from 80-100 lbs
Smallest turtle in the Atlantic ocean
Almost circular shell
Males have a longer tail and more concave plastron
Inhabit shallow water and high saline sounds
Nest in 1-2 year cycles and lay 1-3 clutches per cycle
Females lay eggs between April and mid-August on days when it is cloudy,
relatively cool and a strong northern wind is blowing
• Young hatch after 50-70 days, emerging just after dawn
• Reach sexual maturity by 6 years of age
• Eat crabs, fish, jellyfish, squid, snails, clams, starfish and some marine
vegetation
Hatchling
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Range
CONSIDERED MOST ENDANGERED
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Leatherback Sea Turtle
• 53-70” in length and weighs from 650-1200 lbs
• Largest living turtle in the world
• 7 longitudinal ridges are found along the carapace with 5 similar ridges on
the plastron.
• Shell is covered by a smooth skin instead of scutes
• Flippers are very large and lack claws
• Lack the crushing chewing plates that most sea turtles have that feed on
hard-bodied prey
• Eat almost exclusively jellyfish
• Live anywhere there is salt water, they spend most of their time far offshore
• Are able to maintian their internal body temperature much higher than the
surrounding water
Female
Male
Eastern Box Turtle
Range
ENDANGERED
Eastern Box Turtle
• Only “land turtle” found in North Carolina and only one of
two found in the United States
• State reptile
• Extremely slow to mature but long lived
• Can inhabit a vast variety of habitats but prefer moist
forested areas with plenty of underbrush
• Not aquatic but will venture into shallow areas of water
• Do not travel far usually live within a football field area
• Hibernate in the winter in dirt up to two feet deep
• Omnivores
• Young feed primarily on insects and stay hidden in leaf
litter
• Reach sexual maturity between 7-10 years of age
• Females lay between 3 to 6 eggs each spring which
hatch in late summer or early fall
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