Florida Redbelly Turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni)

Florida Redbelly turtle at a pond in South Carolina, USA
Photograph by JamieS93. Some rights reserved. (view image details)

Florida Redbelly Turtle | Pseudemys nelsoni photo

Florida Redbelly Turtle
Photograph by NASA. License: Public Domain. (view image details)

FLORIDA REDBELLY TURTLE FACTS

Description
The Florida Redbelly Turtle is closely related to the Peninsula Cooter (P. floridana). The two species can often be found basking on logs together. The carapace is dark with indistinct yellowish or brownish pattern. The Florida Redbelly Turtle has a distinctive red-tinged plastron (belly), although older animals may not have red bellies. They have notches on either side of the upper jaw. The skin is dark with yellowish stripes. There is a short stripe on top of head between the eyes.

Size
34 cm

Environment
Found in various types of aquatic habitat, including lakes, ponds, streams, spring runs, and sometimes brackish water. It spends a large part of the day basking on logs.

Food
mainly herbivorous

Breeding
They sometimes lay their eggs in the nest mounds of alligators.

Range
Florida, and southern Georgia.

Classification

Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Pseudemys
Species:	nelsoni
Common Name:	Florida Redbelly Turtle

Relatives in same Genus
Cooter (P. floridana)
Texas River Cooter (P. texana)

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