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Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta)
Red-eared Slider Photograph by Viewport. License: Public Domain. (view image details) 
Red-eared Slider Photograph by PopularOutcast. Some rights reserved. (view image details)
RED-EARED SLIDER FACTS
DescriptionThe Red-eared Slider gets its name from the broad red or orange stripe behind each eye. Adult turtles have a dull olive green carapace. Young hatchlings have a green carapace and skin with yellow green to dark green markings and stripes. Some older turtles become almost black with few markings. The carapace is oval and flattened with a low keel. The underside (plastron) is yellow with dark markings in the center of each scute. They have webbed feet that help the turtle in swimming. The male is usually smaller than the female with a longer, thicker tail. Males have longer claws that they use in mating. Size Length: males 20cm - 25cm; females 25cm - 30cm Environment ponds, lakes, marshes, creeks, and streams with warm muddy bottomed waters. It basks on flat rocks or floating logs. Food Red-eared Sliders are omnivores and eat fish, crayfish, carrion, tadpoles, snails, crickets, worms, insects, aquatic plants species. Younger turtles are more carnivorous and become more herbivorous as they mature. Breeding Nesting occurs from May through early July. The female lays clutch of 2 -- 30 eggs. Up to five clutches may be laid in a year. The young turtles hatch after sixty to ninety days. They can live up to forty years Range The Red-eared Slider is found in the south east of the United States south of Colorado and Virginia, around the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico and east to Florida. Notes The Red-eared Slider is commonly kept as a pet. They can be quite aggressive. Conservation Status LR|nt Classification
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