Red-eared Pond Slider
If
you have ever seen a turtle lazily basking on a log or poking
its nose out of the water to breathe, you were probably looking
at a red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans). The most
common turtle in Oklahoma, the red-eared slider also is one of
the most common turtles in North America. They can be found in
warm, sluggish waters from Oklahoma to Texas, east to Indiana
and Georgia, and down to the Gulf of Mexico. Sliders have even
been found in brackish (semi-saltwater) habitats, although they
prefer ponds with muddy bottoms and lots of vegetation.
The red-eared slider is perhaps the best known and most
recognizable turtle. The top of the shell, called the carapace,
is smooth and gently curved and is olive to black in color with
yellow stripes. A medium -sized turtle, it is best identified by
a red or sometimes yellow patch that is found just behind the
eye.
Young turtles are the most brightly colored. As they age, their
shells generally turn to a drab olive green. Adults can reach a
foot in length and have been known to live up to 65 years in
captivity.
During the breeding season, which typically runs from March
through June, the males work hard to put on a show to woo
prospective females. The males display by swimming backward in
front of the female with their forelegs stretched out, palm side
up. They also tap the female’s carapace with their long front
toenails.
Red-eared sliders may produce up to three clutches of four to 23
eggs in a single year. One of the few times a slider goes on
land is to dig a nest three to 10 inches wide and about four
inches deep. She deposits her eggs in these excavations and
carefully covers them up with soil to seal in the eggs for
protection from predators and the elements. The young turtles
hatch 60 to 75 days later.
As is the case with many other turtles, the hatchlings’ gender
depends on the temperature within the nest; if the temperature
in the nest is relatively warm, mostly males will be hatched; if
it is relatively cool, mostly females will be hatched. Once the
young turtles hatch, they face a gauntlet of predators including
raccoons, herons, snakes and even fish that would make the
hatchlings their next meal.
Young turtles are mostly carnivorous, eating snails, insects and
small fish. As turtles mature they gradually switch over to
vegetarian diet, dining on filamentous algae and aquatic
vegetation. It is a common myth that turtles will wipe out a
fish population when, in fact, they are an important part of
aquatic ecosystems in Oklahoma in addition to being important an
“natural” control of aquatic vegetation.
The Red-eared pond slider is almost exclusively aquatic. It
rarely ventures out of the water except to lay its eggs or to
migrate to a new body of water during droughts.