Red-Eared Slider
Trechemys scripta elegans
-1 of 3 subspecies of pond sliders in the U.S., which also includes the yellow-bellied slider and the cumberland slider
-Characteristic red or orange stripe behind each eye
-Males are slightly smaller than females but have longer tails and longer claws on their forefeet. Adult carapace (top shell) lengths can reach 5-11 inches
-They feed mainly on plants and small animals, such as crickets, fish, crayfish, snails, tadpoles, worms, and aquatic insects
-Turtles don't have teeth, but instead have horny ridges that are serrated and sharp on their upper and lower jaws.
-Temperature is very important to these reptiles:
*Bask in groups on logs, fallen trees, and other objects near water
*They brumate (similar to hibernation) over the winter at the bottom of ponds or shallow lakes where they become inactive, generally in October, when temperatures fall below 50 °F. At this time, they eat very little to nothing until the temperature rises again months later.
*The gender of the red-eared slider is determined by the temperature during development
-These turtles are found natively in ponds, lakes, marshes, and slow-moving rivers with muddy bottoms from New Mexico to West Virginia, but have been introduced to many other surrounding states
-Mating Season: late spring - early summer
-Underwater courtship and mating occurs between March and July
-Nests are made in soft, sandy soil with good exposure to sunlight
-Offspring: Nests filled with 2 to 30 oval, soft shelled eggs. The eggs are fertilized as they are being laid and buried in the sand.
-Turtles are amniotes (a class of vertebrates including reptiles, birds, and mammals that have an amnion, a membrane, that enclose the embryo in the egg and therefore the eggs do not need to be laid in aqueous environments). To put this into perspective, humans are amniotes, fish are not. Fish are anamniotes and must lay their eggs in aqueous environments because the embryos are not enclosed in an amnion (a membrane). If a fish or a frog laid their eggs on land with no water, the eggs would dry out.
HERE AT ALAMEDA:
We have red-eared sliders at the duckpond and in the aviary. How many can you count? The best time to see them is during the mid-day when the sun is at its highest and the turtles are sunbathing.