REPTILIA (Reptiles) TESTUDINES (Turtles) EMYDIDAE (Box and Basking Turtles)
Pond Slider
Trachemys scripta
(Schoepff 1792)
tră-kē-ēz — scrīp-tă
Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: S5 - Secure
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None
Diagnosis:
Generally a pond turtle, the Slider has a green
to olive carapace with occasional yellow bars.
It has serrated posterior marginal scutes, and the plastron is generally
yellow and may have a dark blotch within each scute. The skin is green to brown with yellow
stripes on the head, neck, and feet.
Often called the Red Eared Slider, the variety found in Nebraska may
have a red bar just posterior to the eye and one that can fade with age. Adults range from 7.0-11.0 inches (17.8-27.9
cm) in carapace length.
Distribution:
Sliders can be found from south central and southeastern
United States south through Mexico and Central America. In the United States, they occur naturally
from southeastern Virginia south to the panhandle of Florida and west through
most of Texas with small fingers of distribution in New Mexico. To the north they continue to eastern Kansas
and then east to occupy most of the southeastern states with the exception of
peninsular Florida. Their introduced
range is substantially larger, as they have been established in every one of
the contiguous 48 states, Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, and South
America. In Nebraska they occur
naturally in Richardson County but are often found in ponds and reservoirs
throughout the state as released pets.
(, Museum Voucher) (, Observation) (, Literature Record) (, iNat Record), ( Fossil)
Open icons are questionable records; Click on a marker to view details.
Full range depicted by light shaded red area.
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Occurrence Summary:
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92
Records
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92
Museum Vouchers
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0
Other Observations
Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Cass (8); Dakota (1); Dawes (1); Dodge (2); Douglas (21); Hall (3); Kearney (1); Lancaster (33); Lincoln (1); Merrick (1); Nemaha (1); Polk (1); Sarpy (15); Saunders (1); Scotts Bluff (1); Washington (1);
Natural History:
Sliders may be seen basking on logs and other
structures as early as March and as late as November in the northern tier of
their range. Breeding occurs in late
May-early June, and females may migrate long distances to find suitable nesting
areas before depositing eggs in the ground.
Eggs hatch later in summer or in fall, although in northern populations
hatchlings may remain in the nest over winter and emerge the following spring. As with most pond turtles males have
exceptionally long claws on front feet that they use during courtship
rituals. Sliders eat nearly anything
from vegetation and algae to insects and other arthropods, mollusks, and
several kinds of vertebrates. Sliders prefer permanent ponds or marshes with
abundant aquatic vegetation. While
natural ponds are rare in eastern Nebraska, small man-made ponds are relatively
abundant. City parks, large reservoirs,
and canals are all potential habitats for Sliders in Nebraska, and all
non-natural populations occupy just such habitats. Known localities for naturally occurring
Sliders in Nebraska are natural oxbow/backwater ponds adjacent to the
Missouri River.
Account Last Updated:
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