Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Slider tur­tles, Tra­che­mys scripta, are na­tive to the south­east­ern and cen­tral United States and north­ern Mex­ico. Yel­low-bel­lied slid­ers, Tra­che­mys scripta scripta, range from the south­ern por­tion of Vir­ginia south to the north­ern bor­der of Florida. Cum­ber­land slid­ers, Tra­che­mys scripta troostii, range from south­west­ern Vir­ginia to Al­abama. Cum­ber­land slid­ers are found west of the Ap­palachian Moun­tains. Red-eared slid­ers, Tra­che­mys scripta el­e­gans, range from Al­abama south to north­ern Mex­ico.

Red-eared slid­ers have been in­tro­duced into other areas of the United States, in­clud­ing Hawaii, Cal­i­for­nia, Ari­zona, Michi­gan, New Jer­sey, Penn­syl­va­nia, Mary­land, the Blue Ridge Moun­tains of Vir­ginia, and south­ern Florida. They have also been in­tro­duced into Canada, and cen­tral Mex­ico. In­tro­duced pop­u­la­tions can be found in parts of Africa and in Is­rael. They also can be found on the is­lands of Guade­loupe and through­out south­ern France. Pop­u­la­tions are pre­sent in south­ern Por­tu­gal, Greece, Spain, Italy, the Ital­ian bor­der of Slove­nia, Aus­tria, Turkey, Nether­lands, and Switzer­land. In­tro­duced pop­u­la­tions are also pre­sent in the Asian coun­tries of Cam­bo­dia, China, Japan, In­done­sia, Tai­wan, and Thai­land. Slid­ers also can be found in Aus­tralia. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Cadi, et al., 2004; Ernst and Bar­bour, 1989; Green and Pauley, 1987; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Perez-Santigosa, et al., 2008; Rödder, et al., 2009; Stafford and Meyer, 2000)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • introduced
  • native
• palearctic
  • introduced
• oriental
  • introduced
• ethiopian
  • introduced
• australian
  • introduced

Habi­tat

Slider tur­tles are semi­aquatic an­i­mals that live in fresh­wa­ter and brack­ish en­vi­ron­ments. They can be found in wa­ter­bod­ies that hold water year-round, like ponds, lakes, rivers, swamps, la­goons, and streams. They also can live in ver­nal/sea­sonal farm ponds. Slider tur­tles are found in shal­low, slow-mov­ing water that has di­verse veg­e­ta­tion and nearby places to bask. Depths of 0.6 m to 0.9 m are most com­mon for slid­ers. They can also be found in ter­res­trial habi­tats, such as semi-ever­green forests or sa­van­nas, that have water sources close to them. Dur­ing sea­sonal dry­ness, tur­tles liv­ing in these areas will seek a new habi­tat with a water source. Moist sloughs and muddy areas are also com­mon places for slider tur­tles to live. They do not in­habit ma­rine en­vi­ron­ments. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Carr, 2008; Ernst and Bar­bour, 1989; Green and Pauley, 1987; Stafford and Meyer, 2000; Tran, et al., 2007)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• terrestrial
• freshwater

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland
• forest

• Aquatic Biomes
• lakes and ponds
• rivers and streams
• temporary pools
• brackish water

• Wetlands
• swamp

• Range depth

  0.6 to 0.9 m

  1.97 to 2.95 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Slider tur­tles range from 10-29 cm in length and ex­hibit sex­ual di­mor­phism; fe­males tend to be larger than males. Fe­males can reach a mass of up to 3,200 grams. Av­er­age fe­male shell length in adult­hood is 25.4 cm. Fe­male slider tur­tles are con­sid­ered adults when they are 15-20 cm in length and 5-8 years old. Av­er­age male shell length in adult­hood is 17.78 cm. Male slid­ers are con­sid­ered adults when they are 9-11 cm in length and 2-5 years old. Male masses are not re­ported in lit­er­a­ture. Hatch­lings are usu­ally be­tween 23 and 35 mm in shell length, but av­er­age masses are not avail­able.

The upper por­tion of the shell, the cara­pace, tends to be oval-shaped with sharp edges. The cara­pace is rough with in­den­ta­tions that vary in di­rec­tion. The bot­tom of the shell, the plas­tron, is flat and smooth. The over­all round­ness of the plas­tron is de­ter­mined by the round­ness of the egg from which the tur­tle hatched. The col­or­ing of the cara­pace ranges from green­ish yel­low to gray, brown, and black. Large, yel­low lines are often pre­sent on the cara­pace. The plas­tron tends to be lighter in color than the cara­pace, and it is usu­ally yel­low with black spots or streaks. The skin is dark green and brown. Older males ex­hibit melanism, which is the dark­en­ing of both the cara­pace and plas­tron in ad­di­tion to the skin. These tur­tles are often com­pletely black in color.

Slider tur­tles have ob­long heads that end in snouts that point up­ward. They have webbed feet for swim­ming with five dig­its on each limb. Both males and fe­males have fore­claws that are used in courtship. These claws may be longer in males than in fe­males, al­though lengths have not been re­ported in the lit­er­a­ture.

Skin and some plas­tron mark­ings vary by sub­species. Cum­ber­land slid­ers, Tra­che­mys scripta troostii, have yel­low and black lines on their legs and their pos­te­ri­ors as well as yel­low mark­ings on their necks and be­hind their eyes. Cum­ber­land slid­ers usu­ally have less yel­low col­oration than other sub­species. Yel­low-bel­lied slid­ers, Tra­che­mys scripta scripta, have yel­low and black lines on their necks and limbs, but the lines tend to be ver­ti­cal, thin­ner, and more fre­quent. The yel­low areas near their eyes are rec­tan­gu­lar and ver­ti­cal. Two black spots are usu­ally pre­sent on the plas­trons of these tur­tles. Red-eared slid­ers, Tra­che­mys scripta el­e­gans, have sim­i­lar lines on their hind limbs, but the streaks pos­te­rior to their eyes are hor­i­zon­tal and bright red.

Slider tur­tles are often mis­taken for chicken tur­tles, Deirochelys retic­u­laria, and painted tur­tles, Chry­se­mys picta. Slider tur­tles can be dis­tin­guished from chicken tur­tles by the cara­pace. Un­like slider tur­tles, chicken tur­tles have smooth shells. Dif­fer­en­ti­a­tion for painted tur­tles is based on the mark­ings be­hind the eyes. Painted tur­tles have two yel­low patches be­hind each eye, and all slider tur­tles have only one yel­low or red patch be­hind each eye. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Ernst and Bar­bour, 1989; Green and Pauley, 1987; Hays and McBee, 2010; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Myers, et al., 2006; Packard, et al., 1997; Stafford and Meyer, 2000; Thomas and Altig, 2006; Thomas, 2002; van Dijk, et al., 2013)

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• female larger
• female more colorful

• Range mass

  3,200 (high) g

  oz

• Range length

  10 to 29 cm

  3.94 to 11.42 in

• Average basal metabolic rate

  0.1157 W

  AnAge

De­vel­op­ment

Slider tur­tles lay spher­i­cal eggs with flex­i­ble shells that allow for the ab­sorp­tion of water in­side to the de­vel­op­ing hatch­ling. Egg mass and di­men­sions are re­lated to both water avail­abil­ity within the nest and the size of the lay­ing fe­male. Overly dry con­di­tions can lead to very small hatch­lings with de­creased mo­bil­ity and over­all fit­ness. Eggs that have too much water in­take can burst or be sub­ject to in­fec­tions from fungi.

Em­bry­onic de­vel­op­ment of slider tur­tles takes place within fer­til­ized eggs in 27 stages over a range of 60-95 days. Stages 0-11 are com­mon to all tur­tles and con­sist of the pre­lim­i­nary de­vel­op­ment of a head, a tail, and two hind limbs. Stages 12-23 are com­mon to all tur­tles in the fam­ily Emy­di­dae. Com­ple­tion of each of these stages is marked by a char­ac­ter­is­tic change in limb and fore­claw de­vel­op­ment. Stages 24-27 are unique to slider tur­tles. These stages are fo­cused on the de­vel­op­ment of fa­cial char­ac­ter­is­tics and skin col­oration. Time spent in each stage av­er­ages 2-4 days but in­creases in more ad­vanced stages. Stages 23 and above can as long as 6-7 days each.

De­ter­mi­na­tion of the sex of hatch­lings in a nest is tem­per­a­ture-de­pen­dent. Nests that are below 28.6 de­grees Cel­sius de­velop as all males. Nests that are above 29.6 de­grees Cel­sius de­velop as all fe­males. Nests at tem­per­a­tures within this range de­velop as a mix of males and fe­males. Nests that are above 28.6 de­grees Cel­sius but below 29.6 de­grees Cel­sius will have a high pro­por­tion of fe­males, but males will be pre­sent. In­cu­ba­tion pe­ri­ods range from 69-95 days. Yolk sacs serve as a nu­tri­ent source for de­vel­op­ing slid­ers.

De­vel­op­ment from ju­ve­nile to adult oc­curs in an­nual stages. Each year, a new layer of scutes de­vel­ops be­neath the old one. The tur­tles then un­dergo a molt that sheds the old layer of scutes. When this process oc­curs, a growth line is left in the scute. These lines can be used to de­ter­mine slider tur­tle age until they are 4 years old. After this time, shell wear usu­ally ren­ders the growth lines too dif­fi­cult to see. Growth rate de­clines markedly once the tur­tles have reached sex­ual ma­tu­rity. (Berg­eron, et al., 1999; Filo­ramo and Janzen, 1999; Green­baum, 2002; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Stone and Babb, 2005; Tucker, et al., 1998)

• Development - Life Cycle
• temperature sex determination

Re­pro­duc­tion

Slider tur­tles ex­hibit polyg­y­nan­drous mat­ing be­hav­ior. Courtship be­hav­ior in­volves bit­ing, chas­ing, and fore­claw dis­plays. This be­hav­ior can be ini­ti­ated and rec­i­p­ro­cated by ei­ther sex, but male ini­ti­a­tion is most com­mon. Males will fre­quently chase fe­males and make at­tempts to bite their limbs and tails. Slider tur­tles also en­gage in a be­hav­ior known as tit­il­la­tion. This is a rit­u­al­is­tic dis­play of the males' fore­claws. It in­volves using the fore­claws to make un­der­wa­ter vi­bra­tions near the eyes of fe­males. It can also in­volve touch­ing the faces of the fe­males. After the dis­play, fe­males may rec­i­p­ro­cate. Mat­ing at­tempts usu­ally fol­low tit­il­la­tion. Melanis­tic males more fre­quently en­gage in courtship be­hav­iors than non­melanis­tic males do. Melanis­tic males are gen­er­ally older and larger than non­melanis­tic males. Non­melanis­tic males are more likely to at­tempt to mate with­out per­form­ing prior courtship rit­u­als. (Aresco, 2004; Filo­ramo and Janzen, 1999; Marlen and Fis­cher, 1999; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Thomas and Altig, 2006; Thomas, 2002; Tucker, 2001)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

The breed­ing sea­son for slider tur­tles be­gins in April and usu­ally last through late Oc­to­ber. Dur­ing ideal weather con­di­tions, mat­ing can occur through De­cem­ber. Males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity be­tween 2 and 5 years of age, and fe­males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity be­tween 5 and 8 years of age. Fe­males typ­i­cally lay 1-2 clutches per year, but they can lay up to 4 clutches. Fe­males lay an av­er­age of 6-11 (range 2-20) eggs per clutch. Nest­ing fe­males have been known to voy­age across land more than 1.6 km from their per­ma­nent aquatic habi­tats to find an op­por­tune nest­ing site. Hatch­ling in­cu­ba­tion pe­ri­ods range from 60-95 days.

Fe­male slid­ers usu­ally con­struct their nests be­tween April and July. Nests are oval-shaped with a sin­gle hole that is usu­ally about 10-14 cm deep. Soil type is not a good pre­dic­tor of nest lo­ca­tion. Slid­ers are com­monly found build­ing nests after dark or dur­ing pe­ri­ods of rain. Fe­males will nest in the same area if they had suc­cess the pre­vi­ous year. Due to their bask­ing needs, fe­males often con­struct nests in places that re­ceive large amounts of sun­shine. While this can de­crease the in­cu­ba­tion pe­riod, it means that the nests are in the open, which makes them more sub­ject to pre­da­tion.

Some sur­viv­ing hatch­lings emerge from their nests al­most im­me­di­ately after hatch­ing, but most en­gage in some­thing known as over­win­ter­ing. These hatch­lings re­main in their nests for up to 10 months. Dur­ing this time, slid­ers in­ter­nal­ize the yolks from their eggs for sus­te­nance. Over­win­ter­ing can in­crease hatch­ling fit­ness by in­creas­ing emerg­ing hatch­ling size and en­ergy re­serves. Hatch­lings are 23-35 mm in shell length. Birth mass is un­known. (Aresco, 2004; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Hamil­ton, et al., 2002; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Rose, 2011; Thomas, 2002; Tucker, et al., 1998; Tucker, 2001; van Dijk, et al., 2013)

• Key Reproductive Features
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  Slider turtles can nest every 10-46 days and can have up to 4 laying events per breeding season.

• Breeding season

  The breeding season is April through late October, but it can last through December during ideal weather conditions.

• Range number of offspring

  2 to 20

• Average number of offspring

  6-11

• Average number of offspring

  13

  AnAge

• Range gestation period

  60 to 95 days

• Range time to independence

  0 (low) days

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  5 to 8 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  2 to 5 years

Once eggs are de­posited into nests, parental care does not take place. Hatch­lings begin their in­de­pen­dence from the day they emerge from their eggs. The only form of parental care given by mother slid­ers is clas­si­fied as pre-ovu­la­tory. Fe­male slid­ers in­vest a large amount of en­ergy in the cre­ation of nu­tri­ent-rich yolks for their eggs. Yolks have to con­tain an ad­e­quate amount of stored lipids to sus­tain the hatch­lings dur­ing their time in the nest. (Filo­ramo and Janzen, 1999; Marlen and Fis­cher, 1999)

• Parental Investment
• no parental involvement

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Slider tur­tles can live up to 30 years in the wild. Cap­tive slid­ers can live up to 41.3 years. Data on av­er­age lifes­pans of both wild and cap­tive slid­ers are in­suf­fi­cient and are not re­ported in lit­er­a­ture. Sur­vival stud­ies of wild tur­tles pre­sent lo­gis­ti­cal chal­lenges due to the fact that they have rel­a­tively long lifes­pans. In­for­ma­tion about cap­tive tur­tles is fre­quently found to be un­re­li­able due to owner ex­ag­ger­a­tion about age. Own­ers also fre­quently re­lease their slid­ers into the wild after a few years, pre­vent­ing max­i­mum lifes­pan ages from being col­lected. (Cas­tanet, 1994; Gib­bons, 1987)

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  30 (high) years

• Range lifespan
  Status: captivity

  41.3 (high) years

Be­hav­ior

Slider tur­tles spend their time walk­ing, swim­ming, graz­ing, for­ag­ing, and bask­ing. They are most ac­tive dur­ing warm months and on sunny days dur­ing cold months. Slid­ers are gre­gar­i­ous an­i­mals, and they are often found in large num­bers. They have webbed toes that are adapted for swim­ming, and they can often be seen for­ag­ing for aquatic prey and float­ing with their heads just above the water. They are also ef­fi­cient at walk­ing on dry ground as well as shal­low areas along the banks of water sources. Walk­ing time is mostly spent graz­ing on var­i­ous veg­e­ta­tion and for­ag­ing for ter­res­trial prey.

Slid­ers spend a sub­stan­tial amount of time bask­ing in the sun. They bask on rocks, logs, banks, float­ing veg­e­ta­tion/de­bris, and any other avail­able sur­face in di­rect sun­light. Bask­ing slid­ers sus­tain their body tem­per­a­tures be­tween 18.2 de­grees Cel­sius and 33.6 de­grees Cel­sius. An ideal body tem­per­a­ture within this range has not been iden­ti­fied. In­creas­ing body tem­per­a­ture via bask­ing stim­u­lates meta­bolic rates and aids in di­ges­tion. Males bask most fre­quently in Sep­tem­ber and Oc­to­ber. This is likely be­cause in­creas­ing their body tem­per­a­tures helps them to pro­duce testos­terone and sperm. Fe­males bask most fre­quently dur­ing May and June, but the rea­son for this is un­clear. Slid­ers ex­hibit a rel­a­tively high tol­er­ance to cold tem­per­a­tures. For ex­am­ple, hatch­lings have the abil­ity to su­per­cool their body flu­ids, and they can with­stand tem­per­a­tures as low as -4 de­grees Cel­sius with­out harm. Slid­ers do not bury them­selves for warmth, so they rely solely on bask­ing to main­tain ap­pro­pri­ate body tem­per­a­tures. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Carr, 2008; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Thomas, et al., 1999)

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• natatorial
• diurnal
• motile
• social

Home Range

Slider tur­tles are found in large num­bers liv­ing in the same area. Slid­ers are not known to be ter­ri­to­r­ial or ag­gres­sive, and they do not make ef­forts to de­fend a spe­cific home range. (Packard, et al., 1997)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Slider tur­tles use their vi­sion to for­age and re­spond to their sur­round­ings. Their eyes have re­cep­tors that are ca­pa­ble of see­ing ul­tra­vi­o­let, vi­o­let, blue, green, and red light. They com­mu­ni­cate by eye rolling, dis­plays, vi­bra­tions, and touch. Slider tur­tles move their eyes quickly back and forth to cre­ate flashes of light and re­flec­tions that send mes­sages to other tur­tles. Slid­ers com­mu­ni­cate dur­ing courtship rit­u­als by en­gag­ing in fore­claw pos­tur­ing. For ex­am­ple, wav­ing their claws un­der­wa­ter causes vi­bra­tions that stim­u­late the per­cep­tion chan­nels of other tur­tles. Slider tur­tles also use their fore­claws to touch the faces of con­specifics for mate choos­ing and gen­eral so­cial com­mu­ni­ca­tion. (Ernst and Bar­bour, 1989; Fla­marique, et al., 2007; Grosse, et al., 2010; Simang, et al., 2010; Thomas and Altig, 2006)

• Communication Channels
• visual
• tactile

• Other Communication Modes
• vibrations

• Perception Channels
• visual
• ultraviolet
• polarized light
• tactile
• vibrations

Food Habits

Ju­ve­nile slider tur­tles are mostly car­niv­o­rous. They feed on in­sects such as bee­tles and grasshop­pers, lar­vae, spi­ders, cray­fish, tad­poles, fish, clams, fresh­wa­ter sponges, snails, slugs, small am­phib­ians, and other rep­tiles. They oc­ca­sion­ally con­sume the flesh of dead an­i­mals. Ju­ve­nile slider tur­tles need to eat other an­i­mals be­cause they re­quire more nu­tri­ents than they are able to di­gest from plants. This is po­ten­tially due to the time-con­sum­ing fer­men­ta­tion process in their guts dur­ing di­ges­tion. When an­i­mal prey are scare, eat­ing a plant-based diet can re­sult in stunted growth and poor sur­vival.

As they ma­ture, they ex­pe­ri­ence an on­to­ge­netic shift and be­come om­ni­vores. Adult slider tur­tles de­velop a mi­croflora in their di­ges­tive tracts that allow them to break down plants. They feed mostly on aquatic plants and ter­res­trial plant ma­te­r­ial like stems, leaves, flow­ers, and seeds. They also con­sume algae reg­u­larly. Adult slider tur­tles will con­sume other an­i­mals when they can, par­tic­u­larly fresh­wa­ter in­ver­te­brates. Slider tur­tles are op­por­tunis­tic, for­ag­ing both in the water and on land.

A study of wild-caught slider tur­tles in south­ern Illi­nois found sub­tle dif­fer­ences be­tween the diets of males and fe­males. Dres­lik (1999), found that the stom­achs of adult slid­ers con­tained more than 40% plant ma­te­r­ial. He found that males eat slightly more plant ma­te­r­ial than fe­males. Fe­males con­sume more mol­lusks and fresh­wa­ter in­ver­te­brates than males. Fe­males are par­tic­u­larly car­niv­o­rous while they are nest­ing, likely due to cal­cium de­mands. This same au­thor found that pro­por­tions of plant and an­i­mal diets vary by ge­o­graphic range for adult slid­ers. Tur­tles found in Neotrop­i­cal areas con­sume roughly equiv­a­lent amounts of plants and an­i­mals. Stom­achs of slid­ers found in Ten­nessee con­tained al­most en­tirely plant ma­te­r­ial. Stom­achs of slid­ers found in Florida con­tained 89% an­i­mal ma­te­r­ial. (Aresco, 2010; Bouchard and Bjorn­dal, 2005; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Carr, 2008; Dres­lik, 1999; Ernst and Bar­bour, 1989; Green and Pauley, 1987; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Stafford and Meyer, 2000)

• Primary Diet
• omnivore

• Animal Foods
• amphibians
• reptiles
• fish
• eggs
• carrion
• insects
• terrestrial non-insect arthropods
• mollusks
• aquatic crustaceans

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• wood, bark, or stems
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• flowers
• algae

Pre­da­tion

Adult and ju­ve­nile slider tur­tles are vul­ner­a­ble to rep­til­ian preda­tors in­clud­ing many snakes and Amer­i­can al­li­ga­tors (Al­li­ga­tor mis­sis­sip­pi­en­sis). Bird preda­tors in­clude var­i­ous wad­ing birds and crows in the genus Corvus. Preda­tory fish in­clude gar and cat­fish. Mar­su­pi­als, such as opos­sums, reg­u­larly feed on slider tur­tles. Mam­malian preda­tors are many skunks, rac­coons (Pro­cyon lotor), Amer­i­can mink (Neo­vi­son vison), ot­ters, coy­otes (Canis la­trans), grey foxes (Uro­cyon cinereoar­gen­teus), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and ar­madil­los. Hu­mans (Homo sapi­ens) are also con­trib­u­tors to slider tur­tle mor­tal­ity rates. Hu­mans are known to shoot bask­ing slid­ers, crush them with au­to­mo­biles, and kill them with boat pro­pellers. Striped skunks (Mephi­tis mephi­tis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus vir­gini­anus), large­mouth bass (Mi­cropterus salmoides), and red foxes have been recorded feed­ing on slider tur­tle eggs.

The bright yel­low and red mark­ings on slider tur­tles have been shown to be apose­matic. In Mis­sis­sippi, Brit­son (1998) found that large­mouth bass do not eat slider tur­tles once they have hatched. Brit­son con­cluded that large­mouth bass, that rely al­most solely on vi­sual cues to hunt, avoid slid­ers be­cause of bright warn­ing col­ors found on their plas­trons and skin.

Slid­ers also have the abil­ity to re­tract their limbs and heads into their shells. Bite marks and em­bed­ded teeth found in the shells of live slid­ers sug­gest that shells can pro­tect the tur­tles from a va­ri­ety of preda­tors, in­clud­ing al­li­ga­tors. (Brit­son, 1998; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Hamil­ton, et al., 2002; Hays and McBee, 2010; Mitchell and Co­nant, 1994; Sem­l­itsch and Gib­bons, 1989)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• aposematic

• Known Predators

  • snakes (Serpentes)
  • American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)
  • crows (Corvus species)
  • gar (Atractosteus species)
  • catfish (Siluriformes)
  • raccoons (Procyon lotor)
  • American mink (Neovison vison)
  • otters (Lontra canadensis)
  • coyotes (Canis latrans)
  • armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus)
  • humans (Homo sapiens)
  • white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
  • striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis)
  • largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
  • red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)
  • grey foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
  • opossums (Didelphis virginiana)

Ecosys­tem Roles

Like many other rep­tiles, slider tur­tles are sub­ject to par­a­sitic in­fec­tion. By ex­am­in­ing the fecal ma­te­r­ial of mul­ti­ple slid­ers, nu­mer­ous par­a­sitic species of leeches, spiny-headed worms, flukes, round­worms, and alve­o­lates have been iden­ti­fied. Par­a­sitic leeches in­clude Helob­della papil­lata, Pla­cob­della par­a­sit­ica, Placpb­della mul­ti­lin­eata, and some in the famiy Glos­si­phoni­idae. Spiny-headed worms par­a­sites are Neoechi­norhynchus chry­se­my­dis, Neoechi­norhynchus emy­di­toides, Neoechi­norhynchus pseude­my­dis, and Neoechi­norhynchus stunkardi. Par­a­sitic flukes iden­ti­fied are Dictyangium chely­drae, Heron­imus mol­lis, Neopolystoma or­bic­u­lare, Telorchis corti, and Telorchis sin­gu­laris. Round­worm par­a­sites are Ca­mal­lanus trispinosus, Spiro­noura con­tor­tus, Ser­pinema mi­cro­cephalus, Fal­caus­tra do­nanaen­sis, mem­bers in the genus Physa­loptera, and mem­bers in the genus Aplectana. Alve­o­late par­a­sites in­clude Eime­ria chry­se­my­dis, Eime­ria grapte­my­dos, Eime­ria lu­totes­tu­di­nis, Eime­ria mar­ginata, Eime­ria mi­traria, Eime­ria pseudo­geo­graph­ica, Eime­ria pseude­my­dis, Eime­ria scrip­tae, Eime­ria tetradacru­tata, and Eime­ria tra­che­my­dis. (Hildalgo-Vila, et al., 2009; McAl­lis­ter and Upton, 1988; Readel, et al., 2008; Rosen and Mar­quardt, 1978)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Slider tur­tles have his­tor­i­cally been a large com­po­nent of the pet trade in the United States, Eu­rope, and Asia. They have been con­sis­tently sold in dime stores and pet shops in the United States and are ex­ported fre­quently. An es­ti­mated 500,000 live pet tur­tles, in­clud­ing many slid­ers, are ex­ported to Japan from the United States each year. Slider tur­tles are con­sumed as a del­i­cacy in China. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Nagano, et al., 2006; van Dijk, et al., 2013)

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Slider tur­tles can be a source of Sal­mo­nella en­ter­ica, a bac­terium that causes ill­ness in hu­mans. Sal­mo­nella en­ter­ica is found in the feces of slider tur­tles, and may cause ab­dom­i­nal pain, vom­it­ing, di­ar­rhea, and fever in hu­mans. Most of these in­fec­tions can be elim­i­nated by the human im­mune sys­tem and re­quire no treat­ment. In­fec­tions in chil­dren, el­derly peo­ple, and im­muno­com­pro­mised in­di­vid­u­als can be se­vere and have been known to cause sep­ticemia and menin­gi­tis. In these cases, pa­tients re­quire hos­pi­tal­iza­tion and treat­ment with in­tra­venous an­tibi­otics. Se­vere, un­treated sal­mo­nella in­fec­tions can be fatal. (Nagano, et al., 2006; Pen­del­bury, 2010)

• Negative Impacts
• injures humans
  • causes disease in humans

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Slider tur­tles are listed as a species of least con­cern on the IUCN Red List. They do not have any spe­cial sta­tuses on US gov­ern­ment lists. Slider tur­tles are a pro­lific in­va­sive species, and there is more con­cern sur­round­ing their pres­ence in many lo­ca­tions rather than their threat­ened sta­tus. Slid­ers have been in­tro­duced through pet re­leases onto nearly every con­ti­nent. They have been re­pro­duc­ing with closely-re­lated species on these new con­ti­nents, form­ing hy­brids. These tur­tles have also been out-com­pet­ing many na­tive tur­tles in both Eu­rope and Asia. The Eu­ro­pean Union de­clared the im­port of slid­ers il­le­gal ef­fec­tive in 1997, and they are seek­ing to elim­i­nate many Eu­ro­pean slider pop­u­la­tions. Be­cause the global in­tro­duc­tion of slid­ers is a rel­a­tively re­cent oc­cur­rence, long-term ecosys­tem im­pacts have not yet been de­ter­mined. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; van Dijk, et al., 2013)

• IUCN Red List

  Lower Risk - Near Threatened
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Lower Risk - Near Threatened
  More information

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Kelly Ar­men­trout (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity - Fall 2015, Cari Mc­gre­gor (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Karen Pow­ers (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, April Tin­gle (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Zeb Pike (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Jacob Vaught (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

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