Pond Slider

Trachemys scripta

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about sliders. Also known as pond sliders, these turtles may be more famous via their subspecies common names: red eared sliders and yellow bellied sliders. These turtles are well known because they are abundant in the pet trade. Through this, pond sliders have advanced far outside their native range in the southeastern United States and are currently considered one of the most widespread freshwater turtle species in the world! Pond sliders may be considered pests in places outside of their native range, but we’ll be discussing later in the episode how this isn’t always the case.

Pond sliders may be found in just about any source of freshwater, though they have a preference for permanent water systems like ponds and swamps. These hardy turtles can even be found in brackish water meaning they can tolerate some levels of salinity, but they aren’t found in marine environments. Pond sliders specifically love environments littered with fallen logs and debris giving the turtles a chance to bask. Perhaps you’ve seen this in action in the wild.

Pond sliders often live in close proximity to one another, and it’s not unheard of to see dozens of turtles basking on the same log - sometimes even in turtle piles! As reptiles, pond sliders are ectotherms meaning they get their heat from their environment. In order to warm up, pond sliders will pull themselves out of the water and sun themselves sometimes even taking on what we call “the ballerina pose” with their legs spread out for maximum sunning. Though pond sliders spend most of their time in the water or basking in the sun, they can also travel across land.

Pond sliders lay their eggs on land. A female pond slider may travel more than a mile (1.6 kilometers) to find the perfect place to lay her eggs. She’ll lay two to twenty eggs in a nest she digs herself. Female pond sliders are typically bigger than the males. The ladies often have longer back claws, perhaps for nest digging purposes, and the boys have longer front claws. To entice a female, a male will flutter his feet in front of his potential partner’s face. It’s turtle flirting! Sometimes the females will respond with feet fluttering, too!

If she’s receptive, they’ll mate, and she’ll make her way to build the perfect nest. The temperature inside a pond slider nest can determine the sex of the babies. They’ll develop over ten to fourteen weeks. Upon hatching, some hatchlings may make their way out of the nest, but the rest will stay behind, remaining in the nest over winter not emerging until spring. This can change based on how far north the pond sliders live! Even adults, who may go into low energy states during the winter in northern areas, may remain active year round in the southern parts of their range.

Young pond sliders eat more animal material to help them grow. They may take insects, small fish, tadpoles, clams, and more. As they get older, pond sliders eat more plant material including algae and aquatic vegetation. As they grow, the males can reach sizes upwards of four inches (10 centimeters) while the girls can more than double that! Pond sliders often start out with bright colors, including their iconic “ears”, but as they get older males may become darker until they’re nearly black!

In the wild, pond sliders are believed to live at least a decade or two, though this isn’t well documented. And that’s considering they can avoid predators such as raccoons, foxes, skunks, alligators, snakes, crows, otters, and even humans! In some parts of the world, pond sliders are replacing native turtles in the diets of people which could help to save other turtle species that may otherwise be over-harvested as a food source.

For more facts on pond sliders, check out the links in the description. Thank you to George O for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.