Chicken turtles are characterized by the netlike patterns on its carapace (top of shell) and its long and striped neck. Vertical stripes run down the hind legs of these turtles. The carapace is much longer than it is wide and ranges from olive to black in coloration. The plastron is hingeless and colored yellow/orange. Females are usually larger than males.Chicken turtles appear to be very tolerant of some types of pollution. In North Carolina, they have been observed living in sewage treatment ponds.
Ten Facts about Chicken Turtle
- It ranges from 4 to 9 inches (10-22.5 cm) in carapace length.
- Chicken turtles are probably omnivorous but very little is known about their diet. They have been observed eating tadpoles and crayfish.
- Despite their usual aquatic nature, chicken turtles can often be seen walking around on land.
- hicken turtles can be found in canals, marshes, cypress, ponds, and other bodies of still or sluggish water. They are frequently found in the sandhills.
- Females may lay two clutches during the year with clutch size varying between 5 and 11 eggs.
- Some reached the maximum ages of 20 to 24 years.
- They are found from from Virginia south to Florida and west to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Chicken turtles are found in still waterways in nature.
- Chicken Turtles are omnivorous, eating crayfish, fish, fruits, insects, invertebrates, frogs, tadpoles and plants.
- Warmer temperatures result in an increase in female embryos, with only 11 percent becoming males at incubation temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius.
- Chicken turtle are eaten by snakes, birds, raccoons, frogs, hawks, alligator, fishes.
