The mud turtle is a small, nondescript reptile. The carapace (upper shell) is olive to dark brown to almost black, patternless, smooth and keelless. It has only 11 marginal scutes (plates) rather than the 12 found on most turtles. The plastron (lower shell) is yellow to brown, double-hinged, with 11 plates. Males have a well-developed, blunt spine at the tip of the tail and rough scaly patches on the inside of the hind legs.Fact s about Eastern Red-bellied Turtle
Ten Facts about Eastern Red-bellied Turtle
- Measuring 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm).
- Eastern mud turtles are omnivorous. They are known to feed on crustaceans (such as crayfish), mollusks, aquatic insects, and seeds.
- Eastern mud turtles are semi-aquatic. They are not strong swimmers and usually crawl along the bottom.
- Eastern mud turtles prefer shallow and sluggish bodies of water. They are able to tolerate brackish water and are sometimes encountered in salt marshes.
- Mud turtles lay between 2 and 5 eggs during June or July.
- Eastern mud turtle eggs are hard shelled and do not absorb water like most turtle eggs. The young hatch in August or September.
- Snakes, foxes, alligators, birds like to eat them.
- Can live up to 50 years.
- The eastern mud turtle has a geographic range from Long Island southward to the tip of Florida and as far westward as central portions of Texas.
- The species passes the winter in a burrow below the frost line, typically in the mud near a marsh, pond or swamp.
