B.C. Reptiles & Amphibians

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Credit: J.N. Stuart

Red-eared Slider

Trachemys scripta elegans

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Description

Other names: Slider, Pond Slider

The Red-Eared Slider is a medium-sized turtle reaching nearly 30 cm in carapace length. The carapace is smooth and typically dark olive green to black and may display dark lines, streaks, and smudges with patches of white, yellow, or red. The plaston is yellow and often marked with dark blotches. The head, neck, and limbs are striped in yellow, and a red patch or ‘ear’ behind the eye give this turtle its name. Colouration in older turtles may be subtle or not visible at all, and older males may even lose their markings completely. Males are generally smaller than females, and have especially long, curved claws that are important for courtship. Other colour morphs have been recorded, including a yellow-eared for which leads to Sliders being easily confused with Painted Turtles.

Listen to the Indigenous words for “turtle” here!

Similar Species

The Red-eared Slider may be easily confused with other similarly sized freshwater turtles such as the Western Painted Turtle and the Northwestern Pond Turtle. Red-eared Sliders can often be seen basking with Western Painted Turtles, but are easily distinguished from Painted Turtles and Pond Turtles by their red ‘ears’ for which they are named. In British Columbia Northwestern Pond Turtles are considered extirpated, so it is unlikely the two species would occur together.

Western Painted Turtle

Red-eared Slider

Northwestern Pond Turtle

Distribution

The Red-eared Slider is an introduced species in British Columbia with nesting populations reported in the Gulf Islands, Burnaby Lake, and sporadically in wetlands around the Greater Vancouver area, where the continuous release of pets appears to be supplementing populations. Red-eared Sliders are native to the southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and Brazil. Young Sliders are popular in the pet trade, however, once they grow older, care and housing for the turtles becomes more difficult, leading to people releasing them in local ponds. Release of Red-eared Sliders through the pet trade has led to introductions of the species across North America, the Netherlands, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

There are 13 recognized subspecies of Pond Slider. The Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is the most common subspecies found in British Columbia.

Habitat

Red-eared Sliders prefer quiet, freshwater systems such as slow-moving rivers, shallow streams, swamps, and ponds and lakes with muddy bottoms and abundant vegetation. Basking locations very close to water, like partially submerged logs and rocks, are important microhabitat features. Red-eared Sliders enjoy the same habitats as Western Painted Turtles and can be seen basking together where both species occur. Red-eared Sliders hibernate throughout the winter in hollow logs, muskrat burrows, or soft mud at the bottom of ponds.

Reproduction

Courtship and mating occurs in spring when the waters begin to warm up. Males will court females by swimming towards them and fluttering and vibrating their long claws on her face and head. If the female is sufficiently stimulated and receptive, the pair will sink to the bottom of the pond to mate. If the female is not receptive, she can become aggressive with the male. Courtship may take up to 45 minutes, but the mating event generally does not last more than 10 minutes. After mating, females will spend extra time basking to keep her eggs warm and may change her diet to eat less or only certain food items. Nesting occurs anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after mating, with females laying up to 5 clutches of 2-30 eggs spaced two weeks to a month apart. Females lay their eggs in nests they dig out in damp soil with little vegetation close to water. Hatching occurs 2-3 months after eggs have been laid. Individuals that hatch later in the season are more likely to overwinter in the nest before emerging the following spring. The number and various sizes of Sliders in B.C. ponds suggests these turtles may be successfully reproducing in locations they have been introduced to. The lifespan of Red-eared Sliders ranges from 20-40 years.

Diet

Red-eared Sliders are omnivorous and eat just about anything they can catch and fit in their mouths such as fish, crayfish, carrion, tadpoles (pictured left), snails, insects, wax worms, algae, and aquatic plants. Young Sliders are more highly carnivorous, and require up to 40% protein in their diet. As young Sliders are highly dependent on protein from tadpoles, frogs, fish and other native freshwater species, biologists are concerned that Sliders may drain limited food sources in already shrinking wetlands.

Conservation Status

Global: G5 (2005)

Provincial: SNA (2018)

BC List: Exotic

Learn more about conservation status rankings here

Threats

As an introduced species, there are concerns that Red-eared Sliders may unbalance the freshwater ecosystems that they are introduced to. They may compete with native Painted Turtles and could be a source of disease for native species. The carnivorous diet of juvenile Sliders may pose a serious threat to frog and salamander populations if populations of Sliders establish and grow.

Biologists strongly urge that former pet turtles must not be released in local ponds. Not only may these turtles have negative impacts on our local ecosystems and native species, but it is also illegal to release pet turtles in the wild in British Columbia. People that can no longer care for their pets should seek reptile refuges or other organizations that can responsibly care for the animal.

If you see a Red-eared Slider, please report your observation to the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia.
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Did You Know?

Fact #1

Males may sometimes appear to court another male, but this is actually a display of dominance and may end in a fight. Juvenile turtles may practice this courtship dance, but are not sexually mature until around 5 years old.

Fact #2

Hatchlings break open their egg with a specialized egg tooth that falls out within an hour of hatching and never grows back.

Fact #3

Red-eared Sliders feed similarly to a humpback whale in a style called neustophagia. They will skim the pond surface with their mouths agape, collecting floating particles and unlucky prey in the mouth and pharynx. When the Slider closes its mouth, it filters and expels the water through its nostrils and swallows the remaining food.

Species Account Author: Marcus Atkins

References

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2002. Species Summary: Trachemys scripta. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available:https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 24, 2021). 
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2021. BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer. B.C. Minist. of Environ. Victoria, B.C. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 24, 2021).  
http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Trachemys%20scripta&ilifeform=43 
https://www.bcreptiles.ca/turtles/redearslider.htm 
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/wildlife/wildlife-conservation/amphibians-reptiles/turtles