Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dear Folks-

I don't know much about turtles. Sorry!

I rescued this one today from my dog, who was menacing it and would not stop. The turtle was in a low cover of dry brush and leaf litter in a wooded area, right next to a high bush blueberry swamp in northern central Massachusetts. The turtle was in a dry place, but so close to the swamp that I could have thrown a stone into the water from where I found the turtle.

I didn't want to move it, in case was a female who had laid eggs, but my dog didn't give me any choice. I carried it about two hundred feet away to a small stream issuing from the swamp that let it make a safe escape, and released it.

The turtle was longer than my hand! I'd say a good two pounds. Very active and healthy looking. The bottom plate (plastron?)was
the yellow of a piece of cheddar cheese. The tail had thin yellow stripes running lengthwise down it. The sides of the shell near the head and front legs were very red, with an almost paisly swirled effect. The only thing I can say for certain is it was *not* a snapper. Those I recognize.

Can someone please tell me what this was? I'm going to be keeping an eye on my dog, just in case the turtle returns to precisely the spot I found it in originally, in case there are eggs there.

Alex in MA

eastern painted turtle.
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PHWyvern

Thank you! I tried looking at pics of turtles before I asked you folks and that was my guess, but being clueless, I preferred to ask comeone *with* a clue.

It was a beautiful animal.

Alex

Yep, Eastern Painted. Anyway, I figured I'd add to the conversation by saying that it does look like a female. Adult males tend to have very long toenails on their front legs (nearly a centimeter in some cases) though that field mark is highly variable. My understanding is that the males use their toenails to "caress" the female's neck during courtship. Anyway, from this shot, I'm not seeing long toenails. Also, this is definitely the time of year when you would expect to find females traveling on land to lay their eggs which is probably what this gal was doing. Hard to say whether or not she had alreay laid them by the time you got to her but if she did I would expect the eggs to be safe from a pet dog though you never know.

Lastly, a more solid way to differentiate sex is by the tail. If you can grab onto the tail and stretch it out, the vent (cloaca) should extend past the posterior margin of the carapace if its a male and stop just short of it if it's a female. It kind of makes sense that it would stick farther out on males since they need to reach it down and around the female's shell when mating.

Size alone would say this is a female. Do eastern painted turtles in MA get bigger than the ones in MD? 'Cause I've never seen one that big in MD.

Katrina
Link

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1.2 Eastern Muds - Fred, Ethel, Edith
0.1 Iguana - Tiffel
0.1 Bearded Dragon - Foster
Foster turtles: More than I'd like the husband to know about.

Though rarely studied it is believed that female specimens of the same species from different geographical locations range in size to make up for shorter or longer mating and laying seasons. Females for example of eastern painted turtles may be larger in MA and other New England states due to the shorter summer and therefore must lay more eggs at once. In the southern areas they can lay more than once, for some species 3 or more times a year, and do not need to lay as many eggs at once so they tend to stay smaller.