What species is this?

[balone]

Hi all. I live on the NW Florida Gulf Coast near Panama City. I saw this turtle tonight on the beach and cannot figure out what type it is. Hopefully one of you can help me identify it. Thanks very much.

 

[Markw84]

Looks like a very young yellow bellied slider Trachemys scripta scripta

Without seeing the head more it could possibly be a red eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans but with that big yellow stripe right on the nose my bet is Yellow Bellied slider

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

It's a baby slider of some sort, and more than likely a yellow belly, like Mark suggested.

It's a water turtle and they can't swallow food unless they're submerged in water.

 

[balone]

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

 

[teresaf]

@Yvonne G Isn't that a FRESH water turtle? Why would it be on a beach?

 

[Berkeley]

It is a freshwater turtle, teresaf. You're right. There are several reasons that it could have been on the beach though. It has dirt on it's shell, so it recently emerged from overwintering in its nest most likely. This means that it could have been picked up by a crow, gull or other large bird and then dropped; or it could have washed out of a nearby river or tidal creek; or someone could have found it and thought it was a baby sea turtle that needed rescuing and dropped it off at the beach. It will be impossible to say for sure, but each one of those scenarios happens a lot more frequently than we may think!

Hope that helps!
--Berkeley

 

[teresaf]

Wouldn't it be beneficial to the turtle to find the nearest Waterway with fresh water and take him there or should it be left alone? On that white sand he doesn't really have a chance does he? he'd be very visible to predators.

 

[Moozillion]

Wouldn't it be beneficial to the turtle to find the nearest Waterway with fresh water and take him there or should it be left alone? On that white sand he doesn't really have a chance does he? he'd be very visible to predators.

I think that's a good idea!

 

[Berkeley]

Wouldn't it be beneficial to the turtle to find the nearest Waterway with fresh water and take him there or should it be left alone? On that white sand he doesn't really have a chance does he? he'd be very visible to predators.

To be honest, most hatchlings don't have much of a chance in the wild!

In a case like this relocating it back to a freshwater environment would be fine. If the gulls or ghost crabs don't eat it there on the beach, the salt water will surely kill it. But that is also part of a turtle's life- they (usually) have bunches of babies because so many don't make it to their first birthday.

--Berkeley