Red-eared Slider
Trachemys scripta
Photo: Happyswissman · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Found one?
Don't move it — report it
Moving it spreads it. Report the sighting instead.
- 01Don't move it to another pond — that spreads it.
- 02Report the sighting so biologists can track it.
- 03Have a pet slider? Never release it: it's illegal in New Jersey. Contact a turtle rescue instead.
Stay safe
- Wash your hands after touching any turtle — reptiles commonly carry Salmonella.
Pick your state for the local rules. TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListLeast Concern in its native south-central US. Elsewhere — including Pennsylvania and New Jersey — wild sliders are mostly released pets.
What Least Concern means
Assessed as widespread and abundant. This describes the global population, not fishing pressure or legal protection.
On your plate
Not Typically Eaten
Not food.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Ponds, lakes and slow rivers
Range
Native to the Mississippi basin; introduced worldwide
Size
13–28 cm shell
Diet
Plants, insects, snails and fish
Lifespan
20–30 years or more
Group
turtle
The red stripe behind each eye gives it its name.
It's the most widely traded pet turtle in the world.
It slides off its basking log at the first sign of danger.