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Animal Information

Michigan Turtles

Table of Contents

Blanding’s Turtle………………………………………………………………………………………2

Common Map Turtle…………………………………………………………………….………….4

Common Snapping Turtle………………………………………………………….……………..6

Eastern Box Turtle………………………………………………………………….…………..……8

Painted Turtle…………………………………………………………………………………………10

Red-Eared Slider……………………………………………………………………………………..12

Spotted Turtle…………………………………………………………………………………………14

Wood Turtle……………………………………………………………………………………………16

2

John Ball Zoo Habitat – There are 3 Blanding’s turtles located in the Hillside Habitat.

One can also be found in the Red Barn.

Individual Animals: 3 Male, 1 Undetermined

Undetermined

o Housed in Upper Red Barn

o Hatched September 2014

Wild (Michigan)

o Arrived August 29, 2016

The Hillside 3 arrived:

o May 07, 2008 from a private donor

o November 17, 2016 from Mesker Park Zoo (Indiana)

o November 18, 2016 from Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square (Saginaw, MI)

Life Expectancy

Can reach over 70 years of age.

Statistics

Length – 6-9 inches

Weight – 1.6-3 pounds

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – algae, leaves of soft aquatic plants, fish, fish eggs, frogs, crustaceans, adult and

larval insects, and carrion.

Predators – Northern short-tailed shrews, Striped skunks, Virginia opossums, raccoons, foxes,

and the North American River Otter.

Most predation is on eggs, and juveniles.

Habitat

Blanding’s turtles are semi-aquatic, living

mostly in shallow wetland habitats where

aquatic vegetation is abundant.

Region

Native to Canada, stretching as far west as

southeastern Ontario and as far east as

southern Nova Scotia. They continue

southward to the United States. With a range

including the Great Lakes region, this reptiles’

range stretches as far northeast as Maine and

as far northwest as South Dakota and Nebraska,

including southeastern New York, Pennsylvania,

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, southern

Michigan, southeastern Minnesota, New

Hampshire, as well as Ohio.

Blanding’s Turtle Emydoidea blandingii

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Reproduction – Polyandrous: females mate with several males during on breeding season.

The females reach sexual maturity at 14 to 21 years, averaging maturity at 18 years.

Males tend to reach sexual maturity at around 12 years.

The females have all of the control in the courtship process when it comes to choosing

their mates. However, during courtship, the males are very aggressive and are the ones

who seem to be in control, mounting the females and grabbing their carapaces.

The females tend to mate with the same males each year.

Mating takes place year round, but mostly the start of

spring in March and early April.

o Mating takes place at night.

Females will only nest and lay eggs once a year, between

the last weeks of June and the beginning of July.

Clutches are products of more than one father, and may

be cared for by multiple male turtles, usually two, but

occasionally up to three mates.

Clutch sizes range from 3 to 19, averaging around 10 eggs.

The incubation period typically lasts between 80 and 128 days.

Females leave the eggs once they bury them in a safe nesting spot, and the males watch

over the eggs from then on until the final days of the incubation period.

Behavior

Blanding’s turtles are mostly aquatic, they commonly emerge from the water to rest on

logs, sedge clumps, or any terrestrial land that is close to their aquatic homes.

Overwinter in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

On land males will travel, on average, over 6 miles in a day.

Adaptations

The hinges of the ventral shell are able to move.

Conservation Concerns

Road mortality

Habitat destruction

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Blanding’s Turtle Emydoidea blandingii

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – Located in the Hillside Duck and Turtle habitat.

Individual Animals: 1 Female

Female

o Wild Hatch (Michigan)

Date: Unknown

o Arrived July 02, 2008

Life Expectancy

Can live as long as 20 years.

Statistics

Length

o Female: 7-10 inches

o Males: 3.5-6.5 inches

Diet – Omnivore

Wild

o Females: clams and crayfish.

o Males: aquatic insects and small crustaceans.

o Both are also known to eat snails, dead fish, and some plant material.

Predators

Raccoons, Skunks, Foxes, North American River Otters, and Coyotes.

Habitat

Ponds, river-bottoms, and lakes

Region

From southern Quebec and northwestern

Vermont.

West through the Great Lakes and into

southern Wisconsin and eastern

Minnesota.

South to Kansas, northeastern Oklahoma,

Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and then

northwestern Georgia.

It also occurs in the Susquehanna River

system located in Pennsylvania and

Maryland and also in the Delaware River.

Common Map Turtle Graptemys geographica

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Reproduction

They breed in the spring and the fall.

Mating takes place in deep waters.

The nesting period lasts from May to July.

The female usually lays two or multiple

clutches in one breeding season.

Clutch size ranges from 6 to 20 eggs.

They hatch after 50 to 70 days of

incubation and emerge in August or

September.

Behavior – Diurnal

They must eat in the water.

Dormant from November through early April.

Exhibits basking behavior.

Conservation Concerns

Road mortality

Habitat loss

Water pollution

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while

connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Common Map Turtle Graptemys geographica

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – Located in the North America Turtle habitat (Weather permitting).

Individual Animals: 1 Male

Birth date and location unknown

Arrived October 07, 2012

o From a Private Donor

Life Expectancy

Wild: up to 30 years

Under Managed Care: 47 years

Statistics – Largest species of turtle native to Michigan

Length – Carapace: 8-18.5 inches

o Tail is almost as long as the shell

Weight – 8.8-35 pounds

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – carrion, invertebrates, fish, birds, small mammals, amphibians, and a surprisingly

large amount of aquatic vegetation.

Predators – None once they are full grown.

The eggs and hatchlings of snapping turtles may be eaten

by other large turtles, great blue

herons, crows, raccoons, skunks, foxes, bullfrogs, water

snakes, and large predatory fish, such as largemouth bass.

Habitat

Fresh or brackish water. They prefer water bodies with

muddy bottoms and abundant vegetation because

concealment is easier.

Region

From S. Alberta and east to Nova Scotia in the north, extending south all the way to the

Gulf of Mexico and into central Texas.

Reproduction

Over most of its range, the common snapping turtle mates from late March to

November.

Over much of North America, the main nesting period of this species is between mid-

May and mid-June.

Using its hind feet, the female common snapping turtle digs a flask-shaped nest, usually

in relatively loose sand, vegetable debris.

In most populations of the common snapping turtle,

only one clutch is laid per breeding season.

The eggs are roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.

Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina

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A clutch consists of between 25 and 45 eggs.

Incubation last 75-95 days.

Adaptations

The tail has saw-toothed keels on it.

Behavior – Diurnal

This species is seldom seen basking, but can

often be seen floating just below the water’s

surface.

Adults sit and wait for prey to swim near it

instead of actively seeking it out.

Most common snapping turtles

enter hibernation by late October.

Hibernation usually ends around April, but

this varies depending on the location.

Conservation Concerns

Habitat loss and degradation

Pet trade

Road-kill and other casual human-induced mortality occurs.

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Be mindful of wildlife and the environment as you make every day purchasing decisions

o Choose your pets responsibly

Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – Located in the Natural Treasures building.

One can also be found in the Red Barn.

Individual Animals: 3 Males

Male – Ted (darker coloration)

o Born February 1995 (Estimate)

Location unknown

o Arrived February 19, 2015

Male – Bill (lighter coloration)

o Birth date and location unknown

o Arrived March 08, 2008

Male – Carl (split beak)

o Housed in Upper Red Barn

o Birth date and location unknown

o Arrived 1985

Life Expectancy – Can live over 100 years.

Statistics – Length – 4.3-7 inches, females tend to be smaller

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – snails, insects, berries, fungi, slugs, worms, roots, flowers, fish, frogs,

salamanders, snakes, birds, and eggs.

Predators – Few species can prey effectively on adults due to their ability to close their shells.

Habitat – Forest, savanna, or grassland.

Region – Exclusively North America

Ranging from southern Maine to Florida along the East

Coast, and west to Michigan, Illinois, eastern Kansas,

Oklahoma, and Texas.

Reproduction – Polygynandrous – both males and females

can have multiple mates.

Sexual maturity is reached around 5 years of age.

Mating season begins in the spring and continues throughout summer until October.

Males sometimes fall backwards after copulation, and if they can't right themselves they

die of starvation.

Nesting occurs from May through July.

Nests are usually dug in sandy or loamy soil, using the hind legs. Then eggs are laid in

this cavity and the nest is

carefully covered up again.

Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina carolina

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A female may lay fertile eggs for up to four years

after one successful mating.

There are 3-8 eggs laid, though usually 4 or 5, and

they are elliptical with thin, white, flexible shells.

Incubation last roughly 3 months

Adaptations

Hinged plastron (ventral part of shell) that

allows box turtles to close their shells almost

completely.

Male Box turtles eyes tend to be more colorful

than females. The red or orange coloration may

help females to identify males from a distance.

Behavior – Diurnal

When it gets too hot, they hide under decaying logs and leaves,

crawl into mammal burrows, or in mud. When it is very hot, they

go into shady pools and puddles to cool off.

In the northern regions they go into hibernation in October or November and emerge

from hibernation in April.

o Further south, they remain active later in the year.

To hibernate, they burrow as much as two feet deep into loose earth, mud, stream

bottoms, old stump holes, or mammal burrows.

Eastern Box Turtles are the only land turtle native to Michigan.

Conservation Concerns

Degradation, fragmentation and destruction of Box Turtle habitat is widespread

Numbers are also declining due to the pet trade.

While listed as vulnerable, their population is decreasing and they are a species of

concern in many states.

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Be mindful of wildlife and the environment as you make every day purchasing decisions

o Choose your pets responsibly

Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina carolina

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – There are 3 Painted turtles located in the North America Turtle Habitat.

Individual Animals: 2 Males, 1 Female

Male

o Hatch location and date: Unknown

o Arrived July 10, 2008

From public donor

Male

o Wild Hatch (Michigan)

Date: Unknown

o Arrived April 26, 2008

Female

o Hatch location and date: Unknown

o Arrived March 10, 2008

From public donor

Life Expectancy

Painted turtles may live as long as 35 to 40 years.

Statistics

Length – 3.5-9.8 inches

Weight – 13 ounces

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – plants, small animals, such as fish, crustaceans, aquatic insects, and some carrion.

Predators

Mink, raccoons, foxes, North American River Otters, and other medium-sized predators.

Habitat

Painted turtles prefer living in freshwater that is

quiet, shallow, and has a thick layer of mud.

Region

Painted turtles are one of the most common turtles

in North America and are found from southern

Canada to northern Mexico.

The Painted Turtle is Michigan’s state reptile.

Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta

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Reproduction – Polygynous: having more than one female as a mate at one time.

Mating begins after hibernation and before feeding

begins when the water temperatures are still low.

The breeding season lasts from late spring to early

summer.

Males mature at about 3-5 years of age. Females

take longer at 6-10 years.

In the early summer females lay 4 to 15 oval, soft-

shelled eggs, in a flask-shaped hole.

Females choose soft, sandy soil with good exposure

to the sun in which to dig the hole. Once the eggs are laid they cover the hole and leave.

The young hatch and dig out of the nest on their own, they are independent

immediately.

Behavior – Diurnal

Painted turtles must eat in the water, their tongue does not move freely and they

cannot manipulate food well on land.

Painted turtles bask in large groups on logs, fallen trees, and other objects. The sunning

helps rid them of parasitic leeches.

In many areas turtles hibernate

during the winter months by

burrowing into the mud and

allowing their bodies to become

very cold.

They use touch to communicate with each other, particularly during mating.

Adaptations

They have no teeth, the turtle jaw has tough plates for gripping food.

Sound perception is poor in turtles, but they do have a good sense of smell and color

vision.

Conservation Concerns

Road mortality, habitat loss, and pollution

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – Located in the North America Turtle habitat (Weather permitting).

Individual Animals: 3 Females

2 Females

o Hatch date estimated between 1995-1997

o Location unknown

o Arrived April 10, 2008

From Akron Zoological Park

Female

o Hatch date and location unknown

o Arrived August 20, 2013

Public donation

Life Expectancy

Can live over 35 years

Statistics

Length

o Female: 7.8 inches

o Male: 11 inches

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – Algae, plants, sponges, snails, clams, crayfish, insects, arachnids, and carrion.

Predators

Alligators, Crows, Mink, Raccoons, North American River Otters, and Coyotes.

Habitat

Most freshwater habitats. Quiet

waters with soft bottoms and

basking sites.

Region

Mississippi valley from Illinois to

the Gulf of Mexico.

Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans

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Reproduction

Sexual maturity is typically 2-5 years, but the

timing is dependent on many factors.

Courtship behavior occurs in the spring and fall.

Courtship occurs in the water.

Nesting typically occurs between April and July.

Clutch size ranges from 2-23eggs.

A single turtle can lay up to 5 clutches in a year.

Eggs hatch in late summer or early fall.

Behavior – Diurnal

Basks in the sunlight for thermoregulation.

Hibernates in the winter in Northern regions.

Sleeps by resting on the bottom or floating at the

surface of the water.

Conservation Concerns

Habitat degradation and loss

Road mortality

Pollution (particularly pesticides and heavy metals).

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – There is 1 spotted turtle located in the Frogs and friends building.

Individual Animals: 1 Male, 3 Undetermined

Male

o Housed in Frogs and Friends

o Hatched September 2010

Unknown location

o Arrived February 24, 2011

Private Donor

Life Expectancy

Can reach over 100 years of age.

Statistics – Smallest species of turtle native to Michigan

Length – 4.5 inches

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – algae, leaves of soft aquatic plants, water lily seeds, worms, mollusks,

crustaceans, adult and larval insects, amphibian eggs and larvae, and carrion.

Predators – Raccoons, Common Snapping Turtles, Muskrats and Foxes.

Most predation is on eggs, and juveniles.

Habitat

Shallow waters with a soft bottom substrate and some submergent and emergent

vegetation. Sedge meadows, boggy ponds, fens, tamarack swamps, and slow, muddy

streams.

Region

Eastern North America: from Canada to Northern Florida

including the Midwest.

Within this range, the Spotted Turtle is spottily distributed

in the remaining suitable habitat, and most populations are

small and colonial in nature.

Behavior

Spotted Turtles tend to become inactive in the warmest

part of the summer.

When surprised while basking, Spotted Turtles will dive into

the water and bury themselves in the bottom mud.

Spotted Turtle Clemmys guttata

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Reproduction

Sexual maturity at a carapace length of 3.5 inches (around 7-14 years of age).

Male Spotted Turtles may fight each other, presumably over access to females.

Courtship involves the male chasing the female under water while nipping and biting her

legs and carapace; he then mounts her shell and bites at her head and neck.

Copulation occurs in shallow water and may last for an hour.

Nesting can occur from late May through June.

Females typically lay only one clutch of from 1 to 8 eggs per year, though a few may lay

a second, smaller clutch a few days after the first.

Nesting females seek open, sunny locations that offer moist, but well-drained, soils.

The sex of the hatchlings is determined by nest temperature during the middle third of

the incubation period; cooler experimental temperatures produced mostly males, and

warmer temperatures produced only females.

Conservation Concerns

Pet trade

Road mortality

Habitat destruction

Sensitivity to pollution in waterways

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Be mindful of wildlife and the environment as you make every day purchasing decisions

o Choose your pets responsibly

Spotted Turtle Clemmys guttata

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John Ball Zoo Habitat – Located in the North America Turtle habitat (Weather permitting).

One can also be found in the Red Barn.

Individual Animals: 2 Females

Female – Harding

o Housed in Upper Red Barn

o Hatched between April and August 2003

Location unknown

o Arrived February 19,2005

Public Donor

Female

o Housed in the North America Turtle Habitat

o Hatched between April and August 2003

Location unknown

o Arrived February 19,2005

Public Donor

Life Expectancy – Wood Turtle can reach 60 years of age.

Statistics – Carapace Length – 6.3-9.8 inches

Diet – Omnivore

Wild – leaves, flowers, berries, fungi, slugs, snails, worms, and insects.

o Opportunistically consume young mice or eggs, or scavenge dead animals.

Predators – Few species can prey effectively on adults.

Raccoons prey upon nests.

Habitat – Forest, rivers, and streams

Region – Small area of eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.

Reproduction

Wood turtles in the wild usually reach sexual

maturity between 14 and 20 years of age.

Courtship may include a mating "dance" in which

the male and female face each other and swing

their heads back and forth; perhaps more

frequently the male simply pursues

the female while nipping at her limbs

and shell and then mounts her

carapace.

Mating is most frequent in spring

and fall.

The female excavates the nest with

her hind feet, creating a globular

cavity about 2-5 inches deep.

Wood Turtle Glyptemys insculpta

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Clutch size ranges from 3 to 18 eggs (usually 5

to 13).

Only one clutch is produced each year, and

females may not reproduce every year.

Incubation requires from 47 to 69 days.

Hatchlings generally emerge from their nests in

late August or September and move to water.

Adaptations

The scutes, or scales, on the wood turtles shell show concentric annual growth that can

be used to approximate the turtle age.

Behavior – Diurnal

They can capture earthworms by thumping the

ground with their forefeet or the front of the

plastron. It is thought that the worms may

mistake the vibrations caused by this thumping

for the approach of a mole or perhaps a hard

rain, and come to the surface, only to be

grabbed by the hungry turtle

Conservation Concerns

Habitat degradation, fragmentation and destruction are widespread in Wood Turtles'

areas of occupancy, from residential and recreational developments.

Predation by raccoons is significant, and believed to result in no recruitment in

Michigan.

Conservation Ask

Be thoughtful while connecting and engaging with Nature

o If you care, leave it there

o Help turtle cross the road

Support Global and Local Conservation programs

o Donate time/money to the Zoo

Volunteer

Become a member, return visit, make purchase

JBZ participates in a head-starting program for Wood Turtles

Wood Turtle Glyptemys insculpta