Yellow-Bellied Slider

Description:

This is a melanistic (dark-colored) Yellow-bellied Slider. Yellow-bellied sliders are a subspecies of Pond Slider. Pond sliders are common, semi-aquatic turtles. They are generally olive green on top and yellow with variable spots below. Their skin is olive green with yellow stripes and markings; Yellow-bellied sliders are distinguished by the yellow "S" shape behind their eyes. As they age, some sliders become melanistic; that is, their pigments darken until they look like the pictured animal!

Habitat:

Slow-moving rivers and creeks, ponds, marshes, wetlands. They forage in the water but spend much of their time basking on logs and rocks.

Notes:

There are three subspecies of Pond Slider: Yellow-bellied Sliders (T. s. scripta), Red-Eared Sliders (T. s. elegans), and Cumberland Sliders (T. s. trootsi). Only T. s. scripta is native to this part of Georgia, but T. s. elegans has been introduced in many locales around the world, including other parts of Georgia. It is possible that this animal is a T. s. elegans or a T. s. elegans x T. s. scripta hybrid, but I have decided to list it as the more likely, native T. s. scripta.