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Water Turtle, Red eared Slider

Trachemys scripta elegans

Photo by HemaShah
Published on Project Noah
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36.1146, -115.173

Field Notes

Description:

I saw this Turtle in the Wild life Habitat in Las vegas.
This species hibernates in the water in winter ,holding their breath fro over 3 months. During this process their heart slows down to 5 beats /minute.
Since it was 112 degrees this turtle decided to put its head in the water for the entire time I was there.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)
HemaShah
I read in the wikipedia ,that these turtles do not have saliva .Ttherefore they need water to eat their food in. Maybe this explains why the turtle had his head in the water all the time I was there! i thought he was cooling off because it was 112 degrees. Amazing creature,
HemaShah
Thank you for the info! People have turtles and tortoises as pets . I know one lady who carries her turtle with her always. Doesn't this ability to live on land make them amphibians too?
MitchRay
Amphibians are things like frogs and salamanders. They generally go through a larval stage and metamorphose into "different-looking" adults.
MitchRay
This is a Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans. I'm switching him over to reptiles.

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Photographed
PublishedJuly 12, 2011

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