--- title: "Red-Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Whether a slider hatches male or female depends on how warm its nest was." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/red-eared-slider-1.webp" published: "2026-10-10" updated: "2026-10-10" --- # Red-Eared Slider (*Trachemys scripta elegans*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: Whether a slider hatches male or female depends on how warm its nest was. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: 2020s Pop & Modern Alt // Glass Animals, "Heat Waves" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/3USxtqRwSYz57Ewm6wWRMp) > **Vibe Match**: In a pond slider's nest, heat sets the sex: below 28.6 degrees Celsius the eggs develop as all males, above 29.6 degrees all females. Heat Waves keeps circling back to one warm, hazy hook. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Trachemys scripta elegans* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2011-1.rlts.t22028a9347395.en)) - **Superpower**: Nest temperature decides its sex. - **Habitat**: Ponds, lakes, rivers and swamps with places to bask, from Alabama to northern Mexico, and introduced onto nearly every continent. - **Diet**: Omnivore. Juveniles eat mostly animals; adults eat mostly water and land plants, plus algae. - **Tags**: reptile, freshwater, omnivore, invasive, domestic-pet ## Natural History & Behavior ## A nest that picks the sex Sex in a slider egg depends on the heat of its nest. The pond slider (*Trachemys scripta*, the species that includes the red-eared slider) uses temperature-dependent sex determination: nests below 28.6 degrees Celsius hatch all males, and nests above 29.6 degrees Celsius hatch all females. In between you get a mix. > **Temperature switch** > In red-eared sliders, a gene called Kdm6b changes its activity with temperature in the early embryo, and knocking it down at 26 degrees Celsius, a temperature that normally gives all males, turned more than 80 percent of surviving embryos female. ## Built to sit in the sun Sliders rarely leave the water except to bask. They live in shallow, slow water with varied plants and places to bask, and the red-eared subspecies wears a broad red or orange stripe behind each eye. Sliders' bright yellow and red markings have been shown to be aposematic, which means they act as a warning. In Mississippi, a study concluded that largemouth bass avoid sliders because of their bright warning colors. Sliders range from 10 to 29 cm long, and females tend to be the bigger sex. An average adult female shell is 25.4 cm, an average male shell is 17.78 cm, and females can reach 3,200 grams. Sliders also handle running out of air. In a lab test, red-eared sliders spent 20 hours underwater at 5 degrees Celsius with no oxygen, and measured damage products showed minimal changes. Species-wide, they can live up to 30 years in the wild and up to 41.3 years in captivity. ## Babies eat meat, adults eat salad Young sliders are mostly carnivorous, eating insects, crayfish, tadpoles and snails. Grown sliders become omnivores and eat mostly plants from water and land, plus algae. Adult stomachs in a southern Illinois study held more than 40 percent plant material. Their courtship is just as odd. A male uses his foreclaws to make underwater vibrations near a female's eyes. ## A pond turtle on nearly every continent The red-eared slider is native from Alabama south to northern Mexico. Sliders spread mainly through pet releases and escapes, which peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze. They have been introduced onto nearly every continent, where they compete with native species for food and basking sites. The pond slider species was rated Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2011. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How long do red-eared sliders live? AnAge lists lifespan for the pond slider species as a whole, red-eared included. A slider can live up to 30 years in the wild, and up to 41.3 years in captivity. *(Source: [AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources]())* ### How big does a red-eared slider get? Pond sliders, the species the red-eared slider belongs to, measure 10 to 29 cm. Females tend to be the larger sex: an adult female's shell averages 25.4 cm against a male's 17.78 cm, and females can weigh up to 3,200 grams. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())* ### Why do some slider nests hatch only females? Because heat sets the sex. Every egg in a nest warmer than 29.6 degrees Celsius develops female, while a nest cooler than 28.6 degrees Celsius produces only males. Between the two, a nest hatches mostly females with some males. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())* ### Are red-eared sliders endangered? No. The IUCN Red List's 2011 assessment of the pond slider, the species the red-eared slider belongs to, put it in Least Concern. *(Source: [Dijk, Harding & Hammerson 2011]())* ## Sources 1. [Trachemys scripta (pond slider). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 2. [Trachemys scripta elegans (Red-eared Slider). USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database.]() 3. [AnAge entry for Trachemys scripta. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.]() 4. [Ge et al. (2018). The histone demethylase KDM6B regulates temperature-dependent sex determination in a turtle species. Science.]() 5. [Willmore & Storey (1997). Antioxidant systems and anoxia tolerance in a freshwater turtle Trachemys scripta elegans. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.]() 6. [Dijk, Harding & Hammerson (2011). Trachemys scripta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T22028A97429935.]() *Published October 10, 2026. 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