---
title: "What the sources say about the Red-Eared Slider | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "46 claims from the Red-Eared Slider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Red-Eared Slider (*Trachemys scripta elegans*)

> 46 claims from the Red-Eared Slider profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Red-Eared Slider](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/red-eared-slider/)

## Trachemys scripta (pond slider). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Trachemys_scripta/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Whether a slider hatches male or female depends on how warm its nest was | Determination of the sex of hatchlings in a nest is temperature-dependent. |
| Ponds, lakes, rivers and swamps with places to bask | They can be found in waterbodies that hold water year-round, like ponds, lakes, rivers, swamps, lagoons, and streams. ... Slider turtles are found in shallow, slow-moving water that has diverse vegetation and nearby places to bask. |
| from Alabama to northern Mexico | Red-eared sliders, Trachemys scripta elegans, range from Alabama south to northern Mexico. |
| Juveniles eat mostly animals | Juvenile slider turtles are mostly carnivorous. |
| adults eat mostly water and land plants, plus algae | They feed mostly on aquatic plants and terrestrial plant material like stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds. They also consume algae regularly. |
| Nest temperature decides its sex | Determination of the sex of hatchlings in a nest is temperature-dependent. |
| nests below 28.6 degrees Celsius hatch all males, and nests above 29.6 degrees Celsius hatch all females | Nests that are below 28.6 degrees Celsius develop as all males. Nests that are above 29.6 degrees Celsius develop as all females. |
| In between you get a mix | Nests at temperatures within this range develop as a mix of males and females. |
| They live in shallow, slow water with varied plants and places to bask | Slider turtles are found in shallow, slow-moving water that has diverse vegetation and nearby places to bask. |
| Sliders' bright yellow and red markings have been shown to be aposematic | The bright yellow and red markings on slider turtles have been shown to be aposematic. |
| Sliders range from 10 to 29 cm long, and females tend to be the bigger sex | Slider turtles range from 10-29 cm in length and exhibit sexual dimorphism; females tend to be larger than males. |
| females can reach 3,200 grams | Females can reach a mass of up to 3,200 grams. |
| Young sliders are mostly carnivorous, eating insects, crayfish, tadpoles and snails | Juvenile slider turtles are mostly carnivorous. They feed on insects such as beetles and grasshoppers, larvae, spiders, crayfish, tadpoles, fish, clams, freshwater sponges, snails |
| Grown sliders become omnivores and eat mostly plants from water and land, plus algae | As they mature, they experience an ontogenetic shift and become omnivores. Adult slider turtles develop a microflora in their digestive tracts that allow them to break down plants. They feed mostly on aquatic plants and terrestrial plant material like stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds. They also consume algae regularly. |
| Adult stomachs in a southern Illinois study held more than 40 percent plant material | A study of wild-caught slider turtles in southern Illinois found subtle differences between the diets of males and females. Dreslik (1999), found that the stomachs of adult sliders contained more than 40% plant material. |
| A male uses his foreclaws to make underwater vibrations near a female's eyes | This is a ritualistic display of the males' foreclaws. It involves using the foreclaws to make underwater vibrations near the eyes of females. |
| The red-eared slider is native from Alabama south to northern Mexico | Red-eared sliders, Trachemys scripta elegans, range from Alabama south to northern Mexico. |
| have been introduced onto nearly every continent | Sliders have been introduced through pet releases onto nearly every continent. |
| Pond sliders, the species the red-eared slider belongs to, measure 10 to 29 cm | Slider turtles range from 10-29 cm in length |
| Females tend to be the larger sex | females tend to be larger than males. |
| 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 | Nests that are below 28.6 degrees Celsius develop as all males. Nests that are above 29.6 degrees Celsius develop as all females. (note: paraphrase: warmer/cooler for above/below, only males for all males) |
| an average adult female shell is 25.4 cm | Average female shell length in adulthood is 25.4 cm. |
| an average male shell is 17.78 cm | Average male shell length in adulthood is 17.78 cm. |
| and introduced onto nearly every continent | Sliders have been introduced through pet releases onto nearly every continent. |
| largemouth bass avoid sliders because of their bright warning colors | Britson concluded that largemouth bass, that rely almost solely on visual cues to hunt, avoid sliders because of bright warning colors found on their plastrons and skin. (note: 'almost solely' qualifies bass hunting by sight; the body reports the study's conclusion, which the quote states) |
| Sex in a slider egg depends on the heat of its nest | Determination of the sex of hatchlings in a nest is temperature-dependent. |
| Omnivore | As they mature, they experience an ontogenetic shift and become omnivores. |
| an adult female's shell averages 25.4 cm against a male's 17.78 cm | Average female shell length in adulthood is 25.4 cm. ... Average male shell length in adulthood is 17.78 cm. |
| females can weigh up to 3,200 grams | Females can reach a mass of up to 3,200 grams. |
| Because heat sets the sex | Determination of the sex of hatchlings in a nest is temperature-dependent. (note: 'Because' answers the FAQ's why-question; the quote states sex determination is temperature-dependent) |
| Between the two, a nest hatches mostly females with some males | Nests that are above 28.6 degrees Celsius but below 29.6 degrees Celsius will have a high proportion of females, but males will be present. |
| 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 | Nests that are below 28.6 degrees Celsius develop as all males. Nests that are above 29.6 degrees Celsius develop as all females. |

## Trachemys scripta elegans (Red-eared Slider). USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database.

https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=1261

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a broad red or orange stripe behind each eye | the Red-eared Slider, has a unique, broad red or orange (rarely yellow) stripe behind each eye |
| they compete with native species for food and basking sites | Trachemys scripta compete with indigenous species for food and basking sites |
| Sliders rarely leave the water except to bask | Pond sliders are aquatic, omnivorous generalists, which rarely leave water except to bask |
| Sliders spread mainly through pet releases and escapes, which peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze | introduced primarily through pet releases and escapes; a situation which has continued for several decades since the 1930s, reaching a peak during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle television cartoon craze of the late 1980s-early 1990s |

## AnAge entry for Trachemys scripta. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Build 15, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Trachemys_scripta

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| up to 30 years in the wild | In the wild these animals live up to 30 years. |
| up to 41.3 years in captivity | Maximum longevity 41.3 years (captivity) |
| A slider can live up to 30 years in the wild, and up to 41.3 years in captivity | Maximum longevity 41.3 years (captivity) ... In the wild these animals live up to 30 years. |

## Ge et al. (2018). The histone demethylase KDM6B regulates temperature-dependent sex determination in a turtle species. Science.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap8328

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| uses temperature-dependent sex determination | the individual's sex is determined by the ambient temperature during egg incubation |
| knocking it down at 26 degrees Celsius, a temperature that normally gives all males, turned more than 80 percent of surviving embryos female | Knockdown of Kdm6b at 26°C (a temperature at which all offspring develop into males) triggers male-to-female sex reversal in >80% of surviving embryos. |
| a gene called Kdm6b changes its activity with temperature in the early embryo | KDM6B exhibits temperature-dependent sexually dimorphic expression in early T. scripta embryos |

## Willmore & Storey (1997). Antioxidant systems and anoxia tolerance in a freshwater turtle Trachemys scripta elegans. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.

https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006817806010

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| red-eared sliders spent 20 hours underwater at 5 degrees Celsius with no oxygen, and measured damage products showed minimal changes | The effects of anoxic submergence (20 h at 5 degrees C) ... Measurements of lipid peroxidation damage products (conjugated dienes, lipid hydroperoxides, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) showed minimal changes during anoxia or recovery |

## Dijk, Harding & Hammerson (2011). Trachemys scripta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T22028A97429935.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2011-1.rlts.t22028a9347395.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The pond slider species was rated Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2011 | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: 2011 is the assessment year in the cited DOI and title (iucn.uk.2011-1); GBIF's copy shows it is still the current category) |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |
| The IUCN Red List's 2011 assessment of the pond slider, the species the red-eared slider belongs to, put it in Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: 2011 is the assessment year in the cited DOI and title (iucn.uk.2011-1)) |