NON-NATIVE TURTLES

Don’t mistake non-native turtles for natives!
The alligator snapping turtle and the red-eared slider are important variables to the survival and health of their native ecosystems. Unfortunately, in Oregon, they are transmitting disease to our native turtles as well as out-competing them for basking sites and food.

Name: Common Snapping Turtle
Scientific Name: Chelydra serpentina
Range:
Native: The Rockies east to the Atlantic Ocean and from S. Canada to Mexico
Non-native: The Rockies west to the Pacific Ocean
Physical Description:
• Oval shell that widens toward the back where it is strongly   serated
• Shell color varies from tan/brown to olive to almost black
• Tail has three rows of saw-tooth keels

Name: Red-Eared Slider
Scientific Name: Trachemys scripta elegans
Range:
Native: United States east of the Rockies
Non-native: West of Rockies
Physical Description:
• dark shell
• yellow stripes
• bright red patch just behind the eye

Resources on Red-Eared Sliders: Learn about this invasive species and why they are such a threat to native turtles

www.Redearslider.com

www.uoregon.edu/~ecostudy/elp/Delta%20ponds/Turtles.html

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Red-eared%20Slider%20Turtle.html

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the red-eared slider turtle is classified as a prohibited nonnative species:

In 1996, ODFW adopted new Wildlife Integrity administrative rules governing the importation, possession, sale and transportation of nonnative wildlife. The purpose of these rules is to regulate nonnative species to protect native wildlife. Under these rules, prohibited species may NOT be imported, released into the wild or possessed alive in captivity without a special permit. If you have questions about this, contact ODFW’s NW Region Office in Clackamas at (971) 673-6000.