10 Different Types Turtles in Georgia

About 18% of the turtles of the world are to be found in the United States of America. And Georgia is one of the states that has been blessed by nature with a wide variety of these intriguing and enchanting animals. We have chosen ten of our favorite Georgian turtles. They range from the commonplace to the rare, from the tiny to the giant, and all have one thing in common – they are species that are native to Georgia, and they make Georgia proud!

Georgia Turtles And The Law

Before we begin our rundown, there are a few things that you should know about the law in the state of Georgia as it applies to turtles. This is particularly important if you are planning on keeping a turtle as a pet.

Can I Keep Pet Turtles In Georgia?

The short answer is yes, you can. You can keep common turtles as a pet, up to ten in number.

I’m Thinking About Breeding Turtles; Can I Sell Them?

If you want to sell turtles in Georgia, you need to have a commercial license to do so. Even then, there are limits on the number of any one species that you can own.

Which Turtles Are Illegal To Keep In Georgia?

Here is the list of species of turtle that are illegal to keep in Georgia:

• All Bog Turtles
• All Box Turtles
• Diamondback Terrapins
• The Gopher Tortoise
• All Map Turtles
• Spotted Turtles

In addition, you are not allowed to keep any endangered species of turtle unless you have a permit or license to do so. It’s illegal to keep any sea turtle.

Federal Size Limit Laws

You should be aware that there are federal laws that prevent the selling of turtles with a carapace (upper shell) under 4″ long. It’s also illegal to sell eggs. There are exceptions for scientific purposes, but not for keeping as pets.

Taking Turtles From The Wild

In Georgia, it is illegal to remove any turtle eggs from the wild. It’s also illegal to take turtles from the wild, whether from private or state-owned land unless you have a permit.

Sea Turtle Laws

It is illegal under all circumstances to own a sea turtle in Georgia. It’s also illegal to disturb sea turtle nests or nesting sites. You can’t sell or even give away sea turtle eggs.

The seven species of sea turtle are:

• The Loggerhead Turtle
• The Hawksbill Turtle
• The Leatherback Turtle
• The Green Sea Turtle
• The Kemp’s Ridley Turtle
• The Olive Ridley Turtle
• The Flatback Turtle

There are laws to enable sick or injured sea turtles to be taken care of. If you find a turtle in this condition, the best thing is to contact an authorized rescue organization. For example, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, which is a rehabilitation and rescue facility.

The Alligator Snapping Turtle Macroclemys temminckii

One of the world’s largest turtles, its scaly prehistoric looks and ferocious bite make it seem like a creature from an earlier time. Growing to as much as 40″ long, and weighing in at up to 180 lb or even more, the alligator snapping turtle is a formidable creature and one that should be treated with extreme caution.

Its jaw is very strong, and it’s perfectly capable of breaking one of your bones. The head is massive, and it has spikes on its chin and cheeks, as well as that hooked beak-like mouth. The carapace, or upper shell, can be gray, green, brown, or black, and has three prominent ridges which are spiked, almost like medieval armor.

One interesting feature of this turtle is that it has a tongue that it uses as a lure. At the end of its tongue, it has a worm-like appendage. It opens its mouth and lets the “worm” wriggle in the water, attracting unsuspecting fish to investigate. Then a snap of its jaws and dinner is served.

Diet

When it comes to diet, alligator snapping turtles are opportunistic omnivores. They eat other turtles, water birds, fish, snakes, dead things, mollusks, and small mammals that they may find swimming in the water. They are generally found in rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Living to be as much as 120 years old, alligator snapping turtles have a long reproductive life, starting breeding when they are about eighteen to twenty pounds in weight and around 13″ long. Despite this, due to loss of habitat and human predation, the alligator snapping turtle is designated by the IUCN as “threatened”. (Source: www.iucnredlist.org)

You are allowed to keep alligator snapping turtles as a pet in Georgia, but they are really only suitable for the experienced turtle keeper. They need large accommodation, and of course, careful handling. Remember that they are very long-lived, so you are making a lifetime (or more) commitment to one of these animals.

The Barbour’s Map Turtle Graptemys barbouri

Like all map turtles, the Barbour’s map turtle is protected in Georgia. You are not allowed to keep any map turtle as a pet.

These turtles have gray shells with distinctive lemon-colored swirling markings, like the contours on a map. Their skin is also marked in yellow and can range from green to black in color. There is a distinct difference in the size of the males and females, with the males growing to a mere 5 ½” in length, whereas the females can be more than twice as large, growing to 12″ long. The head of the female is noticeably large in proportion to the rest of its body. Barbour’s map turtle is the largest of the map turtle family.

This turtle feeds mainly on fish, crustaceans, and water insects. Because they are so attractive, the Barbour’s Map turtle, as well as others in the map turtle family, has frequently been captured for the pet trade, and so it is now considered to be under threat.

The Bog Turtle Glyptemys muhlenbergii

From the gigantic alligator snapping turtle, we now turn to North America’s smallest turtle -the bog turtle. This is a critically endangered animal and is another turtle that you are not allowed to keep as a pet in Georgia.

The bog turtle grows to just 4 ½” long, and can live to be over sixty years old. This little cutie is easily identified by its small size and by the vivid orange splashes on the sides of its head. They like very specific environments. They love to live in wet, grassy meadows with plenty of tussocky grass which offers shelter but allows the sunlight to warm the soil. The soil should be acidic, with deep leaf litter, moss, and wet. It is the loss of these kinds of habitats, in part, that has led to the decline in bog turtle numbers.

The kind of mountain bog habitat that bog turtles need is also home to other endangered species. It’s important that turtle lovers in Georgia are advocates for the preservation of these kinds of threatened areas.

The Carolina Diamondback Terrapin Malaclemys terrapin centrata

The Carolina diamondback terrapin is probably one of the most recognized turtles. Often simply known as a terrapin, it is another turtle that you are not allowed to keep as a pet in Georgia.

An extremely beautiful turtle, it can be recognized by the intricate patterning on its carapace, although there are a wide variety of colors from gray to black. The plastron can be yellow, orange, or grayish-green. Juveniles are usually more brightly colored and clearly marked than adults.

Female Carolina diamondback turtles grow to 9″ long, the males are much smaller, growing to not much more than 5″ long. The hatchlings, which look rather like little toys, are a mere inch long, and of course, are very vulnerable to predators. They can only live in brackish water and are considered to be the only turtles that have this characteristic.

They hibernate during the winter and are very active during the spring, summer, and fall. Loss of habitat, road deaths, pollution, and capture for the pet trade, have all led to this pretty little creature having near-threatened status on the Red List.

The Common Musk Turtle (Stinkpot) Sternotherus odoratus

The common musk turtle is often known as the stinkpot. The reason for this unfortunate nickname is the bad, skunk-like smell that the musk turtle releases if it is scared and trying to ward off predators.

They have a plain gray, brown, or black upper shell, or carapace, which is rather high and domed. You will often find them with algae growing on their shell. The plastron, or lower shell, is rather small and doesn’t offer much in the way of protection.

The head and neck feature yellow or greenish stripes and this guy only grows to around 5″ long, weighing in at a little less than ¾ lb. Males have longer tails than females and have a spike on the end of the tail. It has a pointed head and barbels on the throat and chin.

Generally not a very good swimmer, it does however spend most of its time in the water, coming out occasionally to bask, forage, and of course, lay its eggs. The common musk turtle likes to climb, and can often be seen enjoying the sun on a branch sticking out of the water. They favor shallow water where they can paddle; ponds, slow-moving streams, and wetlands, and look for places that have a muddy bottom.

The Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentine

From the tiny, we now turn to the large. The common snapping turtle can grow up to 70 lb in weight. Males grow larger than females. Individuals have been known to live for over a hundred years. A large specimen can grow to 14″ long, and it can be recognized by its large head, which might have barbels, its long neck, and its extremely strong and powerful legs. It’s the long neck of this turtle that gives it its Latin name – serpentine – meaning snake-like.

Although they can be very aggressive when on land when they are in the water they tend to flee from danger. They prefer water that has a muddy bottom which they use as a hiding place.

The Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina carolina

The Eastern box turtle is one of the family of box turtles. Box turtles have the ability to hinge up their plastron, or lower shell, forming a tight box to protect the head, legs, and tail of the turtle. This turtle grows to around 5″ in length, and has a dark shell, brown or black, with bright orange markings that fade as the turtle gets older. These small turtles can live to be thirty years of age.

They can be found in woodland, grassy meadows, and scrub, but are always within reach of fresh water. When the temperatures get high, they find a soft place to burrow and find a cooler temperature below ground.

They enjoy eating insects, mollusks, and crustaceans, and they also eat a bit of vegetation. Remember that you are not allowed to keep any box turtle as a pet in Georgia.

The Eastern Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta picta

Growing to between 4″ and 7″ long, depending on whether you are male (smaller) or female (bigger). The upper shell, or carapace, is a dark greenish brown, with clear yellow and red markings running from side to side across the carapace. The plastron can be plain yellow, or it may have a shade of brown or red.

The Eastern painted turtle enjoys living in a fairly typical turtle environment. Slow-moving water that is a bit brackish, but deep enough for this turtle to enjoy a good swim. If the water has plenty of vegetation, this is a plus. They are strong swimmers and spend most of their time in the water, where they catch their food – small fish, mollusks, insects, tadpoles, and crustaceans. These turtles enjoy sunbathing. It’s quite common to see a bunch of them together enjoying the sun on a log or a flat stone.

The Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell Turtle Apalone spinifera aspera

Here we have another turtle where the sizes of males and females are quite different. In this case, males grow to 12″ long, females to 24″long. They have a lifespan of up to sixty years. The shell of this turtle is soft and leathery. The coloring is dark brown with yellow spots, and also black pots, and a darker rim around the edge of the upper shell. The skin is pale on the belly, and the head and neck are brown and yellow in color, the head having a sharply pointed nose. The male has a longer tail than the female.

The Gulf Coast spiny softshell turtle is a strong swimmer, with clawed webbed feet. They live in rivers, large ponds, and the bays of lakes, in fact, anywhere that there is a reasonably large stretch of water. They eat invertebrates, hunting for them under rocks and fallen logs at the bottom of their watery home.

The Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans

The red-eared slider is identified by the red patches on the side of its face. It is the number one most popular turtle to keep as a pet in the United States. They generally grow to about 8″ long, but the occasional individual can grow to be quite a bit larger. These have a slim profile shell that makes them very efficient swimmers.

They enjoy living in quiet waters and are readily adaptable to a variety of kinds of environments – ponds, marshes, streams, marshes, and swamps. They love to bask in the sun and can be easily seen indulging themselves in this activity beside Georgia’s waterways.

If you decide to keep one of these turtles as a pet, you should be aware that they can live up to twenty years or more. A problem with these popular pets is that people get tired of them and release them into the wild. They may not do well in the wild, having lived a sheltered aquarium life. Make sure that you are committed to giving your pet a long and good life.