Exploring The Different Types Turtles in Michigan

Michigan is home to ten species of turtle. They are found in wetlands, of course, in rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, marshes, and even in cities. The species of turtle that call Michigan home are:

• Blanding’s Turtle Emydoidea blandingii
• Common Map Turtle Graptemys geographica
• Common Musk Turtle (Stinkpot) Sternotherus odoratus
• Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina serpentina
• Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina carolina
• Eastern Spiny Softshell Apalone spinifera spinifera
• Midland Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta marginata
• Red-eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans
• Spotted Turtle Clemmys guttata
• Wood Turtle Glyptemys insculpta

Can I Legally Own A Turtle In Michigan?

If you are thinking about becoming a turtle owner in Michigan, then you can go right ahead. There is no law against keeping turtles in the state. There are however some endangered species that you are not allowed to keep as pets.

These are the following prohibited freshwater turtles:

• The North American Wood turtle
• The Eastern Box turtle
• The Blanding’s turtle
• The Spotted turtle

You are not allowed to keep any of the saltwater turtle species, of which there are seven:

• The Loggerhead turtle
• The Green sea turtle
• The Leatherback turtle
• The Hawksbill turtle
• The Kemp’s ridley turtle
• The Olive ridley turtle
• The Flatback turtle

It is also illegal to release or return a pet turtle to the wild. This is to prevent the introduction of potentially invasive or competitive species. It also prevents the inadvertent introduction of diseases or weak genetic lines.

What If I Want To Study An Endangered Turtle?

In order to study any endangered species of turtle, you will need a license from the State of Michigan. You will need to persuade them that you are a bona fide researcher or scientist, and this will not necessarily be an easy thing to do if you are simply an interested individual.

Can I Sell Turtles In Michigan?

If you want to sell turtles in the State of Michigan, then you will need to obtain a license from the State. It is illegal to capture and sell turtles from the wild. It is illegal to sell any of the seven species of sea turtle, listed above. It is also illegal to sell any endangered species of turtle.

What Is The Four Inches Law?

The four inches law is a federal regulation that forbids the selling of turtles (including terrapins and tortoises) which have a carapace, or upper shell, which is less than four inches long. The relevant statute is:

Code of federal regulations, title 21, volume 8, part 1240 ‘Control of communicable diseases, subpart D ‘Specific Administrative Decisions Regarding Interstate Shipments’, section 1240.62 ‘Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements.’ This law is designed to prevent the spread of disease from the handling of young turtles.

Can I Take A Turtle From The Wild In Michigan?

Yes, you can, but you are not allowed to take the four endangered species:

• The North American Wood turtle
• The Eastern Box turtle
• The Blanding’s turtle
• The Spotted turtle

And of course, you are not allowed to take any of the seven sea turtles. In order to take any other turtle from the wild, you need to have a state fishing license. Removing any turtle egg from the wild is absolutely forbidden.

If you want to capture a snapping turtle or a softshell turtle, there is a specific season for this – July 15th to September 15th. You can only take two softshell turtles and two snapping turtles at a time, and they have to have a carapace, or upper shell, which is longer than thirteen inches.

The methods which you can use for catching turtles are limited to the following:

• Traps
• Hook and line
• Nets
• Hands

You are not allowed to be in possession of more than three turtle traps at a time. So, you can have up to three traps when you are hunting. It’s OK if you have more traps at home, but you can only have three at a time actually with you.

Are there Any Special Sea Turtle Regulations?

The seven species of sea turtles are strictly protected. This includes their nesting sites. It is illegal to disturb or destroy a sea turtle’s nesting place. It’s also illegal to make any significant changes to an area where there are sea turtle nests. You are not allowed to take, sell or otherwise handle sea turtle eggs. If you want to study sea turtles, you will need a special permit. You might even need a Federal permit.

What If I Find A Sick Or Injured Turtle?

The law does allow for the care of sick or injured turtles. If you find a sea turtle that needs care, then your best plan is to contact your nearest Humane Society or Turtle Rescue. Check This out for information on all kinds of turtle rescue. The information includes ways that you can help. You could also join Turtle Rescuers of Michigan on FaceBook. If you can’t get hold of a specific turtle rescue organization, then your local Humane Society or even the Police should be able to help. They will know the right thing to do for the injured or sick animal.

The Blanding’s Turtle – Emydoidea blandingii

We begin our rundown of Michigan’s native turtles with a very interesting character – Blanding’s Turtle Emydoidea blandingii. Blanding’s turtle is considered to be endangered. It is a long-lived animal, and interestingly it doesn’t show signs of aging, even when it is eighty or ninety years old. Its pattern of behavior is more or less exactly the same as when it was a youngster. It stays active, and can even have sex and reproduce right up into its nineties.

This is a medium-sized turtle growing to around 9 ½ long. It has a dark brown carapace, or upper shell, which is slightly domed in shape and has light-colored splotches. The plastron, or lower shell, is yellow in color with symmetrical dark patterning. The plastron is hinged and closes up to protect the animal’s body when in danger, but it doesn’t shut up as tight as a box turtle would. The skin is dark with yellow patterning.

The Blandings turtle brumates in the winter. This is a type of hibernation, where the turtle hides itself in mud or debris. Females may move as much as a kilometer away from their bromating site to lay their eggs. They are very timid creatures, and if disturbed they will dive to the bottom of the pond and stay there for an hour or two. They are omnivores and eat crustaceans, small fish, tadpoles, frogs, berries, and vegetation. They like clean, shallow, water which has good basking spots nearby. The main threat to this species is predation and habitat loss. Climate change leading to habitat burns is a serious threat.

The Common Map Turtle – Graptemys geographica

The common map turtle is a very attractive creature and is also known as the Northern map turtle. When young, this turtle has a dark brown carapace, or upper shell, with orange, yellow, and tan patterning with dark outlines, giving the appearance of a map. These pretty marking fade with age. The skin is dark green with yellow markings, with a yellow splash behind the eye.

The males and females vary greatly in size, with the males growing only to 6″ long and ¾ lb in weight. Females, on the other hand, grow to 10″ long and can weigh as much as five and a half pounds. They enjoy living in open water with fallen branches that they use for sunbathing. They spend November to April under water, absorbing oxygen directly from the water, which must be well-oxygenated.

They are basically carnivores, and the females, who have large heads and jaws, live principally on a diet of mollusks, although they enjoy the odd crayfish or insect. Males have a similar diet, but they eat smaller mollusks. Habitat loss is the most significant challenge that these turtles face. They are very shy and don’t appreciate the nearby presence of humans.

The Common Musk Turtle (Stinkpot) – Sternotherus odoratus

Poor stinkpot. He only makes a bad smell when he’s scared. When he’s happy and contented, he is just a normal, everyday guy. Growing to just shy of five inches, they have a steep upper shell, or carapace, that is dark brown in color. Their dark-skinned head features yellow stripes and a couple of barbels under their chin. They like to live in shallow, slow-moving, or even still water with a muddy bottom that they can hide in. They like water that has vegetation; they tend to hide out during the day and hunt at night. Like most turtles, they are omnivorous.

The Common Snapping Turtle – Chelydra serpentina serpentine

One of the biggest freshwater turtles, it gets its Latin name from its very long, mobile, snake-like neck. It has a big head and sometimes sports barbels. Growing to 14″ long, and anything up to seventy pounds in weight, the snapping turtle is not aggressive. He can, however, give you a serious bite if he is trying to defend himself, so take care if you are handling one of these creatures.

They like to live in large bodies of water that have a good supply of food. They are omnivorous eaters, with a preference for more protein when they are younger. The common snapping turtle can tolerate a wide diversity of weather and seems quite adaptable. It is not considered threatened at this time.

The Eastern Box Turtle – Terrapene carolina carolina

This turtle is of special concern to the State of Michigan. It is a really beautiful creature with a black or brown carapace marked with exquisite yellow patterning. They grow to around 5″ long. The males are more brightly colored than the females and have pink or red eyes, whereas the females have dark brown eyes.

Like all box turtles they have the ability to seal themselves up snug and tight as their plastron, or lower shell, can hinge up to protect the soft body, head, tail, and legs. They hunt during the day, eating small insects, crickets, worms, mollusks, and crustaceans. If the weather gets too hot or too dry, they will dig themselves a burrow where they can hide in a temperature and humidity that feels right.

The Eastern Spiny Softshell – Apalone spinifera spinifera

This large and beautiful turtle is widely distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and fortunately, it is currently not under threat.Growing to be 19″ long they are a rather flattened-looking turtle with a leathery, soft-feeling shell that has spines along the front edge of the upper shell, or carapace. Males are olive green in color and they tend to keep their youthful coloring, whereas females are a dimmer brownish-gray color.

They live in large bodies of water where they can find plenty of food and have room to hunt at dawn and dusk, their favorite times. Laying clutches of ten to twelve eggs in sandy soil, these turtles live to be as much as fifty years old, and are well established in Michigan.

The Midland Painted Turtle – Chrysemys picta marginata

The Midland painted turtle is one of the very lovely painted turtle family. It has a lovely black carapace with delicate red lines and a red patterned edge. The plastron is golden, the neck has red stripes and the head has yellow stripes. It is one of the most readily observed freshwater turtles throughout the United States. This subspecies is identified by a gray mark that can be seen on the plastron.

Females grow to be as much as ten inches long, and the males are a bit smaller, as is the case with many turtle species. This difference in size is accounted for by the need for the females to produce and store eggs. They enjoy water with plenty of vegetation and a muddy bottom. They need to bask in the sun, and so look for rocks and fallen logs. In the winter, they hibernate. Painted turtles are thought to have been around for fifteen million years – they are obviously survivors.

The Red-eared slider – Trachemys scripta elegans

The red-eared slider is one of Michigan’s larger turtles. It can grow to have a 16″ long carapace, although an 8″ length is more common. It’s one of the most popular pet turtles in the world, and probably the number one pet turtle in the United States. The red-eared slider doesn’t actually have red ears, but it has a red stripe on the side of its head where its ears would be if it had external ears.

They need to bask in the sun in order to regulate their body temperature. They are frequently observed basking in the sun in groups. They enjoy warm, still water in ponds, small lakes, and swamps. It is listed as one of the world’s most invasive species and will out-compete other turtles in its environment.

The Spotted Turtle – Clemmys guttata

The spotted turtle is one of the turtles that you are not allowed to keep as a pet in Michigan. It is considered to be threatened in the state. This is rather a small turtle, growing to just a carapace length of 5″. It gets its name from the pale yellow spots which freckle its dark shell. Enjoying shallow water, they spend most of their time in the water. They are omnivores and live on a diet of insects, crustaceans, tadpoles, small reptiles, worms, and vegetation. In Michigan, it is mainly found in the Lower Peninsula area.

The Wood Turtle – Glyptemys insculpta

This is the fourth and last of the Michigan turtle species which is considered to be under threat. It’s a medium-sized animal that grows to between 6″ and 10″ in carapace length. The carapace is dark brown and has a rather sculptured look.

They like streams with hard bottoms and, as the name suggests, wooded areas. They need varied vegetation alongside their watery home so that they have a place to forage for food. They also need a sandy spot nearby for nest making. This kind of habitat is under threat and is leading to a decline in the numbers of wood turtle. Another critical issue is poaching. People take these animals and keep them as pets, and this is strictly illegal in Michigan.