Turtles

Spiny Softshell TurtlePhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

   The first turtles are believed to have lived over 200 million years ago!... and their fossils are almost identical to turtles that are alive today!

Click on a Category (or scroll down) to acess each type of Turtle.

   There are many good beginner turtles that are generally available and fairly inexpensive. You can buy beginner turtles at reptile shows, from a breeder, at a pet store, or on the internet.

   Turtles are quiet, calm, and slow-moving. Consequently they don't instill the cautious concerns that some folks have when dealing with other types of reptiles. They can be quite hardy when provided with the right environment, have fairly modest requirements, and live a long time.
   Turtles that spend a good deal of time in the water usually have webbed feet for swimming. They are aquatic turtles (water turtles) or semi-aquatic (marsh and swamp type) turtles. There are also turtles that are semi-terrestrial, spending time both in the water and on the land. These 'land' turtles are also known as terrapins (the term terrapin is derived from the word terrapene, which means 'land turtle'). In the United States however, the term turtle is usually used to describe all of these, and includes approximately 200 species.

For more Information see:
Turtle and Tortoise Care, Selection, Care, Maintenance

Turtles: Click on the small images below
for more information about each one.

Box Turtles

Eastern Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina

Florida Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina

Ornate Box Turtle

Terrapene ornata ornata

Three-toed Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina

Map Turtles

Cagle's Map Turtle

Graptemys caglei

Ringed Map Turtle

Graptemys oculifera

Yellow-blotched Map Turtle

Graptemys flavimaculata

Popular Water Turtles

African Side-necked Turtle

Pelusios sinuatus

Chicken Turtle

Deirochelys reticularia

Painted Turtle

Chrysemys picta

Red-eared Slider

Trachemys scripta

Spiny Soft-shelled Turtle

Apalone spinifera

Spotted Turtle

Clemmys guttata

Unusual Water Turtles

Argentine Snake-necked Turtle

Hydromedusa tectifera

Matamata Turtle

Chelus fimbriatus

Pig-nosed Turtle

Carettochelys insculpta

Snapping Turtle

Chelydra serpentina

Wood Turtles

Black Wood Turtle

Rhinoclemmys funerea

Ornate Wood Turtle

Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima