Pond Slider Subspecies


    A:
      Shell green in color, wide red stripe behind eye. Dark blotch on each scute of lower shell. Found from Indiana and Alabama west to Texas. Babies bright green, the most common pet store turtle.
      Red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans

    B:
      Shell usually black with wide yellow bars. Large yellow blotch behind eye. Dark blotches usually only on front scutes of lower shell. Found from North Carolina to southern Alabama and Mississippi. Absent from Florida. Babies green with large yellow blotches on head.
      Yellow-bellied slider, Trachemys scripta scripta

    C:
      Identical to red-ear but lacks red stripe behind eye. From eastern Tennessee and adjacent areas of Kentucky, Georgia, and Alabama.
      Cumberland slider, Trachemys scripta troosti

    D:
      Resembles red-ear but has large black-bordered orange spot behind eye. From Rio-Grande river system in Texas.
      Big Bend slider, Trachemys scripta gaigeae

    Note: As pond sliders grow older, their shells become increasingly dark and lose their pattern.