The United States is home to more turtle species than any other country in the world, almost 100 species, and subspecies. But those turtle species are not distributed evenly, so most states won’t always be home to the same turtle species, even if they are very close.
New Mexico is home to 13 turtle species. In this article I am going to take a closer look at each species and cover a few basic things about them, things like the appearance, lifespan, how big it can get, diet, where it lives, conservation status, and reproduction.
Quick list of the native turtles of New Mexico:
- Big Bend Slider Trachemys gaigeae
- Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina serpentina
- Desert Box Turtle Terrapene ornata luteola
- Desert Tortoise Gopherus agassizii
- Midland Smooth Softshell Apalone mutica mutica
- Ornate Box Turtle Terrapene ornata ornate
- Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans
- Rio Grande River Cooter Pseudemys gorzugi
- Sonoran Mud Turtle Kinosternon sonoriense
- Texas Spiny Softshell Apalone spinifera emoryi
- Western Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta bellii
- Western Spiny Softshell Apalone spinifera hartwegi
- Yellow Mud Kinosternon flavescens flavescens
Now let’s take a closer look at the native turtles of New Mexico.
The Native Turtles of New Mexico
Quick Note: Most turtle subspecies are very similar, so besides some few differences in color it’s possible that everything else about them to be the same.
Quick Note: In this list I am also going to tell you the conservation status of the species, meaning how close they are to extinction. I will give a more in-depth explanation of this ranking works, at the end of the article, but until then I will add a picture that will let you know the basics.
Big Bend Slider (Trachemys gaigeae)
Description: The Big Bend Slider will usually have an upper shell color ranging from olive to dark brown, that is covered with a pattern that can be either yellow, orange, or red. The lower part of the shell will usually be yellow with a few black spots. The color of the skin is usually the same color as the upper part of the shell, and it’s covered with yellow stripes. Near the head, the Big Bend Slider also has two red spots on each side.
How long it can live: Between 20 and 30 years.
How big it can get: The size of a Big Bend Slider can vary a lot, a normal turtle can reach sizes that range between 5 and 11 inches.
Where it lives: Big Bend Sliders are often found in slow-moving streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, and marshes.
Diet: The Big Bend Slider is a herbivorous tortoise, this means that it mainly eats fruits, vegetables, and any form of vegetation that it can find.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Reproduction: Nesting season starts in early spring, and ends in late summer. On average, the incubation period of the eggs ranges from 70 to 80 days.
Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)
Description: Common Snapping Turtles can range in color from brown to black. They usually have very long legs, necks and tails. And they have a pronounced beak-like mouth.
How long it can live: Between 30 and 50 years.
How big it can get: Between 12 and 15 inches, in rare cases, some of them can reach even 19 inches.
Where it lives: A habitat generalist, the common snapping turtle can be found in almost any body of freshwater with a muddy bottom.
Diet: They are omnivorous, which means that they eat both meat and plants. When it comes to the meat they will scavenge, or actively hunt their prey in the water.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: Nesting season is May to July. Incubation usually lasts between 70 and 100 days.
Desert Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata luteola)
Description: The Desert Box Turtle has a very dome-like shaped shell, that can range in color from brown to black, and it’s usually covered with a multitude of lines and spots that can range in color from yellow to orange. The lower side of the shell is usually yellow and has lines that are brown or black. The skin is usually covered in multiple yellow spots.
How long it can live: Between 50 and 100 years.
How big it can get: Most Box turtles reach sizes between 5 and 7 inches.
Where it lives: Unlike most turtles, Box turtles live on land instead of water. They can be usually be found across open woodlands as well as grasslands and meadows.
Diet: Box turtles are omnivorous, so they will eat anything that they can find, meat, insects, fruits, vegetables, and any kind of vegetation.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Reproduction: The nesting period takes place between May and July. The incubation period for the eggs is between 70 and 80 days.
Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
Description: The Desert Tortoise doesn’t stand out too much from the rest of the tortoises. It has a typical coloration, the shell is usually brown with a few lighter spots, and the skin is usually grey or brown.
How long it can live: Between 60 and 80 years.
How big it can get: In general Desert tortoises reach sizes between 10 and 15 inches.
Where it lives: As the name implies the desert tortoise can be found in the desert. While they are there they spend most of their time in burrows.
Diet: They are herbivores, and they will eat most plants that they can find.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Reproduction: Nesting season starts in early spring, and ends in late summer. On average, the incubation period of the eggs ranges from 80 to 90 days.
Midland Smooth Softshell (Apalone mutica mutica)
Description: The Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle is a rather plain-looking softshell turtle. The shell lacks any distinct bumps or coloration. The color will usually range from olive-gray to dark brown. The head and limbs are olive or gray above, and light gray or cream-colored below. A light stripe bordered by black is usually present behind each eye.
How long it can live: Between 40 and 60 years.
How big it can get: In general Smooth Softshell turtles reach sizes between 6 and 13 inches.
Where it lives: They can be found in most water bodies, but they show a preference towards areas with a sandy or muddy substrate.
Diet: Smooth softshell turtles are omnivores, but they definitely prefer meat over plants, so in general they will consume meat, insects, snails, and fish, and occasionally they will eat some fruits, vegetables, and other kinds of vegetation.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: Nesting season starts in May and ends July. The incubation usually lasts between 70 and 100 days.
Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)
Description: Like most box turtles, the Ornate Box Turtle has a very dome-like-shaped shell, that can range in color from brown to black, and it’s usually covered with a multitude of lines and spots that can range in color from yellow to orange. The skin is usually covered in multiple yellow spots.
How long it can live: Between 50 and 100 years.
How big it can get: Most Box turtles reach sizes between 5 and 7 inches
Where it lives: Unlike most turtles, Box turtles live on land instead of water. They can be usually be found across open woodlands as well as grasslands and meadows.
Diet: Box turtles are omnivorous, so they will eat anything that they can find, meat, insects, fruits, vegetables, and any kind of vegetation.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable
Reproduction: The nesting period takes place between May and July. The incubation period for the eggs is between 70 and 80 days.
Red Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Description: The most distinct feature of the Red Eared Slider are the red lines that can be easily seen behind the eyes, those lines can vary in color from red to orange and rarely yellow, but in most cases they are red. In general, the color of their skin and shell can range from brown to black, and their skin is covered with yellow stripes.
How long it can live: Between 30 and 40 years.
How big it can get: Red Eared Sliders usually reach sizes between 7 and 12 inches, in most cases, the females are slightly bigger than the males.
Where it lives: They are often found in slow-moving streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, and marshes with a fresh and warm water supply.
Diet: Red Eared Sliders are omnivorous, their diet usually consists of meat, fish, insects, snails, aquatic vegetation, fruits and vegetables.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: The nesting season usually starts in March and ends in June. The average time an egg needs to incubate is 75 days.
Rio Grande River Cooter (Pseudemys gorzugi)
Description: The color of the Rio Grande River Cooter ranges from olive to dark brown to black. The upper part of the shell has a pattern with small pulsating lines that are yellow and red. The lower part is usually yellow with red or orange lines. The skin is usually dark brown or black with white stripes.
How long it can live: Between 20 and 40 years.
How big it can get: Most of them reach sizes between 8 and 12 inches, but it’s not uncommon to find females that reach sizes bigger than that, sometimes even 15 inches.
Where it lives: They generally prefer water streams, but they can also be found in lakes, ponds, and manmade environments.
Diet: In general they prefer fruits, vegetables, and other forms of vegetation over meat, but they can be occasionally seen eating insects and snails.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: The nesting period starts in May and ends in July. On average the incubation period for the eggs lasts between 80 and 100 days.
Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense)
Description: The Sonora Mud Turtle has a dome-like shell. The top part color ranges from olive to dark brown. The top part of the shell also has three mild lengthwise keels. The lower part of the shell is usually colored yellow or yellow-brown. The color of the skin is usually brown or black and it’s covered with olive-colored spots.
How long it can live: Between 30 and 50 years.
How big it can get: They usually reach sizes between 5 and 7 inches.
Where it lives: As the name implies Mud turtles prefer to stay in water bodies that have a soft bottom, composed of either sand or mud. So they can be usually found in lakes, swamps, marshes, and rivers.
Diet: Mud turtles are omnivorous, which means that they will eat meat, snails, fish, insects, as well as fruits, vegetables, and other kinds of vegetation.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: The nesting period starts in May, and ends around the end of July. The incubation period is longer than that of most turtles, lasting around 100 to 110 days.
Texas Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera emoryi)
Description: Like most softshell turtles the TexasCoast Spiny Softshell Turtle has a very flat appearance. The color of the shell and skin is usually is olive-colored or dark green with multiple small white spots. It also has bumpy projections beginning at the front edge of the carapace and going partway down the center of its shell. Located along the bottom edge of the carapace are three lines that follow the edge of the shell going back towards its’ head.
How long it can live: Between 40 and 60 years.
How big it can get: In general males are considerably smaller than females. Males reach sizes between 5 and 10 inches, while females reach sizes between 9 and 20 inches.
Where it lives: Spiny Softshell turtles can be found in any aquatic habitat: lakes, rivers, reservoirs, wetlands, and marshes.
Diet: They are carnivores, so they mainly eat insects, snails, and small aquatic animals.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: Nesting season starts in early spring and ends during the summer. The incubation period of the eggs is 80 days.
Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii)
Description: The color of the Western Painted Turtles usually ranges from dark olive to black. The shell also has some distinct markings on the edges that can range in color from red, orange or yellow, and any combination of them. The lower side of the shell is usually red and has one or multiple dark markings in the center. The skin is usually covered with yellow stripes.
How long it can live: Between 20 and 30 years.
How big it can get: Most Painted turtles reach sizes between 5 and 7 inches.
Where it lives: All Painted turtles subspecies prefer to live in freshwater, and they can be usually found in slow-moving rivers, ponds, and lakes.
Diet: Painted turtles are omnivorous, which means that they will eat fruits, vegetables as well as meat and insects.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: Nesting season starts in March and ends in June. The amount of time it takes the eggs to hatch is around 80 days.
Western Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera hartwegi)
Description: The Western Spiny Softshell Turtle has a leathery-like shell that has a round shape and it usually ranges in color from light brown to dark brown. The skin of the turtle is usually a lighter shade of brown than the shell. One of the most distinguishable features of the Western Spiny Softshell Turtle is the snort-like snout.
How long it can live: Between 40 and 60 years.
How big it can get: In general males are considerably smaller than females. Males reach sizes between 5 and 10 inches, while females reach sizes between 9 and 20 inches.
Where it lives: Spiny Softshell turtles can be found in any aquatic habitat: lakes, rivers, reservoirs, wetlands, and marshes.
Diet: They are carnivores, so they mainly eat small aquatic animals, snails, and insects.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: Nesting season starts in early spring and ends during the summer. The incubation period of the eggs is 80 days.
Yellow Mud Turtle (Kinosternon flavescens)
Description: Yellow Mud Turtles have a dome-like shell that is usually colored olive, dark brown, or black. The lower part of the shell is usually colored yellow, hence the name Yellow Mud Turtle. The color of the skin is usually the same color as the upper part of the shell.
How long it can live: Between 30 and 50 years.
How big it can get: They usually reach sizes between 5 and 7 inches.
Where it lives: As the name implies Mud turtles prefer to stay in water bodies that have a soft bottom, composed of either sand or mud. So they can be usually found in lakes, swamps, marshes, and rivers.
Diet: Mud turtles are omnivorous, which means that they will eat meat, snails, fish, insects, as well as fruits, vegetables, and other kinds of vegetation.
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Reproduction: The nesting period starts in May, and ends around the end of July. The incubation period is longer than that of most turtles, lasting around 100 to 110 days.
The Conservation Status
The conservation status of a species shows how close a species is to extinction. When a species gets its status there are a lot of factors taken into consideration, not only the number of individuals still leaving.
Even if at the moment there are a lot of individuals of a species, there can be some changes in their environment that will drastically affect the species. For example, the plastic in the water is greatly impacting sea turtles in a negative way.
There are a lot of systems that track the conservation status of a species, but the most well-known and used is the one I used in this article, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. With this system species are classified into nine groups set through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation. Out of the nine classifications, two of them basically mean that there is not enough data on the species, so you will usually see only seven possible statuses instead of nine.
Here is a list that explains what every status means:
- Extinct (EX) – No known living individuals
- Extinct in the wild (EW) – Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalized population outside its historic range
- Critically endangered (CR) – Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
- Endangered (EN) – High risk of extinction in the wild
- Vulnerable (VU) – High risk of endangerment in the wild
- Near threatened (NT) – Likely to become endangered in the near future
- Least concern (LC) – Lowest risk; does not qualify for a higher risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.
- Data deficient (DD) – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction
- Not evaluated (NE) – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria.
Alien Species of New Mexico
The turtle species that I listed above are known as native species, but there can be other turtle species that live in that area that are not native, those species are called alien species.
Alien species are species that are not native to an area, but they still live there. Those species are usually brought to that region by humans. So a certain state might be home to 10 turtle species, but only 5 of them can be native.
Alien species can be added to an area to help with certain ecological problems, or by mistake. Turtles can do a lot of good things to an area, they can keep certain insect populations under control, they can eat the overwhelming vegetation, of a lake, that got out of control, and there are a lot of other beneficial things that they can do.
It’s also possible that some unknowing person decided to release a few turtles into the wild. If those turtles manage to reproduce, they can easily start a new alien species in a new area. Overall I strongly suggest you not do this, it can be very dangerous for the ecosystem and for the turtles as well. If you want to know more reasons why you shouldn’t do this, you should read my article: Can Pet Turtle Survive in the Wild? In this article, I explore all the possible outcomes of this situation.
New Mexico State Laws Regarding Turtles
Every state in the US has different laws regarding native turtles and turtles in general. Most of those rules are generally designed to protect turtles, so even if they seem a little restrictive, they are there for a good reason. New Mexico has its own set of laws that are different from any other state. Since a lot of those laws are about the native species I strongly suggest you visit this interactive map that will point you to an article on this site that explains as simply as possible the state laws in New Mexico regarding turtles, tortoises, and terrapins.
What to Do If You Find a Wild Native Turtle
What you can do if you find a native wild turtle really depends on your intentions. If you want to take a few photos from a distance, you can definitely do that. If you want to touch the turtle you can usually do that, but you have to take a few cautionary measures.
You have to remember that most wild animals can carry bacteria, and since turtles spend a lot of time in water those bacteria can be a little more dangerous. So if you touch a turtle make sure that you have some wet wipes near you, if you don’t you should probably avoid touching it. But if you still want to, at least try not to put your hands near your face after you touched the turtle.
The most important thing that you have to watch out for when interacting with a wild turtle is the turtle trying to bite you. Generally, turtles are peaceful creatures, but if they think that they are in danger and they have no way of escaping, then they will definitely try to bite you. To prevent this make sure that you don’t let it too close to your toes (if they are exposed), or to your fingers. If you want to pick up a turtle you should catch it by the sides and keep your hands above or below it, never in front of its mouth.
If you want to feed the turtle, you can definitely do that, that would actually be great, but make sure that you are feeding it the right thing, some foods can be very dangerous to turtles, to find out which food items are good and which are bad you can always check out this article where you will also find a few food items lists: What Do Turtles Eat? ( Including Food Lists )
If you want to take the turtle home as a pet, you first have to make sure that it’s legal to do so. Most states, including New Mexico, have laws that protect wild native turtles. You can check out the laws of New Mexico on this page: Turtle State Laws.
If it’s winter or close to winter there is a chance that you can find a hibernating turtle. When turtles hibernate, they enter a very profound sleep which allows them to conserve energy. They generally do this because during cold seasons there is little to no food available to them, and because there is no heat to allow them to heat up their body ( turtles are unable to produce their own body heat). If during a cold season you find a turtle that is hibernating, usually the best thing that you can do is to leave it to hibernate peacefully. Usually, turtles know how to choose a good spot to hibernate, so they are probably just fine. If you want to know more about turtle hibernation, I’ve written a more in-depth article that covers the subject, In this article, I cover why turtles hibernate, how hibernation takes place, how aquatic turtles hibernate, how land turtles hibernate, how sea turtles hibernate, what is brumation, and many other important and interesting things about hibernation: Do Turtles Hibernate?
Conclusion
This article should cover every basic thing about the native turtles of New Mexico. But if you have a question about something that you couldn’t find in the article you should leave a comment, I will do my best to answer it as soon as possible.
If you want to know more facts about turtles you can always check out the category: Turtle Facts. Or if you are a turtle owner and you want to know more about how to properly take care of a turtle or a tortoise you can always check the Care Guides Section or the Recommended Products Section.
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thanks victor! i live on the eastern side of new mexico and we have lots of box turtles it BLEW my mind that they live 50 to 100 years! :0
Greetings,
I recently found a beautiful ornate box turtle crossing the road at my house and then moved it to safety. It was continuing to go into the road so I took it down the block to a path where there are no cars. It was about 1/3 of a mile from my house. I’ve heard conflicting opinions about the turtle being able to survive and I feel pretty bad. Will it be ok? I haven’t seen it around. Thanks.
Hello,
You did a kind and responsible thing by moving the ornate box turtle out of harm’s way. However, when relocating a turtle, it’s generally recommended to place it within its familiar habitat, ideally within a few hundred feet from where you found it, as turtles often have a limited home range and are intimately familiar with their surroundings. Moving them farther away from their territory can disorient them and potentially cause stress.
Ornate box turtles have a strong homing instinct, and they may make efforts to return to their original location, which could lead to further danger.
The turtle might be able to survive if the new area you placed it in has suitable habitat, food, and water. However, it’s challenging to predict the outcome as it depends on several factors, including the availability of resources and local conditions. Keep in mind that ornate box turtles are a species of conservation concern in some regions.
If you do encounter the turtle again, it might be a good idea to return it closer to the area where you initially found it, ensuring it has a better chance of reorienting itself in its familiar territory.
Your intentions were in the best interest of the turtle’s safety, and I appreciate your concern for its well-being.