Turtles are diverse animals that are categories into over 300 species and subspecies, and most of them have a different color and a different pattern on their shell and skin. Some of those patterns can be spectacular, while some of them are rather plain.
Most turtles are green, dark or light brown, or brownish-gray colored, and have a huge variety of patterns on their shells ranging from circles to stripes to hieroglyphs, which can be a multitude of colors like red, yellow, orange, black, or white.
Now let’s look at some beautiful and interesting-looking turtles, and after that, we’ll have a look at some turtles that change their color, and the reason for all this diversity.
The Different Colors of Turtles
The Sabine Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica sabinensis)
The Southern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta dorsalis)
Photo by Suzanne L Collins on Wikipedia
The Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin)
Photo by Vince Welter on Flickr
As you can see there is a huge variety of colors among turtle species, even if the main color is usually a playing dark green or a muddy green. The overall color of a turtle is given by the environment in which they live. Darker-colored turtles usually live in areas with dense vegetation, while lightly colored turtles live in areas with lighter vegetation.
The Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera aspera)
Photo by Todd Pierson
The Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)
Photo by Peter Paplanus on Flickr
The Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)
Photo by Kristine Paulus on Flickr
In a lot of cases, like with the box turtles, the only way to differentiate between species is the color and the pattern, as there is no other biological difference between them. While the difference in color and pattern is caused by the area in which they live, over time turtles have migrated and ended up overlapping. And now the only difference between them is the color.
The Hieroglyphic River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna hieroglyphica)
Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macroclemys temminckii)
Cagle’s Map Turtle (Graptemys caglei)
Photo by Mokele on Wikipedia
But while there are solve very interesting looking turtles out there, most of them are rather plainly looking, here are some of the most common colors you will see on a turtle:
The Common Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)
Photo by Scott Sherrill-Mix on Flickr
The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
Photo by Philip Bouchard on Flickr
The Northwestern Pond Turtle (Emys marmorata)
Photo by Yathin S Krishnappa on Wikipedia
Can Turtles Change Color?
A surprising amount of turtles will change their color over time.
The most dramatic color change occurs in painted terrapins that live in Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo. The painter terrapins usually have a nondescript gray head and some dull red stripes down the center of the top of their head. During the mating season, the head of the males becomes white and the dull red of the stripes becomes a very bright and powerful red. This change helps them find a partner during the mating season, no other benefit of the color change has been found.
The male river terrapins also change colors during the mating season. Their shells are usually a pale gray that goes unnoticed, but during the mating season, their shells become darker, almost black. Again, there is no other practical reason for this change, except for attracting partners.
Baby turtles will always be more brightly colored than older turtles, and they might even have different patterns on their shells. They will remain with those colors for at least a year or two after which their patterns will start to change and become similar to those of older turtles, and their colors will become muted or darker, depending on the species.
There are species that will remain with the same colors and patterns throughout their entire life. For example the painted turtles of North America. Baby painted turtles are born with the exact same colors and patterns that their parents have and they will keep them for their entire lives. Here are two pictures, one showing a baby painted turtle, and one showing an adult painted turtle.
Some turtles have very different colors as adults than what they had when they were hatchlings. For example, the adult eastern mud turtle has a dark brown carapace and dull yellow-brown plastron. But as a baby, it has a black shell and bright orange or red plastron with black streaks. During their first year, the colors start to fade and they transform into the typical yellow-brown that adults have. Even if this change is not very aesthetically pleasing it’s a lot safer for them since they can blend with the environment better. Here is a picture.
What Gives Turtles Their Colors
So turtles have a huge variety of colors and patterns and some turtles even change those colors as they age. But what is the reason for all those different colors?
The answer is quite simple. Turtles have different colors based on their environment.
Most turtle species adapted to their environment and have developed colors and patterns that will help them blend in with their environment. This allows them to better hide from predators and prey.
Turtle bodies are almost entirely covered by the shell, which also dictates the overall color of the turtle. The shell is made out of two parts: the carapace and the plastron. Here is a picture showing each part.
As it’s the case for most turtles the carapace is usually colored darker than the plastron. And this is because turtles are semi-aquatic animals, so they spend time both on land and water.
You’ve probably noticed that most fish have their bellies white or at least light-colored, while the upper part is a darker or more vibrant color.
The reason for this is quite simple, it’s camouflage. When underwater, if you try to look above you you will see the sun that reflects in the water, so you will see a shade of white, yellow, or green, depending on how clean the water is.
While we, humans, are not that easily fooled by this camouflage method, it’s actually quite efficient against a lot of animals that don’t have the most accurate vision.
Albino Turtles
While extremely rare, albino turtles do exist. And they are most commonly seen as pets.
In the wild, it’s almost impossible to find an albino adult turtle. While the white color is caused by a lack of pigmentation, so it’s not a dangerous health problem. The white-yellowish color makes them extremely easy to spot, and they usually fall prey to predators very fast.
The white color is caused by the lack of pigmentation.
The Color of the Eyes
Another very interesting aspect regarding turtle color is the color of their eyes. Here is a picture showing the large variety of eyes that turtles can have.
Turtles have a huge variety of eye colors ranging from green to yellow, to blue to red and black. And incredibly interesting pupils that can even be stripes or star-shaped.
If you’d like to know more about turtle eyes, and the incredible shapes and colors that they can have you can check out this article: What Color Are Turtle Eyes? (With Pictures), you will be amazed by what you will see.
Final Thoughts
So while a lot of turtles are plain looking, there are quite a few that distinguish themselves.
If you are looking to buy a turtle and the aspect is really important for you, please remember that colors usually change, as the turtle ages. So most turtles won’t look the same if you get them as babies or juveniles. Also before getting a turtle, I would suggest you take a look at our Care Guides section, as taking care of a turtle, while it’s not extremely complicated, will require some effort and knowledge.
But if you are just interested in knowing cool facts about turtles, you can check out our Turtle Facts section, where you will find extremely useful and fascinating facts about turtles.
That’s about it turtle colors, if you have any more questions about turtle colors, you can always leave a comment in the section below and I will answer it as soon as possible.
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