Where do Turtles Live? A Complete Coverage of Turtle Habitats

You can expect to see turtles in a lot of places, especially if there is a lake or river nearby, but you can also expect to see turtles in more unusual places like in a desert or in somebody’s living room. I found it pretty amazing that you can find turtles in so many places, so I did the research to find out where turtles live, here is what I found out.

Most turtle species live mainly in freshwater, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers, streams, wetlands and swamps. There are also turtle species that live in the ocean, and turtles that live exclusively on land even in harsh areas like the desert.

Turtles have managed to adapt to nearly all types of areas and climates ranging from the vast ocean, to the peaceful lake to the hot desert. But even so, not all of those places are created equally, and some of them have characteristics that make them more or less suitable for turtles to live in. So let’s take a closer look at each of them and see what turtles look for when choosing a place to settle.

Lakes and Ponds

More than half of the turtle species that exist live in a lake or a pond. And this is for a good reason.

Lakes and ponds are very common all around the world, and they offer some advantages that no other environment can.

Some of the main advantages a lakes and ponds offer over other habitats are:

Dense vegetation that acts as a food source and protection
Lots of prey in the form of insects and fish
A limited number of predators

Even if lakes usually make great places for a turtle to live, that doesn’t mean that all lakes are just as good. There are multiple factors that determine how suitable a lake is for a turtle.

One of the most important factors is the vegetation. The vegetation of a lake can count for multiple things. First of all it provides food for the turtles. Not only the turtles can eat the plants themselves, but also smaller insects and reptiles that can be found in the vegetation. The vegetation is also important for the turtles because it allows them to hide from predators.

Predators are also a very important factor. Even if a lake has a lot of space and it’s full of vegetation and food, if it’s filled with predators it will not be a very good place for a turtle.

Another factor is the size of the lake. A bigger lake will always be more preferable over a smaller lake, because it means that there will be more vegetation and more space in general. The only disadvantage of a big lake is that with a bigger lake usually come more predators. But depending on the area it might not be the case.

Population size is another important factor that turtles look at when choosing an area to live in. If the area is crowded with turtles or any other species it might not be as desirable. In the case of a lake where all the conditions are good except that it’s overpopulated by turtles, some of them might decide to migrate, since there will be too much competition for food and basking spots.

Another important aspect of the lake is whether it’s spring- or stream-fed from intermittent or permanent water sources. Accessible streams can provide safe routes for movement to good nesting areas. Good nesting areas can be hard to find near lakes.

So some lakes can be more suitable for turtles to live in than others. But if a lake has at least acceptable conditions then there is a good chance that some turtles might live there.

Rivers

Most turtle species that are able to live in a lake, can also live in a river, but not all of them.

And just like in the case of a lake, some rivers are more suited to host turtles than others. Some of the things that turtles take into consideration when choosing a river are:

Vegetation. Again vegetation is a very important thing. As I said it helps with the food and to defend from predators.

Stream speed. If the river moves too fast it will not be suitable for turtles to live in.

Pollution. Unfortunately some rivers can be very polluted thus becoming uninhabitable. There are multiple kinds of pollution that can affect a river. It can either be chemical pollution, for example if a factory dumps chemical substances there. And pollution in this case can also refer to trash that is thrown into the river by people.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that rivers tend to travel very long distances. And while some parts of the river might be unsuitable for habitation, that doesn’t mean that the rest of the river is not suitable for turtles to live. A good example of unsuitable sections of a river, are the parts that go through cities. These sections usually have little to no vegetation and are full of concrete which isn’t necessarily very turtle friendly.

Wetlands and Swamps

While swamps and wetlands don’t have as much water as a lake would have, they make up for this with dense vegetation, and an abundance of insects.

Turtles are relatively slow on land, but when they are in water they are surprisingly fast, and are able to escape most predators. In a swamp, there usually isn’t enough water for them to be able to be as fast. But the dense vegetation will provide more than enough camouflage and places to hide, to make up for the lack of water.

Insects are probably the main source of meat for turtles. And while lakes and rivers have their fair share, the amount of insects that you can find in swamps and wetlands, doesn’t even compare.

So, overall swamps and wetlands are very different from lakes and ponds, for a turtle, and there are some tradeoffs, but they are still one great place for turtles to live in.

Oceans

At the moment there are 7 species of turtles that are strictly marine, those are:

Hawksbill
Kemp’s ridley
Olive ridley
Green sea turtles
Loggerhead
Flatback sea turtles
Leatherback sea turtles

Those species never leave the oceans except to lay eggs and when they are hatching.

Turtles tend to live everywhere in the ocean as long as they can find food there. Their diet is usually made out of seaweed, jellyfish, squid, barnacles, sponges, algae, etc. Every species has its own diet but the basic idea is that in the ocean they can find food almost everywhere.

Turtles do tend to stay out of zones that have very low temperatures, so there are no turtles around Antarctica. In rest they are almost everywhere and they also tend to move a lot.

Desert

It might seem strange to think that turtles, which are usually found in rivers or lakes, can live in the desert. But some species are able to live in the desert, and they can do this a lot better than you would have expected.

The conditions of a desert are mostly the same, little to no vegetation, almost no source of water and very high temperatures. And while some areas do have a little bit of vegetation, and in some cases even some water, most turtles don’t really care to spend time looking for them.

There are several turtle species that can survive in the desert and they all have different approaches.

A good example of a turtle that can thrive in the desert is the desert tortoise that lives in the United States in the Mojave Desert where the temperatures are usually over 100° Fahrenheit (38° Celsius), and there are no lakes or rivers and rainfall is very rare.

To survive desert tortoises usually do their activities early in the morning or later during the day when the temperatures start to go down a little. And during intense heat periods they hide under vegetation, rocks or they dig holes where they can hide in. They also require very small amounts of water that they can take from their food. Desert tortoises are even more efficient at retaining water than camels.

Other species of turtles that live in the desert are the mud turtles that live in Arizona. These turtles survive by finding areas that experience flash floods. These turtles are able to go entire months without water. And in case of extreme droughts and heat they are able to burrow underground where they will wait for the rain.

In some desert regions you can also find rivers, a good example would be the Colorado River. Here turtles live like they would have in any river, not too many things are changing.

Man Made Environments

There are two major types of artificial environments that I want to cover.

The first one is an artificial lake. Yes, turtles can easily survive and adapt to an artificial lake. Actually a lot of cities have artificial lakes inside of them. These lakes are very similar to natural ones, the only difference is that humans dig them. And after the vegetation has had enough time to develop, a turtle can live in an artificial lake as well as it would have had in a natural one.

The second type of artificial environment is the aquarium (or terrarium depending on the species). Turtles can easily adapt and live in an aquarium and as long as you take good care of your turtle, you clean the tank regularly, feed it properly, and make sure that it has enough space, your turtle will be happier and healthier than it would have been in any other place.

Final Thoughts

There are multiple turtle species, and overall they can live anywhere in the world, whether we are talking about an arid desert, a rainy jungle, a creek, the ocean or the lake where you go fishing.

The only areas where you won’t see a turtle are those with constant freezing temperatures. In areas with multiple seasons, turtles hibernate during the winter. Which basically means that they sleep until the cold weather passes. But in Antarctica, for example, where there are constant freezing temperatures, there isn’t much to do for a turtle, so they never tried to adapt to that climate. But other than that, they can live anywhere.

I hope this article answered all of your questions about where turtles live. In case there is anything else that you would like to know don’t hesitate to leave your questions in the comment section below.