Yellow bellied slider

 

    I recently went on a walk at West Ashley Park and found a small group of yellow belly sliders (Trachemys scripta) basking on small logs. They can be identified by their bright yellow plastron that has black and yellow striping. They have long nails/claws that help the turtle have a firm grasp of the ground. They can reach up to a foot in length. T. scripta is distributed locally in South Carolina and along the Eastern US coastal plain. 

    Their breeding season is typically runs from spring-fall and exhibit polygynandrous behavior - they can have multiple mates during a singular breeding season. Nesting females will typically lay from 6-10 eggs with incubation times lasting from two to three months. T. scripta is a terrestrial behavior, feeding on plants, insects, and small aquatic species (tadpoles, small fish, sometimes frogs). An interesting thing I found out about this species was that they are common in the aquatic pet industry and require sepcific conditions to be able to survive. 

    Though they were pretty covered up by the algae, I thought that it was so cool to see how they use basking for their advantage! They utilize the UV to help them process vitamin D and other metabolic processes. Also, being "ectotherms," they utilize the substrate (log) and external temperatures to regulate their metabolic processes, reminding me other testudines like loggerheads and leatherbacks, different species, but with very similar processes used in differing environments and for other purposes.

                                           Image source

Resources 

https://herpsofnc.org/yellow-bellied-slider/

https://www.reptilecentre.com/info-yellow-bellied-slider-care-sheet#:~:text=A%20good%20basking%20spot%20should,order%20to%20synthesise%20vitamin%20D.