The Plymouth Redbelly turtles are only found in ponds in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. They only thrive in freshwater ponds with an unvegetated, sandy shoreline.
They are listed by the U.S. Department of the Interior as an endangered species.
Population has increased through joint conservation efforts managed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. The Buttonwood Park Zoo participates in the program.
An adult female is 10-12 inches long and may weigh as much as 10 pounds. The male is smaller.
The carapace, or upper shell, ranges in background color from light chestnut to black, with reddish, vertical bars. The lower shell, or plastron, is coral red in females and pale pink in males, with dark mottling in both sexes.
The color tends to darken with age, especially in the male.
The red-bellied turtle lives almost entirely on underwater vegetation rooted in muddy bottoms, although larger turtles may also eat crayfish.
The favorite food plants are milfoil, bladderworts, arrowheads, and water shields.
Females dig nest in sandy soil near the pond during late spring or early summer, and about a dozen eggs are laid in the nest.
The eggs hatch after 70 to 80 days of incubation. Newly hatched turtles are about an inch long and weigh only about a quarter of an ounce.
Generally, the young turtles leave the nest for the pond in late summer, but sometimes they'll stay in the nest through the winter, emerging the following spring.
Red-bellied turtles can be found from late March into October. As reptiles, Plymouth Redbelly turtles hibernate during the winter by burrowing into mud along pond bottoms.