Variations
1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Cumberland slider
Active and omnivorous; large tank needed.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
- Cumberland slider should be kept without other species, and it needs a land area too.
- Cumberland slider should be kept without other species, and it needs a land area too.
- Cumberland slider should be kept without other species, and it needs a land area too.
Care and water
Behavior
Active and omnivorous; large tank needed.
Check your local laws. US: live turtles under 4 in (10 cm) carapace length and viable eggs may not be sold or distributed commercially (FDA, 21 CFR 1240.62; exceptions for science/education/exhibition, non-business transfers and export). EU: Trachemys scripta (all subspecies) is on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern (Implementing Regulation 2016/1141 under Regulation 1143/2014), so it may not be imported, kept, bred, transported, sold, used, exchanged or released; pet owners who already had animals before listing may keep them for life in secure conditions that prevent breeding and escape. Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Good to know: Needs a basking dock with UV and heat lamp and deep water. Never house with fish.
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Food
Pellets, vegetation and insects.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Male or female
Males are usually smaller than females and have long thick tails with the vent beyond the shell rim; in this species males also grow long, curved front claws.
Health
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Breeding
Egg-layer (buried clutch) · Moderate
Egg layer: courts and mates in water in spring (and autumn); females nest on land from about April to July, digging flask-shaped nests, and may lay several clutches a year. Young may overwinter in the nest.
Pair.
Large pond.
Warm season.
2-30 eggs per clutch (larger females lay more), up to 5 clutches a year in North America; incubation 59-112 days depending on temperature.
Hatchlings are fully independent: house them in shallow warm water with a basking spot and feed small pellets, worms and daphnia daily.
- Undersized tank and weak filtration
- No UV or basking heat (soft shells, poor growth)
- Releasing unwanted turtles into the wild
Where it lives in the wild
The story of the cumberland slider
A small subspecies of the pond slider from the upper Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. It has a narrow yellow stripe behind each eye (not the large yellow blotch of the yellow-bellied slider or the red stripe of the red-eared slider) and fewer, wider stripes on the head, neck and legs.
John Holbrook described the Cumberland slider in 1836. It lives in the Cumberland and Tennessee river systems. It is a subspecies of the pond slider.
First described by John E. Holbrook in 1836. Named for Named after Dutch-American naturalist Gerard Troost.
- It has a narrow yellow stripe behind each eye.
- It is a subspecies of the pond slider.
- It basks on logs.
Sources
9 facts checked with sources
- Scientific name
Reptile (aquatic turtle), not a fish. A subspecies of the pond slider (same species as the red-eared slider). Its validity is disputed: Parham et al. (2020) proposed merging it into T. s. scripta, but the IUCN Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (2021) and Reptile Database keep it. Spelled troostii (also seen as troosti). Hybrids with the yellow-bellied slider are known (Reptile Database cites Kleewein 2014 on T. s. troostii x T. s. scripta reproducing in Austria), so trade animals may be mixed.
The Reptile Database: Trachemys scripta - Familycorrected
New value (legacy had none). Trachemys is in Emydidae, the same family as the cooters (MDC lists the red-eared slider, T. s. elegans, among Missouri's Emydidae).
Missouri Department of Conservation: Eastern River Cooter (government; similar-species section on the yellow-bellied slider) - Sizecorrected
Carapace length. ToW gives this subspecies to 21 cm, smaller than the yellow-bellied (27 cm) and red-eared (28 cm). TWRA's 'max 11.5+ inches' (29 cm) is for pond sliders of all subspecies in Tennessee. Legacy 28 cm looks copied from the yellow-bellied slider.
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis/ETI): Trachemys scripta · Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Pond Slider (government) - Where it livescorrected
New value.
The Reptile Database: Trachemys scripta · Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Pond Slider (government) - Male or female
Species-level description (all subspecies). ToW also notes old males often become melanistic (dark).
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis/ETI): Trachemys scripta - Breedingcorrected
Legacy breeding text only gave an egg count; legacy trigger 'Warm season' fits. Male T. s. scripta mature at 10-12 cm plastron length in 4-5 years, females at 16-23 cm in 5-8 years (ToW).
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis/ETI): Trachemys scripta · Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Pond Slider (government) - Eggs and youngcorrected
Species-level figures (Trachemys scripta, all subspecies); legacy 6-15 eggs is within but narrower than the sourced range. No subspecies-specific clutch data found.
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis/ETI): Trachemys scripta · Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Pond Slider (government) - Storycorrected
Legacy said 'with a yellow cheek patch': sources describe a narrow yellow stripe behind the eye, not a patch. 'From the Cumberland River basin' is right (also the upper Tennessee River).
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency: Pond Slider (government) · Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis/ETI): Trachemys scripta - traits.legalcorrected
US: FDA rule 21 CFR 1240.62 bans selling, holding for sale or distributing live turtles under 4 in (10 cm) carapace length and viable eggs; exceptions include bona fide scientific/educational/exhibition use (not as pets), non-business transfers and export-only shipments. EU: the Union list (first adopted 2016) names the whole species, so yellow-bellied and Cumberland sliders are covered as well as red-eared sliders. The legislation.gov.uk copy is the UK-retained version (UK wording 'special concern'); the EU text says 'Union concern'. Not CITES-listed (not checked against Species+). Legacy says 'EU and several countries ban or restrict Trachemys scripta': the EU part is confirmed; other countries not checked. The legacy Salmonella hygiene advice is sensible but was not separately sourced here (the rule itself is the FDA's Salmonella measure).
eCFR: 21 CFR 1240.62 Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements (US FDA) · Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1141, Annex: list of invasive alien species of Union concern (legislation.gov.uk copy) · Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 on invasive alien species (EUR-Lex)