Harmless · Native to the United States

Eastern musk turtle

Sternotherus odoratus (Latreille, 1801)

Also called stinkpot, common musk turtle
Data updated October 2026

Eastern musk turtle on a submerged log, showing its small domed dark shell and striped head
Fig. 1 — A small, dark, high-domed turtle of quiet, shallow water.
Close view of an eastern musk turtle's head showing two pale stripes and chin barbels
Fig. 2 — Two pale stripes run along each side of the head, with small barbels on the chin.

At a glance

One of the smallest turtles in North America, found across the eastern United States. It spends most of its life walking along muddy bottoms and rarely basks. When grabbed it releases a strong musky smell, which earned it the name stinkpot.

01

Identification

The eastern musk turtle is small and dark, with a smooth, high-domed upper shell that is gray-brown to black and often coated in green algae. The skin is dark gray or black. The lower shell is noticeably small and only its front part has a weak hinge. Adult males have thicker tails that end in a blunt spine.

  1. 01Two head stripes. Two pale yellow lines run along each side of the head and neck, one above and one below the eye.
  2. 02Chin barbels. Small fleshy points hang from the chin and throat.
  3. 03Small lower shell. The plastron leaves a lot of skin showing and has only one weak hinge at the front. Mud turtles have bigger plastrons with two hinges.

Commonly confused with

02

Size

02 in4 in6 in8 in10 in12 in Typical adult shell · about 4 in (10 cm)

Adults usually have an upper shell 2 to 4½ inches (5–11 cm) long, and a few reach about 5 to 6 inches. That makes it one of the smallest turtles in the world and the smallest turtle in states such as Missouri and Maine. Hatchlings have a shell less than an inch long.

03

Range & habitat

Eastern musk turtle crawling over a soft, muddy pond bottom among water plants
Fig. 3 — Shallow, slow water with soft bottoms and plenty of plants is ideal.

Eastern musk turtles live throughout the eastern United States, from southern Maine and southern Ontario south to Florida and west to Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. They use almost any permanent fresh water — ponds, lakes, marshes, swamps, sloughs, ditches, reservoirs and slow sections of streams and rivers. They are most common in shallow water with a slow current, lots of aquatic plants and a soft, mucky bottom, and they seldom leave the water.

State guides: Texas · Oklahoma · Florida

04

Diet & predators

Musk turtles are omnivorous bottom foragers. They poke through mud and plants for aquatic insects, snails, small clams, crayfish, earthworms and tadpoles, and they also eat algae, plant seeds and dead fish. A Missouri study found insects, mollusks and seeds were eaten most often. Anglers sometimes hook them on worms or minnows.

Feeds on

  • Aquatic insects
  • Snails and small clams
  • Crayfish, earthworms and tadpoles
  • Algae, seeds and carrion

Preyed on by

Earthworm on damp soil
Prey — earthworms and other small invertebrates.
Raccoon at the water's edge
Predator — raccoon.

05

Behavior & seasons

Eastern musk turtles are mostly active at dusk and at night, when they can be seen foraging in shallow water. By day they often rest on the bottom or bury themselves in mud. They rarely bask in the open, but they are surprisingly good climbers and are sometimes found on low, leaning branches over the water, sometimes well above the water.

When picked up, a musk turtle releases a foul-smelling musk from glands along the edge of the shell, and it often tries to bite. Its neck is long enough for the head to reach back almost to the hind legs. In the middle of the range it is active from about March to November. It spends the winter buried in mud and debris under the water, in the north from about late September to April or May.

06

Reproduction

Musk turtles mate in spring and fall, usually in the water. Most nesting happens from May through July. Females lay their eggs in a shallow hole or simply under leaves, rotting logs and other debris near the water, and several females sometimes use the same spot. A clutch holds 1 to 9 eggs, commonly 2 to 5, and many females lay two clutches a year. Eggs hatch after about 65 to 86 days, mostly in August and September. Males mature at about 2 years and females at about 4 years, though some take longer. They can live 20 to 30 years.

07

Conservation

The eastern musk turtle is common across most of its range and is not listed under the US Endangered Species Act. It is considered threatened in Ontario at the northern edge of its range, and it is uncommon in Maine. Local threats include water pollution, draining of ponds and wetlands, drowning in fishing lines and traps, road mortality where habitat is broken up, and heavy nest losses to raccoons. Because musk turtles are long-lived and slow to replace themselves, populations cannot handle steady extra losses.

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated October 2026 · How we build these pages