Harmless · Native to California and Baja California

Southwestern pond turtle

Actinemys pallida

Southern half of the former western pond turtle
Data updated November 2026

Southwestern pond turtle basking on a log above a shaded stream, showing a low olive-brown shell
Fig. 1 — Adult basking on a log. A low, smooth, olive to dark-brown shell is typical.
Close view of a southwestern pond turtle shell with fine dark lines radiating from the center of each scute
Fig. 2 — Many shells carry faint dark flecks or lines that radiate from the center of each scute.

At a glance

The only native freshwater turtle in most of southern California. It lives in creeks, ponds and marshes from the Bay Area south into northern Baja California, basks on logs and rocks, and has declined so sharply that it was proposed for federal protection in 2023.

01

Identification

The southwestern pond turtle is a small to medium-sized freshwater turtle with a low, smooth, rather flat shell. Most are olive brown, dark brown or nearly black, and many show a fine pattern of darker spots, dashes or lines spreading outward from the center of each shell plate. It is the only native pond turtle in its range, so the turtles most often mixed up with it are released pets such as red-eared sliders.

  1. 01Low, smooth shell. The carapace is broad and fairly flat, with no keel or saw-toothed rear edge.
  2. 02Dark, drab color. Olive to brown or blackish, often with fine flecks or radiating lines on each scute.
  3. 03No red ear patch. The head is plain or lightly speckled, unlike the bold red stripe of a red-eared slider.

Commonly confused with

The northwestern pond turtle looks almost identical and was treated as the same species until genetic work split the two; range is the easiest guide, with the southwestern species living south and west of the Coast Ranges. Red-eared sliders, a released pet now common in California waters, have a red stripe behind the eye and yellow striping on the head and legs.

02

Size

02 in4 in6 in8 in10 in12 in Typical adult · about 6 in (15 cm)

Adults are roughly 4 to 9 inches (about 10–23 cm) long, with most around 5 to 7 inches. Hatchlings are tiny, about the size of a sandwich cookie, when they dig out of the nest.

03

Range & habitat

Rocky creek pool in southern California chaparral with logs and exposed banks for basking
Fig. 3 — Creek pools with logs, rocks and open banks for basking.

This turtle lives along the Pacific side of California, south and west of the Coast Ranges from the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey County through Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego counties, and into northern Baja California, Mexico. It uses streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, marshes and even irrigation ditches, favoring pools with muddy or rocky bottoms, plenty of plant cover and logs, rocks, cattail mats or open banks for basking. It also needs nearby upland ground for nesting, overwintering and moving between waters.

04

Diet & predators

Pond turtles forage underwater and eat a wide mix of food. Aquatic insects and other invertebrates, worms and crayfish make up much of it, along with water plants, frog and salamander eggs and larvae, and carrion. Now and then they catch a small frog or fish.

Feeds on

  • Aquatic insects and other invertebrates
  • Crayfish and worms
  • Frog and salamander eggs and tadpoles
  • Water plants and carrion

Preyed on by

  • Skunks and raccoons (nests)
  • Foxes and river otters
  • Non-native American bullfrogs (hatchlings)
  • Non-native bass and other introduced fish (young)
Crayfish on a stream bottom
Prey — crayfish.
American bullfrog sitting at the water’s edge
Predator — American bullfrog (introduced).

05

Behavior & seasons

Pond turtles bask every day they can, hauling out on logs, rocks and banks to warm up before they forage underwater. They are wary and slide into the water at the first sign of a person or predator. In cold or regulated rivers they must bask longer, which leaves less time to feed.

In late summer and fall many leave the water and travel overland to spend the winter on land, so a pond turtle crossing a road in autumn is often heading to its overwintering site. Turtles seen on the move in spring and early summer are usually females looking for a place to nest.

06

Reproduction

Mating takes place in spring, around April and May in the Santa Monica Mountains. Females leave the water to dig a nest in open ground near the stream or pond and lay a clutch of about 2 to 11 eggs. Some females nest twice in a year, while others skip a year. The tiny hatchlings dig out and walk to the water on their own. These turtles grow slowly and can live for decades, with some known to pass 55 years in the wild.

07

Conservation

Pond turtles were once common across coastal California but are now rare or gone from much of their former range, and the southwestern species has declined faster than its northern relative. The main threats are drought, wildfire, the loss and fragmentation of wetlands and streams, dams and water diversions, road deaths, nest predators such as skunks and raccoons, and introduced animals, above all American bullfrogs, along with bass, sunfish, catfish, carp, crayfish and African clawed frogs.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the southwestern pond turtle as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in October 2023, but a final decision had not been issued as of late 2026. California lists it as a Species of Special Concern. Browse protected reptiles

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated November 2026 · How we build these pages