Conservation Status: Protected (FWCA); Threatened (SARA; COSEWIC)

Size: 20 cm (8”)

Defining feature(s): The lower jaw and throat are uniformly yellow in colour while the head and neck are black.  Blanding’s turtles have an elongated high domed shell that appears black.  Upon close inspections small light flecks are often apparent on the carapace. 

Other features: The hinged plastron is yellow with large black blotches in adults but almost uniformly dark in hatchlings and juveniles.  Blanding’s turtles have a blunt head relative to other Ontario species.

Habitat: Blanding’s turtles are common in shallow ponds, marshes, bogs and lakes.  They prefer to walk along the bottom, as they are poor swimmers.

Reproduction: Blanding’s turtles typically mate in the spring but it has also been documented in summer months.  Nesting occurs in June and females will travel as much as a kilometer to find suitable nesting sites.  Clutches of 7 to 20 eggs incubate in the nest for 50 to 75 days before the hatchlings emerge from the nest.