This Red-eared Slider was crossing the auto tour road at the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. I made a blog post twice before regarding reasons these turtles are out of the water. The first blog post I made, I thought could be a Red-eared Slider Searching For New Habitat and the second post was of a Red-eared Slider Laying Eggs. This time I think it was looking for a new habitat.
Red-eared Sliders leave the water and travel across land for several reasons, including:
- Basking: They need to warm themselves under the sun to regulate their body temperature and metabolism.
- Nesting: Female Red-eared Sliders will leave the water to find a suitable location to lay their eggs.
- Exploring: They may leave the water to explore their surroundings and search for food or mates.
- Fleeing danger: They may leave the water to escape predators or adverse conditions in their aquatic habitat.
- Thermoregulation: Red-eared Sliders will move between sun-exposed and shaded areas to regulate their body temperature.
These are just a few of the reasons why Red-eared Sliders might leave the water and travel across land.