Meet the Northern Red-Bellied Cooter: An Endangered Turtle Getting a Head Start

(Pseudemys rubriventris) is the largest basking turtle in Massachusetts. The only larger freshwater turtle is the common snapping turtle. An adult Northern Red-bellied Cooter shell length ranges from 10-13 inches, and they can weigh 12 pounds. An adult’s carapace or upper shell can be black to brown with reddish stripes.

They are found mostly within Plymouth and Bristol Counties in Massachusetts with smaller populations in Norfolk and Barnstable Counties.

The Northern Red-bellied Cooter is listed as endangered in Massachusetts, and only the Massachusetts population is federally listed as endangered.

As adults, they feed primarily on aquatic vegetation. The young may eat invertebrates such as crayfish.

Northern red-bellied cooters spend the winter underwater in a hibernation-like state called brumation. They are active from March – October. They mate in the spring, and females nest in June and early July. They dig a flask-shaped nest about 4” deep in open sandy areas and lay about 10-20 eggs. The incubation period is 70-80 days.

The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program began a “headstart” program for the red-bellied cooter in 1984. Hatchlings from natural nests are collected in August and raised by participating groups for about 9 months. These turtles are released in May and are the size of a wild 3-year-old turtle. This headstart increases their survival rate.