Adult male yellow-bellied sliders typically reach 5-9 inches in length;
females are anywhere from 8-13 inches. The
carapace (upper shell) is typically brown and black, often with yellow stripes. The skin is olive green with prominent patches of yellow down the neck and legs. As the name implies, the plastron (bottom shell) is mostly yellow with black spots along the edges. Adult males tend to grow darker as they age. The lifespan of yellow-bellied sliders is over 30 years in the wild and over 40 years in captivity.
The slider is considered a diurnal turtle; it feeds mainly in the morning
and frequently basks on shore, on logs, or while floating, during the rest
of the day. At night, it sleeps lying on the bottom or resting on the
surface near brush piles, but in all cases it prefers to stay in the
water. Dense surface vegetation provides cover from predators and supports
high densities of aquatic invertebrates and small vertebrates, which
offers better foraging than open water.
