Help! Found a tortoise and don’t know what species it is.

Pastel Tortie

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Jul 31, 2018
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North Florida
I didn't really appreciate the range of patterns and mottling on the skin of some turtles, especially aquatic turtles, until I started watching my three-striped mud turtle hatchlings grow up. And then I started paying closer attention to pictures of other mud turtles posted by @Moozillion and other members. In various ways, I think we're all having to refine our ideas of what different turtles and different traits look like.
 

Yvonne G

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Jan 23, 2008
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Clovis, CA
Look at the gray head with black speckles. Is this not a Diamondback Terrapin?
No. Some male red ear sliders lose all their color as they age, and the stripes change to spots. I've been fooled a couple times taking in a "pacific pond turtle" only coming to realize it was a melanistic red ear slider.
 
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