Is this a baby musk turtle ?

[mike taylor]

My son found this guy by a pond . I'm thinking a baby musk turtle . It was found behind my house at a pond . We are 30 minutes north of Houston . I told him to put it back by the pond . Hopefully this 80 ° day don't didn't trick him to come out and die when the cold hits again .

 

[lisa127]

It looks like some sort of musk or mud turtle. I couldn't tell you what kind other than adorable!

 

[mike taylor]

I'm thinking mud turtle also . The musk turtle doesn't have a red belly .

 

[Berkeley]

It's a mud turtle, that bright plastron is the giveaway.
What a cute little fellow!

Nah, the temperatures won't hurt him. At that size, they can warm up quickly, so it is no trouble to put him back where you found it.

--Berkeley

 

[mike taylor]

Thank you ,you two .

 

[Markw84]

Baby Mississippi Mud Turtle. Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis

 

[Berkeley]

Any time, Mike.

I agree with Markw above, Mississippi Mud.

--Berkeley

 

[RayRay]

My son found this guy by a pond . I'm thinking a baby musk turtle . It was found behind my house at a pond . We are 30 minutes north of Houston . I told him to put it back by the pond . Hopefully this 80 ° day don't didn't trick him to come out and die when the cold hits again .

View attachment 159688

So tiny and adorable

 

[Anthony P]

The dead give away is the size and shape of the plastron. Sternotherus, the genus to which most Musks belong, have the smaller "bikini" plastron, like that of Chelydra, Common Snappers. Muds, Kinosternon, have a larger plastron with two hinges, which wouldn't be developed in a turtle this small, but the plastron would still be larger.

 

[Anthony P]

And I agree that this appears to be to be Kinosternon subrubrum, but can't personally decipher, based on appearance, whether it would be K. s. subrubrum, The Eastern Mud Turtle, or K. s. hippocrepis, The Mississippi Mud Turtle, since BOTH can have an attractive reddish colored plastron as hatchlings. The fact that it was found near Houston tells us that it is indeed a Mississippi Mud. Nice Identification, guys.

 

[mike taylor]

Thanks Anthony . We let him go where we found him . Just wanted to know what he is .