In the Wild

Natural History Basics

By Karlee, Sahara, Jackson, Lauren, Josh

The predators of Blanding’s turtles: raccoons, skunks and foxes.

They eat worms, snails, frogs, small fish, crayfish, tadpoles, and insects.

We’ve found what the turtles look like as babies. Raising the Blanding’s turtle from the beginning of their lives taught us that as babies they’re tiny, have a brownish color, yellow necks, and a pretty smooth shell. In addition we learned that the male turtles mature first, just a couple years before the females. The females breed between ages 17-20.

Blanding’s turtles prefer open canopy wetlands (without trees) with soft and mucky bottoms. While watching the turtles in water, we learned Blanding’s turtles can swim. But, even though they could survive in a marine habitat, they don’t usually dwell in flowing water.
Juvenile photo, From the Iowa Herpnet:

Adult photo, From Ohio DNR:

Life Cycle and Nesting

By Josh, Alex, Jordan, Madi

They lay their eggs in sandy or loamy soils typically in or near  agricultural fields, suburban yards, and garden beds. They tend to lay their eggs during the last week of May through to the end of June. The eggs are laid underground in a burrow-like hole where the soil is warm. Female turtles take around 14-25 years to reach the age where they begin reproduction. They also tend to only lay eggs every 2 or 3 years. Due to their reproductive habits they can often wander out of territories that are safe and protected areas to nest in people's lawns and public parks. This leads to them being seen as pests and dug up then killed. This along with death from vehicles has added to their endangerment and henceforth the conservation attempts from organizations such as Zoo New England.

http://www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond/urbanturtleinitiative.asp