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Idaho Turtles: Identification Guide With Pictures

Last checked November 3, 2026 against official sources.

On this page
  1. All 3 turtles
  2. When they are active
  3. How to report
  4. About this list
  5. Sources

This page lists 3 turtles: all from Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Idaho Species Catalog, Chelonia Class. 2 are nonnative.

All 3 turtles

From A to Z.

Painted Turtle
Photo: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Painted Turtle

Chrysemys picta

Size
Small: adult shell usually 4 to 7 inches, up to about 10 inches; females are larger than males.
How to recognize it
  • Smooth, fairly flat shell with no keel and a smooth (not saw-toothed) rear edge
  • Red markings on the marginal shell plates
  • Yellow spot behind each eye and yellow stripes on the chin
Conservation
IDAPA classification: Protected Nongame; State Conservation Rank S3
77 records by month.

Full Painted Turtle guide

No confirmed photo of Pond Slider

Pond Slider

Trachemys scripta

Nonnative

Conservation
No IDAPA classification shown; State Conservation Rank SNA
Snapping Turtle
Photo: Cephas · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

Snapping Turtle

Chelydra serpentina

Nonnative

Size
Upper shell usually 8 to 14 inches, occasionally to nearly 20; usually 10 to 35 lb, occasionally to 75 lb in the wild.
How to recognize it
  • Large head, long tail
  • Saw-toothed scales on the long tail
  • Small, cross-shaped lower shell
Conservation
No IDAPA classification shown; State Conservation Rank SNA

Full Snapping Turtle guide

When turtles are active in Idaho

Records of turtles in Idaho peak in April to May. They show when people record turtles, not how many there are (about month bars).

109 records of turtles in Idaho by month (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY records).

How to report

Invasive species: Idaho Invasive Species Hotline 1-877-336-8676 (ISDA). Wildlife crimes: Citizens Against Poaching 1-800-632-5999 (IDFG). Bear sightings and conflicts: report to the state wildlife agency (IDFG regional offices). Idaho State Department of Agriculture

About this list

The species list comes from Idaho Species Catalog, Chelonia Class (In Idaho? = Yes) (Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 2017 (Internet Archive capture 2017-07-31); same 3 species on the 2024-09-12 capture of the Reptilia class page (sources/v-idaho-2.txt)).

Venom labels come only from official sources and link to them; "Not stated" never means harmless. How labels work.

"Nonnative" and "Invasive" follow the wording of the source list. See invasive species in Idaho.

Sources

  1. About Fish and Game. Idaho Department of Fish and Game. archived copy, captured September 23, 2026; checked November 3, 2026.
  2. Idaho Species Catalog: Chelonia Class (In Idaho? = Yes). Idaho Department of Fish and Game. archived copy, captured July 31, 2017; checked November 3, 2026.
  3. Invasive Species / Pests / Invertebrates. Idaho State Department of Agriculture (Invasive Species of Idaho program). undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “Idaho Invasive Species Hotline [toll-free]: 1-877-336-8676”
  4. GBIF.org occurrence records, human observations licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, accessed November 3, 2026. The datasets behind these counts are listed on our Sources page.