This page lists 29 turtles: all from Herps of Texas, Biodiversity Collections, Dept. of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin's Turtles of Texas.
Usually 15 to 26 inches of shell and 35 to 150 pounds; males can reach 29 inches and 249 pounds, females about 22 inches and 62 pounds. Missouri records over 250 pounds.
How to recognize it
Three prominent ridges on the upper shell
Very large head with a sharp, strongly hooked beak
Adults 2.5 to 3.5 feet long and 200 to 350 pounds (NOAA). NCWRC gives 31 to 45 inches shell length and 170 to 350 pounds; SCDNR says adults can weigh as much as 300 pounds and reach up to four feet in shell length.
How to recognize it
Very large head with powerful jaws.
Slightly heart-shaped top shell.
Two pairs of scales (prefrontal scutes) between the eyes above the nostrils; two claws on each flipper.
Adult leatherbacks differ from all other sea turtles, including the loggerhead, in their large size, spindle-shaped body and leathery shell without scales.
Tennessee (TWRA): the alligator snapping turtle has a longer snout with a hooked beak, extra marginal scutes (shell-edge plates) and more conspicuous ridges on the shell. Missouri (MDC): its upper shell has 3 prominent ridges, one along the center line and one on either side, and its large head ends in a sharp, strongly hooked beak. Texas (TPWD): the common snapping turtle has an oval-shaped head and a comparatively smooth, rounded shell; the alligator snapper has three distinct ridges, a triangular head and a fleshy lure in its mouth. Caution: young common snapping turtles also have three keels on the shell (MDC, NCWRC, CT DEEP), so ridges alone do not separate small turtles.
The ornate box turtle usually has no ridge down the shell and has many yellow lines radiating from the center of each shell plate; it is more of a grassland species.
Photos show typical adults; individuals vary. Never get close to compare.
When turtles are active in Texas
Records of turtles in Texas peak in March to June and October. They show when people record turtles, not how many there are (about month bars).
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
7,377 records of turtles in Texas by month (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY records).
The species list comes from Turtles of Texas (Herps of Texas checklist, UT Austin) (Herps of Texas, Biodiversity Collections, Dept. of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2020-04-23 (archive capture date; site says distributions based on Dixon 2013 and range extensions through Dec 2012)).
Venom labels come only from official sources and link to them; "Not stated" never means harmless. How labels work.
Sources
Mission & Philosophy. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
Herps of Texas: Turtles of Texas. Herps of Texas, Biodiversity Collections, Dept. of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin. 2020-04-23 (archive capture date; checked November 3, 2026.
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