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Chicken turtle

Deirochelys reticularia · Turtles · Reptiles

Chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia): Identified by a very long, yellow-striped neck, about as long as the plastron and up to 80% of carapace length. Pear-shaped, olive to dark brown carapace with a reticulate network of yellow to orange lines; solid yellow plastron; yellow stripes on the legs. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Chicken turtle on a rock at the water's edge
Adobe Stock · Standard License (asset 484491852)
Scientific name
Deirochelys reticularia
Family
Emydidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern and south-central US coastal plain; NatureServe lists Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas; not recorded for Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Identified by a very long, yellow-striped neck, about as long as the plastron and up to 80% of carapace length. [1][2]

Pear-shaped, olive to dark brown carapace with a reticulate network of yellow to orange lines; solid yellow plastron; yellow stripes on the legs. [1][2]

Carapace 15.3-17.8 cm typically, to 25.4 cm; females about 1.5 times larger than males; males have thicker tails, longer front claws and a more compressed shell. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Shallow ponds and lakes with thick vegetation, cypress swamps, ditches and temporary pools, usually not flowing water; wanders overland, especially in spring. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Diurnal and often seen on land migrating between wetlands or seeking soil to burrow into; land activity in South Carolina peaks in March and April; basks, and is wary when basking. [1][2]

Hibernates in mud and vegetation in the north of its range; Florida animals stay active all year; may aestivate on land when wetlands dry. [1][2]

Eats crustaceans, aquatic insects, tadpoles, fish and plants, using suction feeding; nests August-September and February-March in South Carolina. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Southeastern and south-central US coastal plain; NatureServe lists Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas; not recorded for Canada.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology