Species: Trachemys scripta

In the U.S., eggs are laid from mid-March to August, with the earliest nesting occurring in the southern states. Nests from January to March near Tortuguero, Costa Rica (Moll 1994). In South Carolina, mean clutch size was 6.3 (range 1-6); nesting females produced an average of 1.1 clutches/year (usually 1 clutch, rarely as many as 3); successive clutches generally were separated by an interval of about 1 month; females matured at age 7 years (Frazer et al. 1990). In Illinois, females produced an estimated 2-3 clutches per year, and most adult females evidently nested in successive years (Tucker 2001). In the U.S., eggs hatch in summer or early fall; hatchlings may commonly overwinter in nest (Jackson 1994). In Costa Rica, hatchlings from sea beach nests emerged by May and June (Moll 1994). In South Carolina, the mean proportion of adult females nesting in any given year was 0.37 (Frazer et al. 1990). See Tucker et al. (1995, Herpetologica 51:354-358) for information on annual variation in individual growth rates.