Sometimes smaooth softshells rest buried in the sand in shallow water. They extend their necks and use their long noses as snorkels. They hunt during the day. They are capable of exchanging gas through their skin in both water and air. Smooth softshells breed in May and they lay their eggs in June or July.
Females usually dig nests on sand bars that receive sunlight.
Carnivorous mammals, however, dig up most of t1he nests and eat the eggs. The eggs may drown if the sand bar remains submerged for long periods. The brittle shelled eggs are the shape of, and smaller than, ping-pong balls. The young hatch in August or September. Hatchlings overwintering in the nests have not been observed in Iowa.