In the wild the Florida Cooter typically eats aquatic vegetation. Averaging between nine and thirteen inches, the Florida Cooter is a turtle that is larger than most. They are very similar in appearance to the River Cooter. Florida Cooters have a dark carapace and light yellow plastron that lacks a pattern. Their shell is patterned with concentric rings and the head and necks are striped.
Male Cooters have claws on the front feet.
Males can be differentiated from females by their elongated front claws. Florida Cooters are, as the name would suggest, found mainly in Florida with a range that extends into southern North Carolina. The word cooter is derived from the African word kuta , meaning turtle in many dialects. The females dig several nest cavities within inches of each other and lay one egg in each cavity. They usually lay at least two clutches, each consisting of between four and twenty-two eggs.