What kind of turtle hatchling do I have?

Question

I found a turtle hatchling in a nearby river and I thought it was a map turtle. I have searched hundreds of pics and can't find any that look like Shelly (my daughter named "her"). She has a dark green carapace with a tall central keel, the edges are slightly toothed. She has yellow lines on her neck and head like a map turtle as well as the yellow dots behind her eyes. Her plastron is a yellowish-orange. The weird thing about her plastron though is that it is the exact shape of a mushroom with black dots and a cross shape in the "cap" of the mushroom. She is growing fine and eating good so I guess I'm doing all of the right things but, I just wish I knew what type of turtle she is. Please help!!!!

Answer 1

You can eliminate a lot of species just from where you caught the turtle. Get a copy of a field guide such as the two in the Peterson series. They are very easy to use. You might want to start with the plates, then eliminate improbables using the range maps. Finally, use the descriptions and the descriptions of similar turtles.

Answer 2

pictures?

Answer 3

It sounds like it might be a Ouachita turtle. It may actually be called Ouachita Sawback. I had a turtle once pretty much fitting the description you gave. Try that.