Mud turtles are so-named because they hang out in the bottom mud of streams and ponds. They are not very good swimmers with their heavy, domed shells. Instead, they walk around the bottom eating worms, aquatic insects, and crustaceans. Although they can dive as deep as 3 meters (10 feet), they tend to stay in shallow water where they can easily come up for air. Eastern mud turtles also venture on land, hunting for food, such as worms and caterpillars. They usually pass the winter on land in a dormant state (hibernation). When temperatures drop, they walk as far as 200 meters (650 feet) from the water and bury themselves under dirt or leaves. Hot and dry summer conditions can also send them onto land. If their aquatic habitat dries up, they either leave the area or burrow into a humid spot and go dormant until it rains (aestivation).

Walking is challenging for turtles because of their sprawled limbs on wide bodies that are close to the ground. Any tilting from side to side may cause their shells to scrape the ground. A typical walking gait of a four-legged animal (quadruped) is a regular sequence of left hind leg, right front leg, right hind leg, and left front leg. Three legs are on the ground at once, making a stable tripod, except during the transitions when weight shifts from one leg to the next. What walking turtles do is take their next step, making a new tripod, before moving a leg from the previous tripod. This makes for a slow walk. When turtles make a run for it, you can see their shells tilting back and forth during the weight transitions, even banging on the ground. Perhaps that is why many turtles swim, propelling themselves with movements of front and hind limbs.