Painted turtle
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The Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) is a reptile that is common in North America, and is a water turtle related to other water turtles such as sliders and cooters. The turtle lives in ponds, lakes, marshes, and in slow-moving rivers that have soft, muddy bottoms.
In the wild, this turtle may live for over thirty years[link]; in captivity it can live over twenty years. The painted turtle spends most of its time in the water but often lies on floating logs in the sun, as well as on rocks or by the shore.
During very cold weather painted turtles hibernate, burying themselves for months in the mud beneath streams and ponds. The mud acts as an insulator and helps to keep the turtle warm in harsh winter months. Painted turtles can survive long winters in ice-covered ponds because they can live for several months without breathing oxygen.
These turtles make great pets since they reproduce quickly and pose no threat of becoming extinct.
The Painted Turtle is the only species in the genus Chrysemys. It is comprised of 4 sub-species.
Diet
The Painted Turtle, when young eats mostly carnivorously, dining on larvae, beetles and maggots. When they mature, they eat more omnivorously, eating snails, insects, crayfish and leeches. Their primary diet can include duckweed, water lilies and algal matter, as well as insects, worms, leeches, crayfish, tadpoles, and small fish.
- [Chrysemys picta (TSN 173783)]. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 6 February 2006.
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