| general
|
| description |
The smooth, flattened
carapace of the painted turtle can be black, olive or
brown. Some hatchlings have a keel that disappears with
age. There are often light yellow or orange lines on the
carapace scutes depending on the subspecies. On the marginals,
there is often a pattern of red lines. The skin of the
painted turtle is dark gray, olive, brown or black. The
plastron of the painted turtle can be yellow, cream, or
tan. Two subspecies have figures in the center of the
plastron. There are many thin stripes on the head and
neck of the painted turtle. The lines on the head are
yellow, while those on the neck are red. The jaws of the
painted turtles have narrow, flat crushing surfaces. There
is a notch in the center of the upper jaw. On either side
of the notch are two small cusps. The legs and tail of
the painted turtle have many thin red lines on them. |
| distribution |
  
northern United States and southern Canada
code : US, CA |
| adult
size |
approx. 10" carapax
length |
| life
span |
approx. 20 years |
| subspecies |
picta -- Eastern Painted
Turtle
marginata -- Midland Painted Turtle
dorsalis -- Southern Painted Turtle
belli -- Western Painted Turtle |
| housing |
| natural
habitats |
Semi-aquatic to aquatic;
soft-bottomed ponds, marshes, swamps, ditches and slow-moving
streams with abundant aquatic plants |
| aquarium |
Medium to large aquarium
with suitable basking branch |
| substrate |
Soil, mud, gravel, coarse
sand, smooth rocks |
| activity
period |
Daytime (diurnal);
12 - 14 hours each day with direct natural sunlight or
UV lamp (e.g. ReptiSun 5.0,
UV Heat Bulb) |
| temperature |
28 - 30 ¢XC -- basking
spot (e.g. Basking
Spot Lamp)
24 - 27 ¢XC -- cooler area (e.g. Daylight
Blue Bulb)
21 - 25 ¢XC -- at night (e.g. Nightlight
Red Bulb, Infrared
Heat Lamp, Ceramic
Heat Emitter) |
| hiding
place |
Advisable. Possibllites
include caves (e.g. Habbe
Hut, Heat Cave), etc |
| diet |
| wild
diet |
hatchlings and juveniles
are mainly carnivorous, switching to a more omnivorous
diet as they mature. Adults eat large amounts of plants.
|
| primary
food (75%) |
A good brand commercial
turtle food (e.g. Aquatic
Turtle Food), and a variety of plants like watecress,
lettuce and Helodea |
| secondary
food (23%) |
Whole prey items,prekilled
small whole fish, live earthworms, snails |
| occasional
food (2%) |
Small balls of ground
beef loaded with vitamin and calcium once every 2 weeks
|
| reproduction |
| reproduction |
Oviparous |
| mating
age |
Males mature in 2 to 5
years, females take 4 to 8 |
