Painted Turtle Life Span

The painted turtle is also known as the Chrysemys picta or the painted terrapin turtles. It is an aquatic native of North America and one of the most common reptiles found in the wetlands here. They are also found in Canada and North Mexico and are related to other turtles like the diamondback turtle, sliders, cooters, etc.

Description
The painted turtle is a delicate reptile with an attractive and colorful shell. The maximum length of the shell is 25 cm. The background color of these turtles vary from green to black with red markings. The skin of a fully grown turtle's body including the head, neck, margins of the shell, the feet and tail have red and yellow stripped designs that give it the appearance of being hand painted. Hence, the name. The plastron or the underside of the turtle can be completely yellow or yellowish orange in color depending on the sub-species. Most of the turtles have a yellowish underside with a dark pattern or an elaborate pattern of yellow, orange, red and gray at the center. There are four subspecies of these creatures namely the eastern painted turtle, the southern painted turtle, the western painted turtle and the midland painted turtle on the basis of the area of the nation they come from. They display typical characteristics of reptiles.

Habitat
Painted turtles can always be found in or near water bodies like lakes, ponds and marshes but they prefer still or slow waters. They live in the soft muddy bottoms of these water bodies. Though they love being in the water, they often bask in the sun on the rocks or log near the water. This helps them to get rid of parasites like leeches. These reptiles are active during the day but rest at night. They also hibernate in the winters by burying themselves in the mud at the bottom of the ponds or lakes. When kept as pets, creating the perfect water habitat is essential.

Eating Habits
Painted turtles are omnivorous, meaning they consume a wide variety of aquatic animals as well as plants. When kept as pets, they consume commercial turtle food, but it is healthier to feed them a varied diet containing natural foods along with commercially available foods. Baby turtles usually feed on animal matter such as worms, small fish, larvae, beetles and maggots, etc. If you have a baby turtle as a pet, make sure that you provide a diet that is low in fat and high in vitamin and mineral content. Also, the diet should have low phosphorus and salt content. For full-grown turtles, high nutritional plant matter should take up about half of the diet. Calcium-rich animal foods should be given to the female turtles prior to egg-laying. Mature turtles require considerably less amount of feeding as compared to the smaller turtles, which require feeding almost everyday.

Breeding
These reptiles cannot hear but their sense of smell and sight is brilliant. They use the sense of touch to communicate with each other. This is especially observed while mating. It is a rare and beautiful sight during which, the male turtle swims to face the female. With his over-sized front claws he tickles the cheeks of the female rapidly, in a vibratory manner and in case the female is receptive, she strokes the forelimbs of the courting male turtle. The breeding takes place once a year. A female painted turtle may lay about 4 to 15 eggs. Male turtles mature at the age of 3 to 5 years while the females take a longer time and mature by the time they are 6 to 10 years.

Predators
Painted turtles are always under the danger of predation from the time the eggs are laid, throughout their adulthood. Raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, foxes, beavers, etc., prey on turtle nests. As soon as they hatch, they are independent. These little creatures are eaten by rats, snakes,bullfrogs, big fish and herons. Full-grown turtles fall prey to bald eagles, hawks, alligators, etc. Aquatic turtles do not face these dangers as pets, but that does not mean they are completely safe. Human beings too pose many threats to these creatures through habitat destruction, use of pesticides, vehicles on roadways and intentional killing by anglers. Turtles as pets need utmost care without which they die prematurely. On being threatened, they may use various forms of defense like kicking, scratching, biting and urinating.

Life Span
The painted turtle life span can range between 15 to 25 years when in captivity and 5 to 10 years in the wild, with some specimens living even longer. Also, mortality rate of the newly hatched eggs is very high. Some of these turtles that have avoided predators and diseases have been known to live more than 30 years in the wild as well.

Hope this article helped you to know all about the painted turtles. These reptiles are like a living canvas, ready to spread their color around. So, let us take good care of them and help them in whatever small way we can.