Eastern Painted Turtle

Eastern Painted Turtle

About Your Turtle:

Do you have an eastern painted turtle? If this is your first time owning one, you will want to be able to take good care of it. But the main consideration when purchasing a painted turtle should be longevity. Painted turtles are long lived animals that can thrive in a variety of habitats. If you are not willing to commit to having an animal for several decades, a painted turtle is not for you. There are some simple tips for taking care of these painted turtles. Your first order of business though is to correctly identify your turtle as a true painted one. Different turtle species have different requirements for care.

The painted turtle has a top shell or carapace that is black and flat. Its distinguishing marks however are the deep lines in between the carapace plates or scutes. The carapace edge also has red streaks on the bottom. The plastron, or bottom, of the turtle is yellow but may have some colored marks. Its legs, neck and tail carry red and yellow stripes. The streaks of color all over the shell and body of this turtle are what have earned it the name painted turtle. 

   These turtles are similar in size and general appearance to red-eared sliders, with a few notable exceptions. A painted turtle’s carapace is more uniformly colored, from olive to almost black with more red markings apparent on the legs and underside than their red-ear relatives. Also, notably absent are the red markings on the sides of the head that give the red-ears their name. There are four subspecies of painted turtle: Western painted turtles Chrysemys picta belli, Eastern painted turtles Chrysemys picta picta, Midland painted turtles Chrysemys picta marginata, and Southern painted turtles Chrysemys picta dorsalis. We only work with the first two, so they will be the focus of this information. 

Eastern Painted Turtle Housing

  Painted turtles as a species are the most widespread turtle in North America. They range from southern British Columbia east all the way to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia, west to Louisiana and back to the northwest in Oregon. There are scattered populations outside of this general range in the Southwest. Western painted turtles are found in southwestern Ontario south to Missouri west to Oregon and north to British Columbia. Eastern painteds are found throughout southeastern Canada through New England, south down the eastern seaboard to northern Georgia and east to Alabama. Within their range painted turtles inhabit shallow, slow-moving watercourses, preferring those with soft bottoms, abundant basking spots and dense vegetation. As one might expect, Eastern painted turtles are more cold tolerant than western, but both subspecies have been known to over-winter under ice.

  Indoors, painted turtles do well in virtually any large well-filtered enclosure. Due to their size, they should be afforded enough area to swim freely and also to bask. In the case of an adult painted, this would mean a minimum of a 60-gallon (225 liter) tank. Large tubs, stock tanks and children’s pools can also be used, but good filtration still needs to be incorporated. Painted turtles require both UV lighting and a basking spot. Painted turtles are the ultimate sun-worshipping turtles, so the importance of a good basking spot is paramount. Lighting can be achieved with the use of a fluorescent UV light and an appropriately sized spot or flood light. The wattage will depend upon the size of the enclosure and distance of the light from the surface of the basking area. The basking location should provide at least a 90 degree Fahrenheit surface temperature. Adding aquatic plants will increase aesthetic beauty, provide hiding places and add some variety to the turtle’s diet as well as aiding in filtration. Painted turtles, although cold tolerant, are warmth-loving, and as such, enjoy water temperatures in the 78-82 degree Fahrenheit range. 

Eastern Painted Turtle Lighting and Temperature

  Every turtle needs some sunlight to keep healthy. Its indoor habitat should therefore have a light source over the basking area. There are UVB light sources sold in pet shops for turtles and reptiles.

  Aside from lighting, the temperature should also be monitored. As much as possible, temperatures should approach their natural environment temperatures. Painted turtles however are generally more tolerant of temperature differences than other turtles. Temperature requirements differ depending on the area of the habitat. The basking area should be around 85o F to 90 o F. The general air temperature should only be around 80 o F to 85 o F while the water should be 70 o F to 75 o F.

Eastern Painted Turtle Feeding

Adult turtles should be fed once every two days. Grazing leaves however may be left around everyday. On main meal schedules, these turtles should be fed meat but combined with plant food. Be careful though. If you give too much meat, they could grow too much too fast. Possible mixed food items for painted turtles include meal worms, pond plants, vegetables, earthworms, green leafy vegetables and cooked chicken. Do not be immediately alarmed if your turtle doesn’t eat for five days or more. If it shows no sluggishness or other obvious signs of sickness, it will eventually return to feeding.

You might truly enjoy taking care of an eastern painted turtle. Be sure though that you are able to constantly monitor and provide all of its critical needs.

 That being said, it is always a good idea to provide as varied a diet as possible to ensure good health and proper nutrition. 

Painted Turtle Care

Painted turtles can be often found in lakes, ponds, marshes and rivers in North America, southern Canada and northern Mexico. Their diet is very much varied in the wild. Painted turtle care has some simple requirements. You just need to know what kind of environment and diet is most suitable for your turtle.

Painted turtles prefer calm, shallow water and lots of aquatic greens for both food and shelter. They may go out into the sunlight and bask during the day. When it’s time to cool off, they may want to take a swim in the water.

Painted turtle care involves providing the right shelter. Since the turtle is basically in captivity, you’ll need to provide as much space as possible for both swimming and basking. The basics you need to remember are just to make sure your turtle gets enough wet areas as well as dry ones.

First of all, the enclosure of the housing should be aquatic. The width of your tank should have three times the length of your turtle’s shell; the length of your tank should be six times the turtle’s shell. This is the minimum requirement and you can go larger than that.

For the basking area, you may use UV lighting to ensure that the turtle can dry itself when out of the water. The preferred temperature during the daytime is around 84 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit. You can achieve these temperatures in your turtle’s tank with an incandescent light.

The water’s depth should be shallow, specifically as deep as the shell’s width. The water itself should be around 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. To maintain temperatures, you may use a submersible aquarium heater.

Now let’s get more into feeding your turtle. Feeding your turtle properly is a huge part of painted turtle care. In the wild, painted turtles can eat a variety of things, such as larvae, crickets, duckweed, worms, crayfish, tadpoles, clams and small fish. When captive, they can eat lettuce, fish, earthworms and cantaloupe. You should make sure though that your turtle eats food that has nutritional value. Iceberg lettuce for instance has no nutritional value.

For optimum painted turtle care, try to imitate the turtle’s nutritional content of food in the wild. Many believe that feeding a painted turtle a variety of suitable foods is the way to go. You may also introduce commercial pet foods to your turtle’s diet for added bulk and fiber. Commercial pet foods may also be an alternative diet for your turtle to lower parasite risk.

Now if you happen to have hatchlings they need extra painted turtle care. This means providing very shallow water, filters, heaters, lighting, basking areas and other accessories. A filter can make the water cleaner, and heaters provide more comfortable temperatures for the hatchlings. Just like adult turtles, hatchlings will need lighting. For basking areas you may simply use small rocks as accessories and for tiny hatchlings to climb up on.

Not all the accessories are absolutely needed for basic painted turtle care. For instance, a heater isn’t always necessary, as painted turtles can survive very cold temperatures in the wild during winter. But if you want optimal painted turtle care, you can try out the options in this article.

Something you know about...

  Painted turtles can be extraordinarily rewarding pets. Many painteds learn to recognize their care-givers and can even be hand fed (but remember to wash your hands!) Painted turtles make an attractive addition to outdoor ponds and are very fun to watch as they seek the perfect basking spot. Several painted turtles housed together will often perch upon one another in an attempt to get closer to the sun/warmth. Painted turtles also make a nice addition to outdoor water features and can usually be housed with koi and other larger or faster moving ornamental fish without incident. Painted turtles can be housed with red-eared slider turtles too.