taking care of turtles Article

These reptiles, the painted turtles, have been walking this earth for more than 15 million years. They are termed as Chrysemys picta and they are one of the last species of the Chrysemys. When you spot a painted turtle, basking in the sun's warmth, you will know that spring is almost around the corner. You can also spot them, on a cold winter's day, swimming under the frozen pond. They get their name from their highly colorful red and yellow colored stripes on the neck, head and tail. The color of their skin usually varies from dark shade of olive green to black. If you are planning to add a painted turtle in your aquarium, then you should know some of the painted turtle facts so that it becomes much easier for you to take care of them.

Facts About Painted Turtles

Painted turtles, with their colorful body, really brightens up the whole look of your fish tank. But before you get one, it's better that keep certain facts about painted turtles in your mind so that it becomes much easier for you to know what your pet needs in order to live long, what are the various environmental adjustments that it requires to be comfortable and so on. Given below are some painted turtle facts which will give you enough information about this turtle.

Physical Description
The first thing you need to know is what these turtles look like. They are easy to recognize by their bright colors, but still you should keep some facts and figures about the shape, the size and so on of these turtles in mind. First let us come to the most important part of the turtles, the shell. The shell of the turtle is smooth and oval in shape and it has a flat bottom. The color of the shell may vary from dark olive to black. The bottom part of the shell is usually yellow in color but sometimes it might also be red in color with dark markings right at the center. The shell is usually 15 to 10 cm in size.

Now coming to the color of the skin, the skin, like the shell, is usually dark olive green or black in color with red and yellow stripes on the head, neck and the tail. If you look behind the eyes of this turtle carefully, you will see a yellow streak and also yellow spot, right behind it. One eastern painted turtle fact is that the females are much bigger in size than the males; the males are around 12-18 cm long while the females are 15-16 cm long. The shell of these eastern painted turtles is usually dark olive green in color with red markings on the margin and a pale line which runs right down the middle. Here's a western painted turtle fact - the top shell usually has a mesh like pattern and you will also find colored splotches on the bottom part of the shell.

Habitat and Food Habit
The best home for these painted turtles will be fresh water bodies with soft bottoms and a place to bask just near to the water body. Water body with fast moving current is not the suitable home for these reptiles. The eastern painted turtles prefer only water while the western painted turtles are more commonly found in the streams and lakes and the midland painted turtles and the southern painted turtles are more common in the quiet waters or maybe in the shores. The turtles are usually found in Northern America and also the Southern part of Canada and stretches up to the northern tip of Mexico. You can learn more about the turtle habitat.

Coming to the facts about painted turtles food now. They mainly feed on the plants and various other small animals such as the fish from the pond or the other water insects that are present in the water and so on. Talking about food, did you know that these turtles do not have teeth? So how do they feed on other animals? Well, they have sharp and horny ridges on their upper and lower jaw and this is what helps them to chew or bite.

Types of Painted Turtle
There are usually four main types of painted turtles; the southern painted turtles, the eastern painted turtles, the midland turtles and the western painted turtles. Each of these turtles are found in various locations and habitats. The eastern turtles are more commonly found in south eastern parts of Canada, the southern painted turtles are found in southern Illinois and parts of Mississippi, the western painted turtles are found in Ontario and British Columbia while the midland painted turtles are found in southern parts of Ontario and Quebec. Know more about painted turtle life span.

This was all about the painted turtle facts. If you are keeping them as pets then you should know all about the painted turtle care, so that you do not face much difficulty in taking care of them. Now that you know about the various facts of these turtles, get one as a pet and make sure that you take proper care of them.