Skip to main content
Close

Painted Turtle

Chrysemys picta

Photo by JuneMita
Published on Project Noah
Zoom
NominateNominate for Wildlife Photograph of the Month
reportFlag Spotting

41.8535, -72.3645

Field Notes

Description:

The adult painted turtle female is 10–25 cm (4–10 in) long; the male is smaller. The turtle's top shell is dark and smooth, without a ridge. Its skin is olive to black with red, orange, or yellow stripes on its extremities. The subspecies can be distinguished by their shells: the eastern has straight-aligned top shell segments; the midland has a large gray mark on the bottom shell; the southern has a red line on the top shell; the western has a red pattern on the bottom shell

Habitat:

To thrive, painted turtles need fresh waters with soft bottoms, basking sites, and aquatic vegetation. They find their homes in shallow waters with slow-moving currents, such as creeks, marshes, ponds, and the shores of lakes. The subspecies have evolved different habitat preferences.[40]
The eastern painted turtle is very aquatic, leaving the immediate vicinity of its water body only when forced by drought to migrate.[60] Along the Atlantic, painted turtles have appeared in brackish waters.

Notes:

I believe this is a female laying eggs. She was wedged in a hole, right beside my mothers grave. That was so weird. I will keep tabs to see if any little ones are born.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (0)

Be the first to comment

Sign in to comment

Accelerate our Mission to Photograph 
Every Species in the World!

Image
Butterflies icon

Wildlife Community

Wildlife Community

Join a worldwide community passionate about wildlife and nature!

Join Project Noah

Nature School

Nature School

Transform your green space into a curiosity-creating nature classroom!

Visit Nature School

Wildlife Game

Wildlife Game

Defend wildlife throughout the jungle in thrilling nature game!

Play Baboon