Painted Turtle

Painted turtles, and Red ears are some of the wetland's most common reptiles. These animals can be located by their coloration and shells. They are sometimes hard to spot, though, because they are very shy and reclusive. Like many turtles, they depend on water, where they hunt for food.
These turtles live in ponds, lakes, marshes, and in slow-moving rivers that have soft, muddy bottoms. The maximum carapace size, or shell length, for painted turtles is 10 inches, or 25 cm. Its shell is used to protect it from its predators. The underside, or plastron, of the Painted turtle's shell has a beautiful design that looks like it is painted. The plastron can be solid yellow, mostly yellow with a pattern in the center, or may be a complicated pattern of yellow and red. There are yellow or red lines on the painted turtle's head, and limbs. The skin tone of the painted turtle varies from olive green to solid black. The Painted Turtle is the only species in it's genus.

Turtles belong in TURTLE ponds. Those ponds should have a smooth barrier fence around the perimeter with a height that the turtles can't reach to. Turtles have long claws. If they can get a claw onto the top or your barrier, they will be over and gone quickly. Turtles ARE NOT COMPATIBLE with Koi or Goldfish unless the fish are just there as turtle food. Turtles will nibble on the fins of even the largest fish until the fish can no longer swim away, then it becomes food. Turtles will browse on all greens in the pond and can quickly devour every plant. Turtles are beautiful creatures. If you want to keep turtles, design a pond specifically for them and give them a sandy pit to lay their eggs.

Baby turtles may not be legally sold until they reach 4 inches in length. This is to keep kids from handling them, then getting sick from Salmonella bacteria, which is present on small turtles.

We rarely have turtles available.