By: Amelia Basile, NJSOC Education Intern
Our Eastern Painted Turtle, Picta, is named after her scientific name Chrysemys picta. Painted turtles are native to the state of New Jersey and found all over the United states, southern Canada and parts of Mexico. This species thrives in the New Jersey habitat due to the abundance of freshwater, wetlands, the temperate climate, and prey available to them.
These unique reptiles can be identified in many ways. Most distinctly, they are identified by the red and yellow markings along its head, legs and underside. The yellow markings look like brush strokes on top of their dark green color. The stripes go lengthwise across their arms and head. The pattern on the underside can vary from each individual. Most commonly, it is orangish red with a black and yellow striped splotch in the middle. Their smooth green-ish brown shell can measure 90-250mm long.
Unlike most species, male painted turtles tend to be smaller than the females. Males tend to have longer front claws and tails, and a concave plastron (bottom shell). The determining factor for the sex of a painted turtle is the incubation temperature during embryonic development. This means, painted turtles lack sex chromosomes. Lower temperatures produce males and higher temperatures produce females. Due to climate change, warming temperatures will likely produce more females. This will not put the species in immediate danger until the temperatures allow no males to produce. The mating season begins from late spring to early summer. When eggs are laid in the summer the female digs a hole in the sand. When they are ready, the 4-15 eggs hatch on their own and live an independent life from the very beginning.
Throughout their maximum 40 year lifespan in the wild, they often bask in sunlight to kill parasites and stay warm (They can even be seen stacking on top of eachother on the best sunlit rock or log!). When the winter comes, wild painted turtles find a cold place in the mud to brumate (undergo slow metabolism) until the spring. Picta lives under a safe controlled environment here at the NJSOC so she does not need to go through brumation in order to survive the winter. Throughout the warm months, painted turtles are active during the daytime and rest underwater at night.
These reptiles are omnivores meaning they eat both plants and animals. Painted turtles have trouble manipulating their tongues on land and produce less saliva, meaning that they can only eat food in the water. Their diet mainly consists of food near bodies of water such as leaves, algae, small fish, and insects. The Painted turtle’s main predators are medium sized mammals like foxes and racoons. In case of danger, these turtles have the ability to contract their head and legs into their shell for protection. Other mammals will prey only on their eggs that are waiting to hatch in the sand. .
In the United states, there is no special status on the painted turtle. However, Canada has considered the species status to be vulnerable due to human activities. One of the reasons the species is vulnerable is because painted turtles are often kept as pets. In NJ, it is illegal to purchase a turtle due to the bacteria and salmonella found in their guts, which can be easily transferable to humans. However, some people still get their hands on these turtles through the illegal pet trade, or by simply taking them from their habitats. Picta was taken from a pond by a fisherman and kept as a pet in poor conditions. She became sick and was taken to a wildlife rehabilitator. She was declared un-releasable and given to the NJSOC to care for and use as an educational animal. We hope for Picta to spend many more years with us and teach children the importance of conserving native wildlife in New Jersey!
Sources:
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Chrysemys_picta/
https://herpsofnc.org/painted-turtle/#:~:text=Males%20can%20be%20 differentiated%20from,The%20painted%20turtle%20is%20omnivorous.
