Painted turtle, decorated turtle, photo, maintenance, reproduction. - 4.7 out of 5 based on 9 votes

Decorated turtle (North American painted)

North American painted/decorated tortoise (lat. Chrysemys picta) - from the family freshwater turtles. The carapace is smooth, flattened, oval in shape, painted in colors of green and black, with red and yellow markings in some subspecies. The length of the carapace reaches 10–18 (sometimes 25) cm. The plastron is yellow, sometimes with red, black, or reddish-brown spots of various outlines. North American painted turtles have a well-developed sense of smell and color vision, but the situation with hearing is worse. The skin of North American painted tortoises is black or olive with red and yellow stripes on the neck, legs, and tail. There are yellow stripes on the head. Males have long claws on their front paws, tails are long and thick. Females have shorter and thinner claws and tails. Females reach a length of 85 mm, males - 130 mm. In the first years of life, sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed. Males reach puberty by the age of three, females only by seven. Lives from 15 to 25 years. The average weight of a turtle does not exceed 60 g.

Painted turtles live in shallow ponds, river bays, densely overgrown with aquatic vegetation. Rarely leave the water.

The painted North American turtle is unpretentious in content. by the most important condition is pure water.

For a decorated turtle, an aquaterrarium with a large number of islands or snags is needed, on which turtles can crawl out to bask. Part of the land must be placed under the lamp, and part in the shade so that the turtles can choose the optimal temperature for themselves.

The temperature in the aquaterrarium is 25-28°C. At low temperatures may go into hibernation. Feeding activity below 15°C does not occur. The turtle is diurnal, so her daylight hours should be about thirteen hours.

Turtle feeding

The diet of the painted turtle is varied: small lean fish (do not eat sea), mealworms, various plants (they love elodea), snails, slugs, insects, algae, fish / beef liver, chicken (once a week), seafood (squid, mussels , oysters, shrimps), dry food for freshwater turtles.

Young turtles prefer animal food, as they grow older, their diet is increasingly dominated by grass, and in adulthood they are herbivores. Turtles should be fed in a separate container so as not to clog the bathing water.

Painted turtles need vitamin supplements (especially vitamin D3). Vitamins are given only in powder form, not more than once a week. The powder is sprinkled onto the food, which is then fed to the turtle from a bowl or tweezers. The dosage depends on the specific type of vitamin and the weight of the turtle. You can not give vitamins to turtles directly in the mouth - it is easy to make a mistake with the dose and the turtle can die from hypervitaminosis. The shell does not need to be lubricated with vitamins.

Reproduction of painted turtles

The North American tortoise breeds well in captivity. To stimulate mating, it is necessary to arrange wintering at a temperature of ten degrees. Sexual maturity occurs when the size of the shell in males is eight centimeters, and in females eleven centimeters.

The female lays two to twenty eggs. The size of which is 33x20 mm, weight - about eight grams. Two or three clutches are made per season.

Incubation should take place at a temperature of 27-28 ° C on wet vermiculite (1: 1 with water) at a humidity of 90% for two to three months. At a temperature of 27 ° C, only males emerge, at 30-32 ° C - only females. At temperatures of 20°C or 28°C, both males and females are obtained. The length of the turtles is 27 mm. In nature, they overwinter in the nest without feeding until the following spring.

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Western painted turtle - Chrysemys pictabellii It is the largest subspecies within its species. The shell of adult animals reaches a length of 17.8 cm, a record of 25 cm. These turtles are common from western Ontario to British Columbia south to Missouri, northern Oklahoma, eastern Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and northern Oregon with isolated populations in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Chihuahua, and Mexico. A network of light patterns can be traced on the green carapace. The plastron is yellow or reddish with dark patterns.

At the borders of their range, western tortoises mate with representatives of other subspecies, giving rise to hybrids. In keeping conditions, subspecies also produce hybrid offspring.
Wild turtles prefer the shallows and slowly flowing waters of ponds, swamps and lakes with clay bottoms and aquatic plants, suitable shores for sunbathing. They are diurnal, sleeping at the bottom of a pond or on half-flooded logs at night. At sunrise, they come to life and spend several hours in the sun before starting to feed. The process of feeding in them begins in the late morning, and then, after a break, continues in the afternoon until the first twilight.

The mating ceremonies for turtles proceed quite peacefully and are dated for the period from March to mid-June. The male slowly courts the female, swims after her, colliding with her head. He clings to her neck and head with his long claws and shakes his whole body. If she agrees, then she stretches her front paws. The male swims away, offering her to follow her. It all ends with a dive to the bottom of the pond, where mating takes place. Mating takes place from late May to mid-July. The female lays her eggs in a hole in the sand or muddy soil in a sunny area near the shore. The number of eggs is from 2 to 20, depending on the subspecies. The incubation period lasts 76 days. The sex of newborns is affected by the temperature of the incubation period. At high temperatures (30.5°C) females are hatched; at lower temperatures (25°C) - males. At medium temperatures (29°C), both males and females hatch.

Newborn turtles get out into the world by biting through the shells with their caruncle, or egg tooth, which falls out a few days after birth. Newborns have a carapace elongated by a keel, which then changes its shape. The pigmentation of the carapace is lighter and the patterns are more distinct than in adult animals. They reach maturity at 5 years old and live 20 years.

Turtles (with a shell only 2.5 cm long) can overwinter in the nest, they survive even when frozen into the ground. Adult turtles are also hardy, able to swim under ice. However, most of them fall asleep by winter. This applies to animals that live in the northern regions. They burrow into mud heaps or just mud or other suitable shelter. During sleep, their oxygen requirements are small, and they are quite satisfied with the amount that enters the body through the skin. Animals living in the south sleep irregularly in winter and their hibernation lasts a shorter period than that of relatives from the north. Turtles of subspecies southern and western painted from areas with warm winter active all year round.
Painted turtles are omnivores. They eat most of the plants, as well as animals, both living and dead, that are found in their domain, including: snails, slugs, insects, shrimp, small fish, carrion, algae. Young turtles are pronounced carnivores, but as they grow older, their diet is increasingly dominated by grass, and in adulthood they are herbivores.

Because of their small size and adaptability, painted tortoises are often kept as pets. Their behavior demonstrates the individual characteristics of animals, which are very funny to watch. Here is an example of an equipped aquarium: for three painted turtles, an aquarium 120 cm long with lighting, a filter, a heater, a platform for relaxation, a tunnel for shelter, with a bottom lined with large pebbles.

Turtles spend as much time on the resting platform as they swim in the water, sometimes they even sleep on land. They are very mobile and fussy, like squirrels, and are excited, noticing the very first movement addressed to them. An active lifestyle helps painted tortoises survive in the wild and no doubt this is the reason why they have become so widespread. According to the observations of amateurs, turtles of the subspecies of the median painted turtles are the most active.

When kept, painted turtles eat almost any food of animal or vegetable origin, unless they are less willing to accept live food: small fish, mealworms than others. aquatic turtles. From fish they prefer freshwater, they do not eat sea. From plants - elodea. They are recommended nutritional supplements with vitamins ( Vionate or Vitalife), and the turtles should be fed in a separate container so as not to clog the bathing water.

The most characteristic disease can be considered an inflammatory process between the shell plates, the edges of which are unnaturally lifted up - this can be seen while the turtle is drying on the platform. Veterinarians recommend antibiotics for reptiles. If the inflammation is not stopped, then the infectious process will spread throughout the shell. A sick turtle is placed in a dry container (with filler Vitalite, lights, heater and rocks) for a month, only letting her out once a day so she can drink and swim. Wash the wound with disinfectant Nolvasan and freshly prepared antibiotic oil solution. After the tissues affected by the infection are cleaned, and the diseased fragments of the plates are exfoliated, white areas of the new bone cover appear. Turtle shells heal very slowly, and it takes years for the new tissue to harden, so the veterinarian patches the newly formed part of the shell with fiberglass and epoxy. These patches are common for land turtles, they are also used for aquatic species.

Upon returning home, the turtle begins to feed intensively, as if making up for lost time during the illness, it swims actively, leads a mobile lifestyle and grows rapidly. Once every three years, she should renew the patch on her shell, as she grows out of the old one. The patch is not renewed if the affected area on the shell is covered with a dark growth. Recent illness leaves behind small light spots in the area of ​​the abscess.

Photographs of turtles from http://www.tortoise.org/gallery.html.

A flat, wide and completely smooth carapace, devoid of a keel, darkens as it matures, becoming olive-brown. In young animals, the keel is preserved, the background of the carapace is olive green, and a mesh pattern is painted on it - from yellowish red to red. In very old individuals, the carapace becomes tuberculate, similar to an ironing board.

In the eastern and midwestern subspecies, the marginal shields alternate with purple and black rounded stripes and spots.

The background of the plastron is also brightly painted - from orange to crimson.

The head and neck are grayish-green, they are lined with yellow stripes. Limbs of the same color, but

Oriental painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) from the northeastern United States. One of the most brightly colored freshwater turtles, they lack stripes. On the swimming membranes of the paws, both front and rear, there are red stripes or spots.

In general, the coloration varies greatly: for example, in the eastern, absolutely correct vertebral scutes attract attention, which is not the case in other subspecies; at the south a narrow red stripe stretches along the ridge; the mid-western one has a kind of black violin on the orange plastron, and the western one has an intricate Chinese character on the red plastron.

Females are on average larger than males. Very large males have long claws on their front paws.

Average length from 14 to 18 cm; the record for the western painted is 25.1 cm; distributed in southern Canada (the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, almost to British Columbia), further south along the eastern and central states of the United States to the Gulf of Mexico (from Louisiana to southwestern Alabama). The western end of the range is eastern Colorado and Wyoming. There are isolated colonies in Texas and Mexican state Chihuahua.

They prefer stagnant shallow water bodies or slowly flowing rivers with a soft, silty bottom, water vegetation and densely overgrown underwater. Easily master cultivated areas. In general, it is not ecologically bound, but prefers small bodies of water to large ones.

They love to warm up on semi-submerged boughs, trunks, especially on cliffs.

Although they prefer animal food - aquatic insects, crustaceans, mollusks, they sometimes pinch off tender leaves and take lettuce, bananas and other sweet fruits in captivity. Do not refuse to fall.

Painted turtles have, like many freshwater turtles, characteristic property: young growth actively devours animal food, "patriarchs" manage vegetable.

Judging by the boundaries of the range, they are very resistant to cold (it happened to be observed when the ice was still filled with water during the melting of the lake, and the painted turtles were already beginning to sunbathe in their favorite areas), but the desired temperature depends on the origin of the turtle as a decisive factor.

The same applies to possible wintering at a lower temperature, which, however, should not fall too low. In nature, they hibernate, buried in silt. After hibernation, the turtles, having eaten and warmed up, begin their ceremonial wedding games. It is here that they need long claws that serve for courtship; painted turtles mate in the water.

The covered female, diligently digging a hole with her hind legs, lays from 5 to 20 eggs. This usually occurs from the beginning of June to the end of July. The painted turtle has 3-4 clutches per season. The duration of incubation is 90 days, and during artificial incubation, the mode is set to +22 "C +30 ° C. At a low incubation temperature, there are more chances of hatching males.

However, raising a turtle from egg to adulthood is not easy. Unfortunately, many young turtles die in the inept hands of beginner terrarium keepers.

First of all, the water for them should not be too soft. To protect them from fungal diseases, add 2 g sea ​​salt for 1 liter of water. In principle, this does not interfere with other freshwater species. They need to be provided with sufficient volume for swimming and diving (at least 30 cm deep), a low cork island for them to climb on and, if conditions permit, a source of natural light. Food should be as varied as possible: daphnia and other tiny aquatic crustaceans, plankton from water meadows, small freshwater snails or their offspring, tiny fish (such as guppies), stonefly and mosquito larvae, scraped beef liver and heart, as well as pre-cooked turtle jellied meat in the form of flakes. It is useful to collect algae from the pond and mix them well in a bucket of water. You will be amazed to discover how many different aquatic creatures you will gain in this way! Do not neglect earthworms (large ones should be well chopped), in addition to foul-smelling dung. If you create a stable temperature of water and air around +25 ° C, constantly refreshing the water, the maturation will be successful. If the turtles have changed hands and suffered irreparable damage (either during transportation or due to inept management), then all attempts can be considered futile.

Gerhard Müller tells how he raised the southern subspecies turtle (C. p. dorsalis). This female has become the beauty and pride of the owner. Her original size and weight (29 mm, 4 g) increased in two years to 151 mm and 323 g. Twice a year she laid 5-6 eggs in about two months - usually in November and January.

Unfortunately, both clutches were unfertilized, since its owner could not acquire an adult, full-fledged male of exactly the same subspecies. The terrariumist kept his turtle from May to October in a garden pond at a temperature that ranged from +17°C to +26°C depending on the weather. When the temperature occasionally dropped below +20 °C, he was forced to heat the pond on "risky" days.

About the same requirements for keeping in captivity and the Midwestern painted turtle. According to experienced terrarium keepers, the western painted turtle (Ch. p. belli) most whimsical in captivity, although it has the most extensive range compared to other subspecies, and its biotopes, food preferences and everything else are no different from the nominal form Ch. p. picta, the most beautiful and largest turtle of all painted.

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Chrysemys picta picta

2000-4000 rub.

(Chrysemys picta picta)

Class - reptiles
Squad - turtles

Family - American freshwater turtles

Genus Chrysemys

Appearance

The length of an adult female painted turtle is 10-25 cm, males are smaller than females.

The upper part of the shell is smooth, oval, without a ridge. The color of the turtle's skin is olive to black, with red, orange or yellow stripes on the legs.

There are 4 subspecies that emerged due to geographic isolation during the last ice age. By the structure and color of the shell, you can determine which subspecies the turtle belongs to:

in Chrysemys picta picta, the segments of the upper part of the carapace are parallel to each other,

Chrysemys picta marginata has a gray spot on the underside of the carapace,

in Chrysemys picta dorsalis, a red stripe runs through the entire upper part of the shell,

Chrysemys picta bellii has a red ornament on the lower part of the shell.

Habitat

The most widespread North American tortoise. It is the only tortoise in America whose natural range extends from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. It occurs naturally in eight of the ten provinces of Canada, in forty-five of the fifty states of the United States, and in one of the states of Mexico. On east coast North America it lives from the Maritime Provinces of Canada in the north to the state of Georgia in the south. On west coast lives in British Columbia, the states of Washington and Oregon, as well as on Vancouver Island lying in the southeast. The painted tortoise is the northernmost of the American tortoises, with a range covering most of southern Canada. The southern end of the painted turtle's range reaches the coasts of Louisiana and Alabama. Only isolated populations are found in the southwestern United States. They are also found in one of the rivers in the very north of Mexico. Natural populations of painted turtles have not been found in southwestern Virginia and neighboring states, nor have they been found in northern and central Alabama.

Lifestyle

Being a cold-blooded reptile, the painted tortoise regulates body temperature by behavioral responses to changes in the environment. Turtles of all ages need to bask in the sun, and so comfortable basking spots are attractive. a large number of turtles different types. According to some observations, more than 50 turtles can fit on one log. Despite the fact that logs and driftwood are turtles' favorite places to warm up, turtles use any objects protruding from the water for this purpose. So, for example, painted turtles were observed sunbathing, sitting on loons, sitting, in turn, on eggs.

The turtle starts its day by getting out of the water and basking for several hours. Having warmed up enough, she returns to the water in search of food. Having lost a certain amount of heat, the turtle again gets out of the water to bask. During the day, 2-3 cycles of warming - nutrition are possible. At night, the turtle dives to the bottom of the reservoir or clings to some underwater object and falls asleep.

To remain active, the turtle must maintain its core body temperature between 17-23°C. At infectious disease a turtle can raise its body temperature by several degrees by prolonged exposure to the sun.

Painted turtles can cover distances of several kilometers in search of food, water or partners. In summer, in response to the heat, turtles may leave dry areas in favor of permanent water bodies. Short land migrations can be made by hundreds of tortoises at once. In the event of prolonged heat and drought, turtles fall into hibernation, burrowing into the ground, which saves them from death, except in extreme situations.

In search of food, turtles often cross bodies of water or travel along streams. Observations show that there is a relationship between the sex and age of the turtle and the distance it covers.

Painted turtles have been shown to be able to homing through visual recognition of the terrain. Many turtles have returned to the points where they were first picked up and tagged, moving on water or on land.

Painted turtles search for prey along the bottom of the reservoir. They sharply stick their heads into the thickets of vegetation to force a potential victim to jump out into open water where it is easy to catch. big booty they hold with their mouths and tear to pieces with their forelimbs. Also, they eat aquatic vegetation and plankton. These turtles can be observed swimming along the surface of the water with their mouths open and swallowing small particles of food.

reproduction

Painted turtles mate in spring and autumn when the water temperature is between 10-25°C. Males start generating sperm in early spring when they can bring their internal body temperature up to 17°C by rewarming. Females begin their reproductive cycle in mid-summer, so they ovulate the following spring.

The courtship ritual begins with the male following the female until he comes face to face with her. The male strokes the muzzle and neck of the female with his extended front claws, and the interested female copies his movements. A pair of turtles repeats the ritual several times, the male then moves away from the female, then returns to her until she dives to the bottom of the reservoir, where mating takes place. The dominant female in the pair is the larger female. The female can store enough sperm in her oviducts for three clutches. Sperm remains vital until three years. Each clutch may contain descendants of several males.

Females dig nests from the second half of May to mid-July. Nests are usually burrowed in sandy soil and are vase-shaped, pointing south. Most nests are within 200 meters of the water body, but some nests have been found as far as 600 meters from the shore. A definite correlation was found between the age of the turtle and the distance from the shore to its nest. The size of the nests varies depending on the size of the female and the characteristics of the place, but, as a rule, they are from 5 to 11 cm deep. Females may return from year to year to the same point, but if several females dig nests close to each other, the threat of their being plundered by predators increases.

The optimum body temperature of a female digging a nest is 29-30 °C. In weather that does not allow such a temperature to be reached (for example, more than heat environment), the turtle postpones nest preparation. One sighting of painted turtles in Virginia during hot, dry weather showed painted turtles waiting three weeks for the right conditions.

Preparing to dig a nest, the female sometimes presses her throat to the ground, perhaps appreciating its moisture, heat, composition or smell. Sometimes females dig several nests, of which only one is used.

The female digs the ground with her hind limbs. Sand and mud adhering to them can restrict the turtle's movements, making it vulnerable to predators. The turtle solves this problem by wetting the limbs with urine. As soon as the nest is ready, the turtle lays eggs in it. Recently laid elliptical eggs white, porous and elastic. The egg laying process can take several hours. Sometimes the female stays on the ground all night and returns to the water only in the morning.

Female painted tortoises can produce up to five clutches per year, but usually the population average does not exceed two clutches per year, given that 30% to 50% of the females in a population do not produce a single clutch in a given year. In some northern populations, no female produced more than one clutch per year. Larger females tend to lay more large eggs And large quantity eggs. The clutch size depends on the subspecies. The larger the females of the subspecies and the further north they live, the more eggs they lay in one clutch. The average size the clutch for the western subspecies is 11.9 eggs, for the central - 7.6, for the eastern 4.9 and, finally, for the smallest, southern subspecies - 4.2 eggs per clutch.

Incubation lasts 72-80 days natural environment. Turtles hatch from eggs in August and September using a special egg tooth. In the southern populations, turtles, as a rule, immediately leave the nest, and in the northern ones (to the north of the Nebraska - Illinois - New Jersey line) they burrow into the nest, survive the winter in it and leave the nest the following spring.

The turtles' ability to overwinter in the nest has allowed the painted turtles to expand their range northward beyond other American turtles. Painted turtles are genetically adapted to long periods of frost. Their blood does not freeze, and their skin prevents the penetration of ice crystals from the outside. This adaptation has a limit, and severe frosts can lead to the death of many turtles.

first week active life(which may start next spring for northern populations) the turtles live off the yolk they have acquired during incubation development, and after that they begin to forage for themselves. Turtles grow rapidly at first, sometimes doubling in size in their first year. The growth of turtles slows down dramatically (or stops completely) when they reach sexual maturity. Turtle growth rates vary from population to population (probably depending on the quantity and quality of food and other conditions). If we compare subspecies, then the fastest growing are representatives of the western, largest subspecies.

Females grow faster than males but reach sexual maturity later. In most populations, males reach sexual maturity at 2-4 years of age and females at 6-10 years of age. Turtle size and age at sexual maturity increase from south to north. At the northern end of their range, males reach sexual maturity at 7–9 years of age, and females at 11–16 years of age.

Turtles can be kept in a group.

To keep this type of reptile, you need a horizontal one, 50x70x50 cm in size. The total proportion of water that should be diverted under the aquaterrarium should be 50-60% of the bottom area. At the same time, it is necessary to think over a water purification system, because the water will become polluted quickly enough and require its replacement every two to three days. Aquariums, designed for volumes of 200-300 liters of water, become clogged quickly enough, and more powerful filters will create a strong flow of water, as a result of which the animal will experience discomfort from a constant strong flow of water. In the aquaterrarium, a small current of water should be created, simulating the flow of a river. Twice a week it is necessary to add water to the aquaterrarium to replace the evaporated water. Once a month, it is necessary to make a complete replacement of water with clean water. With any water change, it is worth remembering that the water from the tap should stand for at least one day. The water temperature should be 26-28°C, background air temperature in the terrarium 24-27°C. Incandescent lamps must be placed near the land surface. At the same time, the distance from land to the lamp must be such that the animal could not reach the lamp, otherwise the turtle may get burned and injured. The temperature at the heating point should be 28-32°C. To maintain a comfortable water temperature, an aquarium heater can be placed in the water. At night, a slight decrease in temperature to 23-25°C is recommended.

It is not recommended to place aquarium plants in the aquaterrarium, because the turtle will definitely eat them. For the same reason, you can not use artificial or poisonous plants in the aquarium, as this will lead to the death of the animal.

In the aquaterrarium, a fluorescent lamp with UV radiation must be installed. The most optimal lamp for this type of reptile is the Repti Glo 5.0 lamp. The day length should be about 10-12 hours.

It is worth remembering that it is best to change the water of a reptile after it has been fed, because the animal will eat in the water and the water will certainly become contaminated.

Painted North American tortoise lives in captivity up to 20-25 years