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Painted Terrapin: Pond Turtle
- Colouration
- Carapace dark olive, brown or black, the shields quite widely margined with greenish yellow; marginal shields of the carapace--above and beneath, bordered with crimson and containing blotches and crescentic markings of that hue. Plastron immaculate yellow.
- Dimensions
- A large example has a carapace about six inches long, but such is above the average dimensions, which are given:
- Distribution
- Eastern North America--from New Brunswick to the Gulf of Mexico. In the extreme South it extends westward to Louisiana. It is particularly abundant in the Middle Atlantic States.
- Habits
- Basking on a partially submerged log or miniature island of bunch-grass and plunging into the water when frightened, the Painted Terrapin forms a typical representative of the pond turtles, which depend upon the water to such an extent that they are unable to feed unless beneath the surface of this element. The food consists of aquatic insects, tadpoles, fishes and water plants.
Carapace flat and perfectly smooth, the borders evenly rounded. Plastron wide--no notches. Maximum length about six inches.
The crimson markings are particularly bright on young specimens; very young individuals have a broad, yellow band on the back. On very old specimens there is little or no trace of red on the upper marginal shields, though the lower shields nearly always show this characteristic colour.
Head black, striped with yellow; the neck and the limbs are striped with a similar red as seen on the marginal shields.
Length of Carapace . . . . . 4 3/4 inches.
Width of Carapace . . . . . 3 3/4 inches.
Length of Plastron . . . . . 4 5/8 inches.
Width of Plastron to junction with upper shell, 3 1/8 inches.
Not difficult to capture and very attractive in its colouration, this terrapin is frequently seen in a captive state, but as an inmate of an aquarium it is not only annoying, but dangerous to the other life, as it will swim after the fishes, biting at their fins and tails, and, if they be small enough, overpowering and eating them. It is fond of raw chopped beef, chopped fish, earthworms and soft-bodied insect larvae. If lettuce leaves be left floating on the water, it will browse upon these.