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The
Painted Turtle
by
Haley
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| The Painted Turtle's skin is bold gray,
olive, black or brown. The top part of its shell is called
the carapace and it is black, olive, or brown with red markings along
the edges. |
| The Painted Turtle has retractable
legs and head. It has a large body covered with horny plates
called scutes. It has four webbed, clawed feet. |
| In the wild the Painted Turtle lives
up to 5 or 10 years. In captivity it lives up to 20 years.
Painted Turtles have red stripes on their neck and legs. |
| The bottom of the Painted Turtle's
shell is called a palastron. It is red, black, and also yellow.
It has white stripes on its head. |
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| Painted turtles are found from the
northern part of Mexico to the southern part of Canada and every where
in between. |
| Painted Turtles live in ponds , lakes,
marshes and slow moving rivers that have soft , muddy bottoms. |
| Painted Turtles eat meat and plants.
The young mostly eats meat. Adults eat both animals including insects,
snails, slugs, crayfish, eggs, mussels, tadpoles, frogs, fish eggs, small
fish and dead animals that it finds. They also eat plants including
duck weed, algae and small lily pads. |
| Painted Turtles spend most of its time
on water. They sun themselves laying on a log, rock, or the shore.
They are often seen in large groups. |
| Turtles can't control the temperature
of their bodies so they spend most of their time in the sun. They must
wrap themselves up after a long swim or a chilly night. |
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