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Care sheet

Painted Turtle

Chrysemys picta

Emydidae · Testudines

BeginnerIUCN LC
Activity
☀️ Diurnal
Temperament
Hands-off
Adult length
4–10 in
Lifespan (captivity)
20–40 yrs
Native range
North America — ponds and slow water across the US and southern Canada

Care guide

Overview

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) — a hardy, colorful North American basking turtle with similar needs to a slider: large heated water volume, strong filtration, a basking dock, and UVB. Long-lived; plan for decades.

Environment

Climate

Cool side
75–80 °F
Basking spot
85–90 °F
Nighttime
68–74 °F

Environment

UVB lighting

Required?
Yes — provide UVB
Fixture type
T5 HO
Replacement interval
Every 12 months

Housing

Enclosure

Orientation
Semi-aquatic
Bioactive setup
Not ideal
Minimum size by life stage
  • HatchlingNot specified
  • JuvenileNot specified
  • Adult40-75 gal per adult; dry basking dock + strong filtration

Housing

Substrate

Safe options
bare-bottomlarge river stones too big to swallow
Avoid
small gravel (ingestion risk)

Nutrition

Diet & feeding

Dietary type
Omnivore
Feeding frequency by life stage
  • JuvenileDaily (more carnivorous when young)
  • AdultEvery other day; shift toward greens/aquatic plants with age
Supplementation

Quality aquatic pellets + greens + limited protein; cuttlebone for calcium; Ca:P >= 1:1.

Care

Water & behavior

Water

Aquatic setup: heater 75-80F, canister filtration, weekly partial changes, heated basking dock.

Legal & ecology

Conservation

IUCN Red List
LC · Least Concern
Wild populations

Least Concern; not CITES-listed. Hardy and personable but, like sliders, routinely underhoused. Never release non-native turtles.

Citations

Sources

Every husbandry parameter on this page is backed by the references below. Click through to read the originals.

  1. Chrysemys picta — species account

    Animal Diversity Web, U. Michigan

    academic

    North American range, basking omnivore biology.

    Published: 2020-01-01

  2. Chrysemys picta — IUCN Red List (LC)

    IUCN

    government

    Least Concern; not CITES-listed.

    Published: 2019-01-01

  3. Care of Aquatic & Semi-Aquatic Turtles

    LafeberVet

    veterinary

    Water temp, filtration, basking, diet balance, Ca:P ratio.

    Published: 2019-09-01

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) care sheet — Herpetoverse