Photo by Gerald and Buff Corsi
Information on this page is from Ernst & Barbour (1972) and Klemens (1993) except when noted otherwise.
Photo by Gerald and Buff Corsi
Painted turtles can be found in a variety of wet habitats, such as ponds, creeks, marshes, wooded swamps, vernal pools, pasture ponds, fens, ditches, lakes, and streams. They prefer areas where the water is slow-moving and shallow, the bottom is soft and muddy, and aquatic vegetation is readily found. According to Klemens (1993), they do well in disturbed and polluted areas. Eutrophication, due to fertilizer runoff, provides an abundant form of food for the painted turtle.
Painted turtles are omnivores. Their diet consists primarily of aquatic vegetation, but they also feed on a wide variety of insects, crayfish, small mollusks, and carrion. The young are carnivorous, adding vegetation to their diet as they mature.
While painted turtles primarily obtain their food by foraging, they have also been known to ambush their animal prey (Sexton 1995). Painted turtles use their forefeet to tear large prey into more manageable pieces. Particulate matter found on the surface of the water is ingested through a type of surface skimming, described by Belkins and Gans (1968) as neustophagia.
(From the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory website)
The young are preyed upon by mink, muskrats, black racers, larger turtles, bullfrogs, fish, and crows. The eggs are eaten by squirrels, skunks, foxes, badgers, raccoons, and garter snakes. While humans do not consume painted turtles for their meat, many painted turtles are run over by automobiles each year.