Eastern Painted Turtle facts?

i just got an Eastern Painted Turtle, and i would like to know some facts. Any turtle experts out there?
Answers:
Painted Turtles are the most widespread turtle in North America. Their range extends from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia, west to Louisiana, north to Oklahoma, and northwest to Oregon. Isolated populations can also be found in the southwest. Painted Turtles have an olive or black shell without any keels. The scute seams are bordered with olive, yellow, or red markings. All Painted turtles have red bars or crescents on the marginal scutes. The plastron is yellow with or without markings. Painted turtles have red and yellow stripes on their neck and legs. The female of the species is usually bigger, but the male has a thicker tail, and long claws on it's front limbs.

Typical painted turtle habitats are slow moving streams with mud, lakes, pond etc. They are one of the first reptiles I look for when I do my spring time hiking.

Frankly, in order to properly maintain a painted turtle, you must do work. They are diurnal so they DO need UV lights etc to help them process calcium. They are messy - really messy so they need to be cleaned frequently. Letting their area get and stay dirty will promote disease - not only to your turtle but possibly to you as well. However, they are active animals and "hand feeding" is a lot of fun.

Also, it is easy to find one in the "wild" and take it as a pet - don't, leave wild animals wild. If you really want a painted turtle, seek out a breeder, dealer or reputable pet store - support responsible ownership.

This is a medium difficulty animal in my estimation.

Average Size - A full grown painted turtle can reach 5 - 10 inches in length (measured as the carapace, or top shell, length). Males tend to be smaller than females, but have large claws on the front legs and longer tails than females.

Life Span - painted turtles can live 15 to 25 years.

Diet - painted turtles are omnivores, meaning they eat a mixture of animal and plant material. Younger turtles eat more animal protein than adults, though. Juveniles should be fed daily, but adults can be fed every 2-3 days.

Turtles can be fed a mixture of prepared commercial food and fresh food. Special food formulated for turtles can be used, but this should not make up any more than 25% of the total diet. Another 25% of the diet should be made up of meat, and can include fish, earthworms, crickets, waxworms, cooked chicken or beef, and aquatic snails. Young turtles can be feed smaller items such as blood worms, shrimp, dapnia and krill. The remainder of the diet (up to about 60% of the adult diet) should be made up of fresh greens, vegetable, and fruits. Good choices for greens include collard, mustard and dandelion greens, lettuce (avoid iceberg since it has little nutritional value), carrots (tops are fine too), squash and green beans. Fresh fruits can be given too, like apples, bananas and berries.

Habitat - painted turtles need an adequate amount of water to move about and swim. The water should be at least 2 times as deep as your turtle tall. The surface area of the pool 3 -4 times the length of the turtle, and the width should be at least 2 - 3 times the length of the turtle. A thirty gallon aqaurium would work for a turtle.

The land surface of an aquatic terrarium should comprise both soil and gravel. This is essential; decorations may then be added in the form of logs and plants. These not only look attractive but they provide cover and an important sense of security for the turtles.

Lighting - In addition to the basking light, a full spectrum reptile light should be provided. Exposure a full spectrum reptile light is necessary for proper calcium metabolism, and also appears to have other benefits to overall health such as improving appetite. It is also nice to take your turtle out into natural sunlight in warmer weather.
Temperature - A submersible heater should be used to keep the water at 75 - 86 degrees F. Protect both the thermometer and heater as turtles may bump, bite or move it.

A heated basking spot should also be provided in the area provided for the turtle to get out of the water. An incandescent bulb will do the job, make sure there is no way the turtle can touch the light or that the light can fall into the water. The temperature at the basking spot should be 85 - 88 F.

Feeding - Feeding can be every other day. Make sure that all food items are removed. A good quality complete reptile vitamin and mineral supplement should be added to the food once or twice a week. In addition, extra calcium can be provided by giving turtles a cuttlebone (break into pieces and float in the water) or calcium block to nibble on.

Housing - A 20 gallon tank is considered a minimum, though larger turtles will need a larger tank to provide ample swimming room, so even if you have a smaller turtle you might want to invest in a larger tank to allow room to grow.

Substrate - gravel (large) for water area or even slate, potting soil or gravel (small) for land/basking area

Filtration One of the most common problems with keeping an aquatic turtle is keeping the water clean. Dirty water carries bacterial and parasitic diseases - it also stinks. Regular water changes as described above are one way of doing this. Another method is to use a filter system similar to one that would be used for a fish tank. Even if you implement a filtration system, you will need to replace at least 25% of the water each week and fully change the water once every other week. Ammonia, nitrates, nitrites and bacteria will still buildup causing health problems. These are available in three main types:

Undergravel filters I would not use an undergravel filter. They are meant to create a biological filtration system in lightly stocked fish tanks. They do not clean out waste, rather they draw waste down into the gravel and ultimately below the gravel. They need periodic total breakdowns - and that is a pain. Even if you use reverse (powerhead blowing water under the filter which then comes up through the gravel) in my estimation it just is not worth it.

Internal canister filters These are relatively cheap and can be highly effective. Use the largest size you can install in your tank. The best filter medium is foam. This can be taken out and washed whenever it becomes clogged.

External canister filters For large tanks/pools - this filter is superior. The filter and pump are outside the water, only the inlet and outlet tubes are exposed in the water.

Recommended Supplies:

Habitat with secure lid
Thermometer
Book about turtles
Light timer
Substrate
Undertank heat source
Incandescent light or ceramic heater
Full spectrum lighting source
Filtration system



Painted Turtle Subspecies:
The Eastern Painted turtle is found on the Eastern coast of North America as far west as the Eastern Great Lakes region where it intergrades with the Midland or Midwestern Painted turtle. It attains a maximum length of 9 inches although many adults are considerably smaller. The most distinguishing characteristic of the Eastern Painted turtle is that it alone of all the species of chelonia found in North America has aligned carapace scutes. Rather than being alternating as on most turtles the anterior vertebral scutes actually line up with the costals. The eastern painted has a plain yellow plastron and yellow stripes on the head (these may appear to be large spots on the top of the head) that change to bright red on the remainder of the body.