Natural History
LIFE
Painted turtles are one of Iowa’s most well-known turtle species. Depending on gender, painted turtles grow between 4-10 inches, with female turtles being larger. These turtles have smooth, dark carapaces with thin, yellow stripes. The yellow stripes wrap around the shell, but the predominating surrounding color on the sides of the shell is red. The plastron, or underside of the shell, is mainly red and orange-red towards the edges, with a bold pattern of black and yellow in the center. Once the painted turtles reach adulthood, around 3-5 years of age for males and 6-10 years of age for females, they begin mating between May and July. Female painted turtles typically lay between 4 and 12 eggs. These turtles can then grow to be 55 years of age.

HABITAT AND RANGE
The western painted turtle is populous statewide. These turtles thrive in freshwater habitats, with muddy bottoms, aquatic vegetation, and areas for basking. Painted turtles particularly enjoy streams and lakes, but they will occasionally live in pasture and roadside ponds.

DIET
The painted turtle’s diet consists of aquatic vegetation, insects, crustaceans, and fish.

CONSERVATION STATUS
LEGAL to take with a valid fishing license. These turtles may be trapped, taken by hand, hook and line, turtle hook throughout Iowa (LeClere, 2020).


SOURCE: DNR. (2015, September 8). 6 Things You Might not Know About Iowa's Turtles. Retrieved July 5th, 2020, from https://www.iowadnr.gov/About- DNR/DNR-News Releases/ArticleID/66/6-Things-You-Might-not-Know-About-Iowas-Turtles LeClere, J. (2020). Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta). Retrieved July 5th, 2020, from http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/reptiles/turtles/painted-turtlechrysemys-picta/

Dobby's Story
Hartman Reserve Nature Center’s painted turtle, Dobby, was brought to the nature center as a surrender
many years ago. To most people's surprise, he is 20
years old and is very small due to the fact that he grew
up with another turtle. We know Dobby is a male
because of his concave plastron which is the underside
of his shell. He will live out the rest of his life here at
Hartman as an animal ambassador with his friend
Boomer.