the painted turtle in our classroom
The painted turtle lives in areas with forests, grasslands, lakes, marshes, ponds, and rivers. The classroom food is floating fish pellets, however the normal food is insects floating in the water. They also eat leaves and stalks of leafy water plants. In the winter they hibernate by burrowing in the bottom of the ponds or lakes.
The female will lay eggs on the ground in a hole she has dug. She will then cover them with mud and packs it down and walks away. When the eggs hatch they dig their way to the surface of the ground, obtain food, and protect themselves on their own.