This is "The Beast".  He is a Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta Belli) he is a very common turtle found in the Midwestern states.  Painted turtles in general are distributed throughout the entire United States.   

    Beastie came to me from a co-worker who felt he may not be getting the kind of life he needed.  He was rescued from a field (no water in near site) before he became bird food.  He was about the size of a nickle.  The Beast was the smallest turtle I had ever seen, he was so cute!  

    He was taken to my house where I set up a 20 gallon long aquarium complete with water filter, full spectrum lighting, a heat lamp and a nice basking area.  At first he was a little shy and scared of me, but soon he came around and started begging me for food every time I walked into the room.  

    He loves to eat anacharis, guppies, rosy reds, and Tetramin floating turtle sticks.  He is growing at an amazing rate and is one of the most tame water turtles that I have in my collection.  

    Today he lives in a large tub with a few room mates of the same size.  On nice days in the summer, spring, and fall, all of the painted turtles get to go outside and swim in the outdoor pond and bask on their branches in the warm sun!  

    For some good information on painted turtles please visit the following websites or care sheets.

http://www.tortoise.org/archives/chrysemy.html  CTTC- The Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta) by Mary Cohen

http://www.oocities.org/Heartland/Plains/3550/painted01.html  The Turtle Pages- Painted Turtles

http://gordasturtletank.homestead.com/home.html  Gorda's Turtle Tank

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Last modified: October 18, 2001