What Do Sun Turtles Eat?

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Also known as the “sun turtle,” the painted turtle’s diet consists of aquatic insects and plants, crayfish, mussels, small fish, snails, tadpoles and carrion. The turtle is primarily aquatic and feeds under water.

The species is the found across the entire continent of North America and lives in quiet bodies of water, including ponds, bogs, wet meadows, and slow-moving streams and rivers. The painted turtle is known for the colorful markings along its head, neck and shell, and nicknamed the sun turtle because it is often found basking on top of logs and rocks in and around the waters it occupies.

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