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It’s Spring and the beginning of the warm weather — with temperature reaching around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s exactly what these Eastern Painted Turtles we’re looking for after surviving the brutally cold winter by burying itself on the bottom of a body of water and hibernating from Oct till March.
These turtles are fond of basking on platforms or sloping log where they can get their entire bodies out of water. Basking helps these turtles increase the internal temperature and aiding in food digestion and maintaining a healthy immune system. All ages bask for warmth and share their space along side other species of turtles found here in the USA. Sometimes more than 50 individuals can be seen together on one log. They start the day at Sunrise and emerge from the water to bask for several hours and return to water to forage. They re-emerge for one to two more cycles of basking and feeding the same day. Underwater the turtles need to maintain a body temperature of 63-73 degrees Fahrenheit. While hibernating the body temperature of these turtles average around 43 degrees Fahrenheit.
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’
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