Central American Painted Wood Turtle

A beautiful turtle in marshland

This turtle lives in damp and swampy forest areas. It usually lives on land but during dry periods it can seek out mud puddles to cool off. It loves fruit!

This is a subspecies of the ornate or painted wood turtle, which gets its name because it has a beautiful pattern in yellow and red that almost looks like it is painted. 

Bobs its head and bites

At mating time, the male usually does a small, bobbing dance with its head towards the female. He can also nudge her nose and bite her in the neck and legs to show her he wants to mate.

The female of the Central American wood turtle lays three to five eggs at a time. She can produce up to four clutches in a season. 

Video: Turtle eating fruit

Sometimes gets run over

Destruction by humans of the areas where the turtle thrives is the biggest threat to the species. But unfortunately these turtles often get run over by cars.