They are often seen in groups basking on logs and rocks. They seem to be most common where lily pads and pickerel weed grow, eating insects, snails and bits of lily pad. Shows yellow plastron Hatchlings Painted Turtles dig nests along roadsides or in cultivated fields, as well as in sand or gravel beaches. The hatchlings may dig their way out in the fall of the same year. If the nest surface temperature becomes lower than the nest bottom temperature, overwintering is possible.
Adults hibernate at the bottom of ponds.