Then he moves his tail under hers to breed. The females are ready to lay their eggs in late May or June. At this time, many females can be observed seeking out their nesting sites which may vary considerably in distance from their aquatic home. A friend and I observed several painted turtles searching for nest sites in eastern Iowa in late May. Often, females must cross roads to reach their destination and unfortunately are hit by motorists.
Females mainly choose areas of loose sand or soil that gets plenty of sunshine.
She begins by digging a flask shaped nest. She deposits about 7 or 8 eggs, fills the enclosure in, and makes her way back to her home. Sex determination is dependent upon temperature with mostly females resulting at temperature of 84 degrees and up and mostly males below that temp. Predation upon turtle nests are extremely high, mostly by mammals which are able to dig up the leathery shelled eggs. The young turtles hatch in late August, but the young may overwinter inside the nests and emerge the following spring.