Behavior Painted turtles bask in large groups on logs, fallen trees, and other objects. The sunning helps rid them of parasitic leeches. In many areas the turtles hibernate during the winter months. Their body size is correlated with many danger. The hatchling behavior of these turtles,which consists of movements rather than sounds, is behavior that provides a defense mechinism against predation since they are born in water and are in danger of being eaten by fish when first hatched.
Sound perception is poor in turtles.
Compensating for poor hearing is a good sense of smell and color vision. Habitat Painted turtles like to live in freshwater that is quiet, shallow, and thickly planted with mud on the bottom.