When a painted turtle is young, it is basically a carnivorous animal and mostly feeds on such insects as larvae, crickets, beetles and maggots. When it grows up into a mature painted turtle, it becomes more of an omnivore. Its diet primarily includes such foods as duckweed, water lilies and algal matter (or algae). It also feeds on insects, worms, leeches, crayfish, tadpoles, snails and smaller species of fish.

During the winter season, which is extremely harsh (painted turtles are a species of reptiles which are native to the continent of North America), painted turtles hibernate for a few months. They cover themselves for months in the mud which lies beneath streams or ponds. The mud is an insulator and keeps the turtles warm during the winter season.

The winter months are harsh and long, but the painted turtles can adapt to them easily even if they lie in ponds which are coated in ice, because they can live with no oxygen with their lungs for several months.