The western painted turtle has carapacial reticulations and a red plastron that bears a complex dark figure.
So pretty are painted turtles, collectively, that were they rare they would command formidably high pet trade prices. However not only are all 4 of the subspecies common, but they breed easily in captivity as well.

In many areas of their extensive ranges the characteristics (carapacial scute sutures and plastral figure) that differentiate the eastern from the midland subspecies (Chrysemys picta picta and C. p. marginata, respectively) are muddled. But the western form, C. p. bellii, is usually very easily identified and the southern painted turtle, C. p. dorsalis, is so different that it is thought by some to be a full species, designated as C. dorsalis. Although strongly aquatic, painted turtles inhabit semipermanent and permanent ponds, lakes, marshlands, and slow moving riverine sites where they bask on fallen trees and other such haul-out areas. They may also be seen basking well up on shorelines, crossing roadways, and elsewhere as they seek to change their aquatic homes.