Thirty-three wild caught eastern painted turtles (Chrysemys picta picta) were manually restrained for venipuncture via the internal jugular vein. Weights ranged between 143 and 346 g. Whole blood (300-600SI) was collected in plastic Iml syringes coated with heparin sodium using a 26 gauge 19mm needle. Plasma samples were analyzed for vitamin A alltrans retinol and vitamin E (α-tocopherol) using high performance liquid chromatography. The results are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Plasma vitamin levels (μg/ml) in free-ranging painted turtles (n=33)