Alright its hard to picture but I will try my best. First thing I would do is to go around where you know are native painted populations. Look at the habitat they are in. After checking out a few populations see what they all had in common. Try to copy that as best you can. About the vegatation. I would try to get some kind of submerged vegatation in the pond. Be careful with this though. Always use native plants. Collect some plants from other ponds and see how they do in your pond. Then you need to see if there is ample food in you pond. You can not just dump turtles in a pond and expect them to stay. You have to have a balanced pond. You need a well established population of fish, frogs, and insects. Food will determine whether they stay put or leave. I would also try to supply more basking areas. Maybe put a few dead trees around the edges of the pond leading into the water. These will be prime basking locations. About the nesting area. I suppose you could till up some land a lay some sand or loose soil but I dont think it would be worth it. Reptiles are picky about where they lay. When they look for a nesting spot they will dig several test holes testing soil. Also they will lay where a certain amount of sunlight will hit the nest and well out of flooding water levels. I would not worry about the nesting area. If you got the food, and cover they should stick around.

Hope this helps,

Chris
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0.1 Red Eared Slider, 1.0 Common Snapper, 1.0 Bearded Dragon and a 55gal Native Fish Tank with a LM Bass and Pleco.

I use to have a collection of Leopard Geckos that I bred, but have sold them.

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