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Description:
Adult turtles can reach over 18 inches long and weigh over
20 pounds, hence why they call it the Giant Asian Pond
turtle. They have a brownish tinted shell with light
yellowish specks on the face. These turtles have been hit
hard in the wild and mainly collected for the asian food
market. They have strong feet and nails that are used for
moving their large bodies around at ease. |
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Distribution:
These turtles are native to Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar,
South Vietnam and in Malaysia. |
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Habitat:
They live in sub-tropical to tropical environments. They
like to burrow a lot, especially during heat waves. These
turtles are great swimmers and are mainly found in larger
bodies of fresh water. Lakes, ponds and streams. They are
terrestrial and wonder on land a bit. They cannot hibernate. |
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Feeding: Grandis
are very easy to acclimate to turtle pellets. They are non
stop eaters and will basically eat everytime you offer
food. They mainly feed on vegetation in the wild. In
captivity they will eat banana, mellon, mango, squash,
carrots, romaine, tomato, and strawberries. They can be fed
a strictly pellet diet if need be. They like Reptomin and
Aquamax (trout chow). In the wild they will eat dead
animals, earth worms, mice and any other small rodents. |
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Enclosure:
Giant Asian Pond turtles are great swimmers and therefore
can withstand deeper water just as long as the dimensions
are long enough. As adults they are very powerful so they
will require a big escape proof wall of some sort. These
turtles are also great climbers to be sure to observe your
turtle before walking away and leaving it alone.
Fresh clean water is a must, otherwise respiratory problems
will arise. You should have heavy oxygen flow to help
eliminate ammonia in the water. Small juveniles will do
well in 2-8 inches of water. A log should be provided for
basking as fungus can grow on these turtles very easily.
UVB and calcium are required to prevent abnormal shell
growth. Shell curling will occur on these turtles at a very
young age and can get out of hand as your turtle ages.
If kept outside, try offering some piles of leaves, shaded
bushes and shrubs as they will wonder on land and hide from
the hot sun. Be sure not to have too many males kept in one
enclosure as they will fight and sometimes do some serious
damage. Try to make your turtle feel stress free and
comfortable to avoid any illness. Captive bred grandis will
appear very docile and stress free if given the proper
enclosure, it is long term captives or wild caught species
that will be more aggressive in their enclosure.
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Illnesses: Common
problems with these turtles are fungus, ear absess,
respiratory, collapsed lung, shell rot, and kidney
failure. The best way to prevent any problems is to keep
them in a stress free enclosure with super clean water.
Fungus can be treated with an anti-fungal cream which can be
picked up at your local pharmacy. Shell rot can be treated
with neosporin and a water proof band-aid. An ear absess is
a lump that occurs on the side of the face of your turtle.
You can actually use a sterile razor blade to carefully cut
a slit in the absess and squeeze all the white substance
out, followed by an application of neosporin. Respiratory,
collapsed lungs, and kidney failure can be treated with
Baytril or Fortaz but these drugs nor any drugs guarantee a
full recovery.
Parsites sometimes find their way into your turtle's
enclosure. Panacur seems to work best to rid any unwanted
parasites. This is a paste like substance that can be
placed on your turtle's food, such as a banana. Feed them
this banana out of the water to avoid the panacur washing
off |
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Breeding:
Mating with this species can occur at any time of the year,
but will most likely take place in the spring and on rainy
warmer days. The male will generally mount the female in the
water and will try to bite the female's head while doing
so. He will bite at the female's head to try to prevent her
from escaping his breeding efforts. This can last for many
hours. Sometimes the male can do a little damage to the
female's head. Usually nothing becomes of it. If so,
consult your local vet. Females average out around 4-7 eggs
and will lay them in the ground about 4-6 weeks after
mating. These eggs are best incubated at 80-82 degrees and
will take anywhere from 90-110 days to hatch. |
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AL ROACH |
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