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Description:
Kwangtung River turtles have a darker carapace,
usually a reddish brown color. As hatchlings they
have a few light lines that run through their shell
from head to tail. They have bright orange
stomachs with some black patches mixed in as
juveniles but will most likely fade as the turtle
ages. They have a light striping on the neck. A
female's shell can reach almost a foot in length.
These turtles are often mistaken for the chinese
reeves turtle.
Distribution:
Kwangtung River turtles are found in the Province of
Kwangtung in Southern China. It also is found in
North Vietnam, Hainan and Taiwan. This species is
really rare and may face extinction in the wild in
the near future. Most have been hunted for food in
the Asian food markets. Many of these turtles are
being captive bred in the United States and Europe
which will definitely help the turtle over time.
Habitat:
Kwangtung River's are found in slow moving streams
and rivers, along with some ponds and small lakes.
Housing: These
turtles are aquatic but will sometimes roam on
land. They prefer an enclosure that is about 2/3
water with 1/3 land, but would do fine in something
that was all water with a basking log and heat
lamp. The most important thing is that the turtle
can remove itself from the water to dry it's skin
and shell to prevent fungus.
A good water depth for hatchlings wound be around 4
inches with some artificial plants. Adults can
withstand much deeper water. Just make sure that
you dont place your turtle in an aquarium such as a
10 gallon filled up to the top and expect it to
live. Most turtles cannnot swim straight up to get
air as they have to swim on an angle. So the deeper
your water is, the larger the enclosure should be.
For instance, if it is one foot deep, your adult
Kwangtung should have an enclosure of around 3 feet
long by 3 feet wide. The best depth for this
species would be a depth where the turtle can
stand. A turtle that stands and is able to get air
at the same time is a comfortable turtle.
A big factor for keeping your turtle healthy is
proper filtration. While setting up your filtration
system, be sure to create some kind of waterfall to
help place additional oxygen in the water. The more
oxygen in the water, the better off your turlte is.
Oxygen fights ammonia and other gases which help
keep your water cleaner. Ammonia is a big problem
with causing a respiratory infection with your
turtle.
Water temps should
range from 68 degrees to about 84 degrees. The
warmer your water is the more your kwangtung will
eat and grow. Also make sure that you have a log
for your turtle to bask on and get completely dry.
A clamp light with a heat bulb should be placed
about 10-12 inches above the log. The temperature
on the basking log should be in the upper 80's. A
UVB bulb will help with proper shell growth. The
UVB is a good source of Vitamin D3 synthesis which
is needed in calsium metabolism. Mercury vapor bulb
may also work as a substitute.
If you choose to keep your Kwangtung River turtle
outdoors, make sure the temperatures do not drop
below 45 degrees. This turtle is not known to
hibernate, but rather just slow down when
temperatures fall. If you choose a pre-shaped
pond, be careful to what your temperatures drop down
to at night. Sometimes cold temperatures at night
will cool the small body of water in your preshaped
pond which slows the blood flow in your turtle.
This makes your turtle less active and incapable of
swimming at it's normal pace. It makes it a lot
more difficult to get to the top for air unless you
provide a big ramp like a waterland tub or several
logs and debris at the bottom allowing the turtle to
pull itself to the top. This happens with many
different turtle all around the world.
Feeding:
Your Kwangtung River turtle will eat a variety of
foods. Reptomin (the brand name turtle stick, which
floats) is a great food to offer as it offers great
nutrition. They will eat cut up meat ends, turkey
bacon, meal worms, earth worms, aquamax, zoo med
turtle pellets and just like related turtles, such
as reeves turtles, Kwangtungs will feed on a variety
of fruits and vegetables. It is a great idea to
place some calcium powder, which is offered by
Rep-cal, on your turtle's food once in a while
to make sure it is getting the nutrition it needs.
I feed my turtles every day, sometimes twice a day
and they grow like weeds. I mainly do this to raise
my turtles to adult hood quicker. They all turn out
great and remain very fat. Kseeping your turtle fat
is a good thing to do just incase it gets sick.
When turtle's get sick they lose their appetite. So
extra fat on a turtle will give your turtle more
time to overcome an illness if need be.
Breeding:
To encourage breeding it is a good idea to put them
through a small cooling period. Perhaps bring the
air temperature down to the lower 60's for a month
or so, then slightly raise the air temperature back
up to 85. During the cooling period, your
Kwangtungs will remain sluggish, but as soon as it
warms up. They will become extremely active and
aggressive breeders. The male will chase the
females around the pond until she give in. Make
sure that during breeding the water is kept clean
and deep enough. After breeding, these turtle
should be ready to lay in about a month. The
females will exit the water and generally look for
an area at the base of a plant that has an
overhang. They will dig a hole as far as they can
with their hind legs and depost about 4-7 eggs on
average. The female will cover the nest with her
hind legs and pack it down so it is nice and
compact. They will sit there and incubate for about
75-80 days. At that point they will hatch out and
slowly dig up to the surface where a screened cage
should be. The screened cage over top of the nest
will prevent predators from digging up the nest and
also it will collect the baby turtles when they
hatch and dig up to the top.
AL ROACH
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