NEWS105
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enjoy thisa lot,whileotherswon’t touch it–
this issomething theirownermust findout
for himself. It should be borne in mind,
however, that green food is highly laxative
andhence shouldbeusedwithcare.
Easyandproductive tobreed
The world demand for Redbellied
ShortneckTurtles in the terrarium tradehas
longbeenmetbycaptive-bredstocks.Even
though no species of animal has ever yet
gone extinct through being traded alive,
this isapositivesign,as itshows thatweare
gettingeverythingabout themaintenance
of theseattractive turtles right.
Albino specimens (in this case white with
red eyes) sometimes occur as a very rare
mutationamongcaptivebroods.
The Redbellied Shortneck Turtle is very
productiveanda femalecaneasilyproduce
several clutches per year, each comprising
6-12 (maximum 15) eggs. These turtles
aren’t very demanding when it comes to
somewhere to lay their eggs. If necessary
they will even lay them under water, but
sucheggsarenotnormallyviable.Theeggs
shouldbe incubated indampVermiculiteor
similar at 27-30 °C and 90-95% relative
humidity, with hatching taking place after
45-60days.
Thecourtshipbehaviorofthemale,which is
characterized by a very rapid nodding of
Lexicon
RedbelliedShortneck
Turtle
Emydurameans "Emyswith tail";
Emys is another turtlegenus.
albertisii:named inhonor of the
collector, the controversial Italian
explorer LuigiMariad’Albertis (1841-
1901).
subglobosa: refers to the shapeof
the shell andmeans "almost
spherical".
worrelli:named inhonor of Eric
Worrell of theAustralianReptilePark,
Gosford,NewSouthWales.
Literatur:
Georges,A.&S.Thomson (2010):Diversityof
Austalasian freshwater turtles,withan
annotated synonymyandkey to species.
Zootaxa2496:1-37
Adultmaleviewed fromabove....
...and frombeneath.
thehead, is interesting towatch. If amale is
bothering the female(s) excessively then it
isadvisable to removehim from thegroup,
at least forawhile.
Being inhabitants of the tropics, these
turtles don’t actually require special over-
wintering. Ithas,however,provedbeneficial
to keep them for 3-4 months at a lower
water temperature (20-22 °C - no cooler,
and if indoubtsomewhatwarmer isbetter!)
so that the female(s) can recover properly
fromegg-laying.
All in all, the Redbellied ShortneckTurtle is
one of the most suitable aquatic turtle
species for terrariummaintenance.So ifyou
arenow filledwith thedesire tokeep these
turtles, then your pet dealer can
undoubtedly order them for you from a
wholesalerofhisacquaintance,forexample
reptilia24,Fax+496430 -9250100
Portrait of amale. Photo:F.Schäfer
Undersideof anadult female.
Photooben:F.Schäfer,unten:ChristophFritz,
www. reptilia24.com
