Turtles House

Description

The chicken turtles have unusually long necks and large, inquisitive eyes. Their shells vary but many have amazingly beautiful green and yellow whirls and rings. They have a yellow plastron and a characteristic vertically striped rump. Adult female chicken turtles can grow to 12”, with mature males being slightly smaller.

Size: From 4 to 6 inches (10-15.2 cm) in length.

Characteristics

This is a moderate-sized freshwater turtles that is similar in appearance to the eastern painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, but has an extraordinarily long neck, an elongated, finely wrinkled, and reticulated carapace, and vertical striping on the rump. The average carapace length is about 5 inches. The carapace is brown to olive with a reticulate (netlike) yellow to light brown pattern. Black spots may be present on the underside of the marginal scutes. The plastron is usually plain yellow, and some turtles may have a poorly defined, faded posterior blotch. Thin yellow stripes appear on the black skin of the neck. Juveniles are colored and patterned as adults but are brighter. No other Virginia turtles has such a long head and neck. This species may nest at anytime during the year; no description of reproductive behavior has been published. The female can retain eggs for up to 6 months when nesting conditions are not right. When she does lay, she may lay 7 to 15 eggs. chicken turtles are basking turtles, sometimes seen on logs and stumps. This species is given to wandering long distances from water and can often be found along road sides and in flat woods.

Habitat

chicken turtles are semi-aquatic turtles, found both water and land. They prefer quiet bodies of water: Ponds, lakes, ditches, marshes, cypress swamps, and Carolina Bays. They prefer water with plenty of vegetation and soft substrate. chicken turtles are tolerant of ephemeral aquatic habitats and readily travel onto land to burrow into the soil and escape dry conditions. They been found at water depths of a few centimeters to more than 2 m.

Care and Feeding

chicken turtles exhibit the typical change in feeding patterns seen in many freshwater turtles. Hatchling and young turtles feed on aquatic insects, tadpoles, and crayfish. As they grow they will tend to move toward a more omnivorous diet, and begin to eat more and more plant material. In captivity they are enthusiastic feeders on commercial turtles diets, fish, and invertebrates, and will also eat aquatic plants such as water lettuce, water hyacinth, watercress, and romaine lettuce, kale, carrot tops, and other greens.

Care must be taken that these, and any turtles, are not released into a wild habitat. The reasons are many. The introduction of non-native species can lead to the introduction of diseases and can lead to hybridization of introduced and native species. In addition, many turtles raised in captivity and released into wild situations are confused, unable to cope with extreme weather changes, and many surely fall prey quite quickly to the wary predators they may encounter.

Ecology

chicken turtles inhabit still waters with a soft bottom that contain plenty of aquatic vegetation. These include ponds, lakes, ditches, marshes, swamps and bays. The species is known to frequently wander on land and spends much time basking.