Tekum,

First, I'm glad to see someone else interested in these turtles. I must say that of all the chelonians I've worked with, these, above all others, are my favorites. The are full of personality, and are just sweet animals.

I do keep them in a setup similar to what a boxie would like. The main difference being the temps, these guys do not like it hot. I use a 40 watt red heat lamp (they dislike the bright lights as well), and a heat pad on one end of the tank. I was told that, upon purchasing them, they should have a half land half water enclosure setup, but I had heard of others maintaining them with success in just land setups. I have found that they don't use their water dish any more than North American boxies, so the half and half might be a little overkill. Mine are in a terrarium 36" long, by 18" deep, by 12" tall. They are thriving. There is approx. 2-3" of coconut husk fiber as their substrate; I use this because bark doesn't hold the kind of humidity that this does, and because it seems easier for them to bury in. I actually had, at one point, a fogging device in the water dish which looked cool but ended up being more of a hassle for me to clean. They are misted once to twice daily, and love it. They come alive when sprayed, often drinking from water that runs down their faces. They are fed three times a week a mix of greens and fruits (mainly banana and melon). Surprisingly enough to me, they seem to prefer the stalk of the lettuce to the leafy parts. They also get earthworms once in a while. They are "allowed" out in the sun when weather permits and walk around ceaselessly, they even get fed outside which they seem to enjoy.

I notice that you have a website, cool. If you ever wanted a caresheet/commentary type of thing on them I would be delighted to oblige with what information I have on them. Let me know.



Best Regards, EMWhite

Hi ~ First off, call me Leo. Tektum is just my stage name lol Its an area in the brain of reptiles which possess the thermal receptive pits.

Anyways, thanks for the info Heosyemys spinosa. I have always had a fondness for them and have only had the opportunity to work with them after death. When these animals started hitting the market a few years ago, the imports didn't last long what whith the internal parasites and all. Long story short, I am often given reptile specimans that don't quite make it. I get these from various distributers. Anyways, i've done a few dissections and cleaned a few shells of this species.

I've always been impressed with their incredible design and would love to own a pair, but have always been weary as the individuals i've seen alive have been in pretty hard shape. Now, I believe they demand a pretty strong price when they are available.

Do they originate from China? I would love to get some care info from you and if you want you can put it directly on my website or e-mail what you can to me and I can put it up there. Anyway, thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you. Leo
Skin & Scales

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