Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All,
Like any proud parent, I wanted to share with you all a few pics of my babies. I've had them both for about a year now. Hope you all enjoy.

Regards, EMWhite

>>All,
>>Like any proud parent, I wanted to share with you all a few pics of my babies. I've had them both for about a year now. Hope you all enjoy.

I did! Enjoyed it very much thanks for posting them.
-----
PHRatz

So, you keep these like an Eastern Box turtle or a Northern Wood turtle? I've always wanted to give them a shot, but wasn't real sure about requirements, I always thought they were more aquatic. Great to see them eating earthworms! Thanks for sharing ~ Leo
Skin & Scales

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

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

Leo,
Interesting screen name I learn something new every day!
Heosemys spinosa originates in places like: Thailand, the Malaysia peninsula, and are widely distributed throughout several Indonesian Islands. (In further correspondences, I can give more info if needed.) Anyway, it's to bad that the only ones you've had experience with are expired ones. Just a reminder of the torment and abuse they must endure before reaching us here. Parasites and their appropriate treatments are of paramount importance. Don't be fooled by the sick ones, even though they make up the majority of fresh imports, there are healthy ones out there.
The pair that I have (and when I say pair, I mean 2 females, no male was available), were treated three times with fenbendazole and metronidazole, luckily no Baytril was needed. However, Baytril is often required to relieve them of sometimes serious bacterial infections (as I'm sure you've seen). Once through these purges, they were set to go.
As far as price goes mine were $125 each. However, I saw a juvenile male in the classifieds go for $75 earlier in the year. Why that is I don't know, because usually the younger they are the more expensive they are it seems (probably has to do with their shell "quality" ), so go figure. As I'm sure you know, breeding is very rare at present, with only a hand full of CB babies in existence, most of whom were bred in Zoos. So breeding efforts on my part will have to wait (especially until I have both sexes in play.
As far as a care sheet goes, I would love to e-mail you one. Though it'll take me a week or so to get you one. In the mean time there is a good article in the October 2005 issue of Reptiles that you may want to check out. A bit intimidating, but informative all the same. If you would like, I would also be happy to send you some more pictures of them and their tank. Let me know, and I'll talk to you later.

Best Regards, Evan