Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mom has 2 asian turtles. They are definetely one male one female according to the Vet. SHe has had them for 8 years now and they try to mate.... my question is this. DOes anyone know of a good caresheet available on these trutles? My mom is talking about wanting to try to breed them now. She is insterested in setting up a larger habitat for them in her basement using a big pool. Putting soil on one end... making an area to swim on the other etc. I need information on incubation, temps etc. I have an incubator I'm going to give her but need to know how to set it up etc.
I'de apreciate any help.
Thanks!
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collector of Leo's and African Fat tails
www.geckomomsgeckos.com

What kind of turtle are they? Please post photo.

I only know that they are Asian Turtles. My mom has had them for 8 years. I don't have a photo of them. I was going to try to find a caresheet for her and print it up and take it to her some day so she can try to breed them. She bought them in a pet shop 8 years ago.
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collector of Leo's and African Fat tails
www.geckomomsgeckos.com

Asian turtle means almost nothing. There are about 90 species of turtles that occur in Asia. All of them have different requirements. Many have never been bred in captivity. Many have never been studied in the wild at all and therefore just about nothing is know of there natural history. That being said, many Asian species have been bred in the U.S. and Europe. Whether they have been bred under optimal natural history parameters is very questionable.

A couple of very common Asian species that would have been in pet stores 8 years ago are the Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis) and the Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata). Look both of these species up on the internet and see if this is what you have.

Also, unless your vet is knowledgeable about reptiles there is no reason to believe that s/he knows what they are talking about when it comes to sexing turtles. Many licsenced veterinarians don't know the first thing about reptiles, and like pet store people will tell you whatever they think you need to hear so you will keep giving them business.

Some Asian species can be difficult to sex until they are very close to maturity.

I looked up the 2 types of turtles you posted....thanks by the way. her's look like the Cyclemys dentatal. Next time I go over my mothers house i'll make sure to take my digital and take photos of them.
The vet sexed them long ago so we know which is which. Also now that hes told us what to look for its kind of easy to see it.
Something to do with the size of the shell how it is higher for the female because of her holding the eggs. There are other things he showed my mom to look for as to the differences but I dont remember what they are. These are her turtles not mine so I didnt concern myself with remembering the details.
Once i get photos i'll make sure to post them here.
Thanks again,
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collector of Leo's and African Fat tails
www.geckomomsgeckos.com

OH LORD I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH MY MOM AND SHE SAYS NO!!!!!!Its not the asian leaf turtle at all.. hers have a higher shell and no leaf pattern.....she says she knows the asian leaf and thats not what she has....ugh.... ok ill just take a picture and post it later.
thanks again!
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collector of Leo's and African Fat tails
www.geckomomsgeckos.com

OK, again this doesn't necessarily mean anything. There are several species of Cyclemys and a great deal of variation within certain species.

There probably isn't a turtle expert in the world that could positively identify different species or localities of Cyclemys if they had a pile of them in front of them.

There are also other turtles in Asia commonly called "leaf" turtles...Geoemyda spengleri for one.

Let's just get a decent picture posted here and there should be no problem giving you a proper ID.

How many inches across the top shell are these turtles?

get a good picture of their bottom shell that also shows their tails. Just place the turtles on their backs on a flat surface and take a shot from over top of them.

The length and width of the tail, along with the placement of the cloaca are the important, tell-all indicators of sexing most species of turtles. The shell differences your vet mentioned are very insignificant and would not apply to many species.

I have picture of C. dentata in my web site, please take a look. However, a old C. dentata will look different. One more thing, due to some Chinese character in my web page, maybe soem character will not display correctly. Sorry for this.
www.brianiu.net/Cdentata.htm