Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Unfortunately I don't have digital upload capabilities right now. I'll see if my husband can take a pic with his phone and upload it for me. In the meantime, here's the story: A friend had this turtle from a friend, decided it was too much maintainance, and passed it along to us. He told us it was a Mississippi Mud turtle, but the briefest research showed us that Spud does not match the pictures. A look at Austin's Turtle page gave us a Mississippi MAP turtle as the closest look-alike. Except, the yellow marks behind our turtle's eyes are perfectly oval. That made me wonder: are those marks more like finger-prints, varying by individual, or is Spud not really a MS mud? He (or she, we don't know which) is about four inches long on the carapace, and the stripes on the legs and feet are in shades of grey--not much contrast. Except for some stubborn algae growing on his back, he appears in good health--he's active, he eats well, his eyes are bright, and he's interested in what's going on. True confession: I have not actually picked the little bugger up to look at the underside of the shell, so I can't describe it. I realize without a pic, it is hard to identify conclusively, but any tips would be appreciated. We're feeding him ReptoMin and changing his water weekly, running a filter, basking lamp, he has a floating basking "rock" and largish river stones (not fish gravel) in the bottom. Should we do something else?

I won't even pretend that I'm any good at identifying map turtles. We have a resident map expert that should reply to you soon. As for your husbandry, everything sounds good. I would, however, vary the diet. I like Reptomin, but it should only be one part of a diet that includes many food items, both living and non. With regard to water quality...if you're changing the water as often as you say, make sure that the water is treated with a good dechlorinator. If you're on well water, you may not have to worry about this. Also, for sexing your turtle...many male adult map turtles are full grown at the size you mentioned. Look at the turtle's tail. In a male, it will extend at least 1" or even up to 2" beyond the shell. In females, it just barely goes beyond the edge of the shell. Good luck with your little turtle, and please post pics if you can.

It sounds like you might possibly have an Ouchita Map Turtle or a Sabine Map Turtle. These do turn up in shipments of False and Mississippi Maps for pet stores and breeders so you may have one. Check out this link on Austin's Turtle Page since you are familiar with it. And click on the pictures of both of these species of Map turtle and let us know. If it is not either, we can go back to the starting block.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/

-JG

Thank you so much! We aren't sure which he is yet (from the tail length, it's obvious he's a boy), but it seems to me that he matches the Sabine Map more closely than the Ouachita Map. (For one thing, the marks behind his eyes are more perfectly oval than any of the Ouachita examples, whose marks seem to be more rectangular.) However, we'll have to study him and austin's pictures a little more before deciding for sure. Thanks for your help!

I cant help you with the breed but as far as care the turtle should have more variety, I have an easter painted and feed her the pellets veggies and crikets wich she goes crazy for. As far as the water, are you changing the water becouse you want to or becouse its dirty. Turtles make alot more waste than fish and require a filter wich is about double than what is needed for fish. If you have lets say 10 gallons of water use a 20 gallon filter so on and so fourth, maybe the water is too low a turtle of that size needs alot of water. As for the algea you can use a soft brush no soap to take it off make sure you dont have the tank in direct sunlight. GOOD LUCK!!!!