Geoemyda spengleri

[Dr. B]

Is anyone working with this species? Dr. B

[Dr. B]

SG---Please resend original email as it was deleted by mistake. Dr.B

[john Lewis]

       Hello
   The Black-Breasted Wood Turtle (G. spengleri) was fairly available for a a year or two about 6-10 years ago.  After the furor and chaos over the problems with Asian turtles these guys disappeared very quickly.  I had a male I bought as an adult for 2-3 years before he died.  I got him kinda late in the availability window and wasn't able to get a female.  He was kinda thin when I got him and I never really felt like he reached his peak but it just seemed to me that he was happiest in a boggy type habitat comprised of Sphagnum (both wet and moist).  It almost reminded me of the same type of habitat that Muhlenberg's Turtles like.

   At first he wasn't a great eater but in a short time I found that visual stimuli made all the difference in his feeding.  He absolutely went bonkers when offered any live foods.  he ate crickets, mealworms, superworms, Earthworms, and just about any other live food offered.  I never really had much luck with vegetation as food.

  He was a very interesting animal.  Hopefully, now that I know a bit more about the species, I'll get a chance to work with them again.

   As to your question, I'm not sure if anyone I know still works with them (most just passed on them knowing they only laid single eggs) but I'll ask around.  Hopefully this info helps a bit.

   Have a Great Day!!!

   The "Creature"

  

---

From: Dr. B <rebsm...@yahoo.com>
To: Turtle Survival Alliance <tsa-li...@turtlesurvival.org>
Sent: Wed, February 23, 2011 6:57:32 PM
Subject: [tsa-listserv] Re: Geoemyda spengleri

SG---Please resend original email as it was deleted by mistake.  Dr.B

On Feb 18, 3:45 pm, "Dr. B" <rebsmb1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Is anyone working with this species?  Dr. B

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[Scott Gillingwater]

I've cared for a colony since 2003.  They do well in a large damp enclosure, filled with living plants, insects, mosses, logs, bark, leaves and rocks.  They like it cool, and seem to do best at temps below 80.  My typical temps in the winter are 60 to 74 (90 under the Mercury Vapour Bulb), and 70 to 80 or so in the summer (95 under the Mercury Vapour Bulb).  Mine are in a 90 square foot fully planted indoor enclosure, so there are various microhabitats they have found and use for various life processes.  Do not overfeed, do not feed too many hard-shelled insects such as superworms, supplement living foods with calcium and multi-vitamin, mist heavily at least once daily, provide multiple sight breaks and places to climb.  One of the best climbers out there, and will sit atop logs and rocks waiting for movement (food or other turtles).  They have done very well, and live, breed, oviposit and hatch young all in the enclosure.  I find young that have incubated and hatched in the enclosure without me knowing by chance sometimes, so the environmental conditions must be within comfortable boundaries.  The neonates are very sensitive for the first 8 weeks or so.
Before any type of natural enclosure is set up, all turtles must be in good form and must have been fully treated for illness, parasites and shell problems.   

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[Andrew Myers]

Hi list,

I initially responded off-list, so I will paste that e-mail below and
answer Bob's question about my enclosure here.

My adults live indoors in a large steel horse trough (~2.5x8 ft) with
peat moss/sand/sphagnum/leaf litter substrate, a few large plants, and
some logs. I try to keep the temperature around 20 C, and I mist the
enclosure daily. My two juveniles live in a smaller version (50
gallon rubbermaid) of the adult enclosure. I mainly feed them slugs,
pill bugs, and earthworms. I occasionally offer a variety of fruits
and vegetables, but they never seem very interested. The juveniles
readily accept commercial turtle food.

Cheers,

Andrew




Initial repsonse:

Hi Bob,

I'm e-mailing in response to your post on the TSA listserv. We've
corresponded briefly in the past via the G. spengleri Yahoo group.

I have a 1.2.2 group of spengs. The two juveniles are 2006 and 2007
hatchlings from Kirsten Kranz and Melody Hartely, respectively.

I've had the adults since December 2009, but have had no luck breeding
them. They were slightly malnourished 3 year captives with hookworms
when I bought them, but they are now clear of parasites and have
perked up significantly in the last year. The male has displayed some
interest in the females, but they are a little larger and always gape
at him until he walks away. Sometime I'd like to record a video of
some of their interactions to post to the TSA list.

How many do you maintain? It seems like you have success breeding
every year. Have you ever had trouble getting them to breed? I'd be
interested in your experiences.

Cheers!

Andrew Myers

[john Lewis]

      Hello:

   That's been my experience to.  These turtles love to chase around live food but I was able to get mine to take worms or things that burrow in the substrate quickly from a dish.  He never was very interested in anything but live food.

   Have a Great Day!!!

   The "Creature"

---

From: Andrew Myers <myer...@gmail.com>

To: Turtle Survival Alliance <tsa-li...@turtlesurvival.org>

Sent: Fri, February 25, 2011 3:32:44 PM

Subject: [tsa-listserv] Re: Geoemyda spengleri