# my new turtle with pics



## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

hi,
for all those that have been following the other post about the turtle that was looking for a home in Mackay, well i've picked him up today and thought i'd post a couple pics as promised, hope you all enjoy, 

cheers,
steve.......


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## Dicco (Dec 22, 2005)

Wow, he sure has some size to him, it's great that you took him in Steve


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## peterescue (Dec 22, 2005)

nice looking turtle Steve. I great score by any standard.


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## Koula (Dec 22, 2005)

Damn, dude... that's gunna make a LOT of turtle soup... =^^= What species is he/she?


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

more pics,


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

> he sure has some size to him, it's great that you took him in Steve



he is a big bugger, lol, wasn't expecting him to be that big, i'm just happy to give him a home, just have to make it bigger then first thought, 



> nice looking turtle Steve. I great score by any standard



he is very friendly also, he likes going for a walk and getting scratched under the chin, lol, i don't think of it as a score, more of doing my bit to help a nice lady out that was given the wrong info twice, and it was sad to see her so upset with having to part with her "tutty" , she had him for 3 years but he just grew to big for her to handle, 



> Damn, dude... that's gunna make a LOT of turtle soup... =^^= What species is he/she?



lol, come on swifty, i know your only joking, lol, he is a macquarie short-neck turtle, 

cheers,
steve........


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

just a question for all you turtle people, how do i sex him, i keep calling it a him, but it would be good to know for sure, i also have a smaller one and with any luck they might be a pair, i was hoping to keep the 2 togther, lol, but i'm sure that tutty would eat louie, lol, my other guy is only about the size of this ones foot, lol, 

cheers,
steve.......


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## Rennie (Dec 22, 2005)

I read in Care of Australian Reptiles in Captivity that males will have a flatter belly and females more rounded if that helps.


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## herptrader (Dec 22, 2005)

Is the other turtle in the picture the rare dwarf form of the green backed ceramic?


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## herptrader (Dec 22, 2005)

With a turtle that size it should be pretty easy to sex. Males generally have a slight depression in their shell to make it easier to mount the female. Have a look at Craig Latta's excellent care sheet on the VHS web site:

http://www.vhs.com.au



Rennie said:


> I read in Care of Australian Reptiles in Captivity that males will have a flatter belly and females more rounded if that helps.


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## danw (Dec 22, 2005)

awesome turtle..it' huge!


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## olivehydra (Dec 22, 2005)

herptrader said:


> Is the other turtle in the picture the rare dwarf form of the green backed ceramic?



Isnt that a penny turtle? :wink: 

Well done steve6610


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## Possum (Dec 22, 2005)

*New turtle*

He is huge :shock: 

I thought it was going to be a bit smaller!


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## Jonathon (Dec 22, 2005)

didn't it say in the other topic that it was 12cm or something? It looks alot bigger than that, or maybe you just have very small hands.


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

hi,
i'll check his size, lol, but not my hands, check out the lumps in the blue top, i'm a male, lol, 

cheers,
steve.......


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

> the rare dwarf form of the green backed ceramic?



lol, your about right, thats his mate, but we can see who ate the most,


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## peterescue (Dec 22, 2005)

post a pick of the tail steve and we should be able able to tell you. the tail is markedly longer in the male. It is harder to tell with longnecks if you are not used to them.


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

ok, i'll try to get a pic of tail, but not easy holding his tail, him and camera at once, so it might take awhile, lol, i'm guessing that he has a long tail, but i've nothing that size to compare him with, lol, 

cheers,
steve.......


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## steve6610 (Dec 22, 2005)

for all those wanting to know, the size of this guys shell is 24cm long and 20cm wide, in my eyes thats bl##dy big, , my other guy is only 10 cm long, 

cheers,
steve.......


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## expansa1 (Dec 23, 2005)

That's what happens when you buy Murray River turtles from down south (VIC & S.A)!
They grow much, much bigger than the ones from Sydney and Qld. Most of the one's for sale in Petshops in S.A, VIC and Qld nowadays come from down south. All those kids begging their parents to get a little turtle are in for a rude shock in a few years! Its easy to see why so many were dumped into natural waterways back before licencing came in.

Expansa1


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## instar (Dec 28, 2005)

Nice Emydura Macquarii, with a strangely clean shell too. Tell us a bit about it steve? where was it kept etc, did you clean its shell? Most tend to get algae growth.
Nice animal !


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## expansa1 (Dec 28, 2005)

Spoke to a petshop owner in Gympie before Christmas and he said that they don't tell people how big the turtles grow to as they probably wouldn't be able to sell them if customers knew. He also said that they call them 'penny turtles'. Pretty responsible huh?

Expansa1


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## steve6610 (Dec 28, 2005)

> with a strangely clean shell too. Tell us a bit about it steve? where was it kept etc, did you clean its shell? Most tend to get algae growth.



hi instar,
this was a ladys pet for the last 3 years, as it got to big she made the decision to give it away, she was very upset when i picked it up, but she knew he had got to big for her to look after, the reason for the clean shell is that he was her pet, she kept him inside in a 4 foot fishtank, she took him out everyday for walkies and he loved a scratch under his chin, lol, i'm in the process of getting his new pond setup, it's going to be about 2000lts of water, minus the island i build in the center of his pond, i have a round black polly tank, like the rain water tanks you can buy, but this one is about 2 foot high with no top, it was used for cattle water before i bought it 6 years ago, i had used it for tropical fish, but i've been looking for something to use it for, i was going to turn it into a bluey enclosure, but never got to it, now i know why, for now i'm building a island in the middle out of bricks, later on i'm going to cut it down and supply him a ramp to get in and out, i'll then fence it off and add a nice sandy spot and some hides for shelter, i'm also hoping to get him/her a partner for later breeding, i do have another little guy but don't think they will get together for a couple years yet, lol,

cheers,
steve........


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## SLACkra (Dec 28, 2005)

congrats on taking the turt. how far is the lady you got him/her from away from you? once you get the pond up and going i bet she would love to come and visit him to see how hes doing.

also steve you definatly should post some pics of the pond!

andrew


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## junglemad (Dec 28, 2005)

The male in some species has a longer tail and longer front claws for gripping the female you know when. By comparison the females have thicker shorter tails and their front claws aren't as pronounced


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## expansa1 (Dec 28, 2005)

junglemad said:


> The male in some species has a longer tail and longer front claws for gripping the female you know when. By comparison the females have thicker shorter tails and their front claws aren't as pronounced



Not a bad drawing although the arrows are supposed to point to the cloaca openings in the tails. Also, think you may be confusing American turtles with ours. The length of the front claws of male Aussie turtles aren't any different to that of the female. 
Some females do have longer hind claws for excavating nests.
Regards,
Expansa1


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## steve6610 (Dec 28, 2005)

hi andrew,
the lady lives about 30 kms from me, but as she is old, 
she can't get here much, but her daughter is coming up to see here 
and they are all coming out to visit him, i've given them an open 
invitation any time they want to come out, i'll post some pics of the
pond when it's done, but due to the water restrictions i'm not sure
how long it will be before i can refill the pond,

cheers,
steve........


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## steve6610 (Dec 28, 2005)

hi jungle,
from your drawing, i'm 99% certain i have a male, his tail is long and thin
just like your pic, if the pic is right, then i've got myself a boy, now to find myself
a female that somebody doesn't want, but after i've got the pond ready, 

cheers,
steve........


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