# CuuuuuuuuUUUTe



## waruikazi (Jan 18, 2012)

Finding heaps of these little fellas atm and similar numbers of long necks about a month ago. Pretty much one everytime i go for a jog (which is why i don't have more pictures, never take a camera jogging).

Does anyone know their breeding cycles and where they lay in relation to water bodies? I never found any hatchies this time last year but there have been a lot this season and i think some strange weather patterns may have something to do with it.

These yellow face are like the size of a 10c peice.











These guys are a bit bigger, more like a 20c.


----------



## Fantazmic (Jan 18, 2012)

The little darlings !!


----------



## Darlyn (Jan 18, 2012)

Really nice pics Gordo.


----------



## Dragonwolf (Jan 18, 2012)

Aaawwwwwwwwwwwwww......


----------



## edstar (Jan 18, 2012)

They are cute indeed


----------



## Wild~Touch (Jan 18, 2012)

Incredible to think that that tiny guy fits in an egg


----------



## Raymonde (Jan 19, 2012)

they are very cute. that one in the first photo must be a very young hatchling it still has it's egg-tooth (drops off after 2weeks)

I'm not really that familiar with NT turtles, but i know a lot about the SEQ turtles. Around brisbane the long necks are Chelodina expansa and Chelodina longicollis. expansa reportedly nests around march-may and some times september, the eggs hatch after 192-365 days depending on conditions. longicollis is reported to nest in september to december and hatch after 120-150 days, although 185 days known to occur. they tend to nest with 500m of water, but its pretty variable.
the short necks around here are Emydura macquarii signata and Myuchelys latisternum (was Elseya latisternum). both nest from september to december, sometimes january, and the eggs hatch approximately 60days later (december -febuary)

It depends on the species the ones you found are. my GUESS is that the long neck is most likely Chelodina rugosa, but it could also be chelodina burrungandjii. burrungandjii lays on the river bank, while rugosa often lays underwater and then the eggs develop and hatch when the water level drops. don't know when but if its at all similar to the long necks around here then i would be expecting hatchling from now onwards. 
The short neck has a good chance of being Emydura subglobosa, unless they have different breeding cycles to the rest of the genus, they would normally be hatching around now.

i would think that they might have different breeding due to the monsoon season. Wet weather can encourage them to hatch or lay (as it makes digging easier), or maybe your just finding more, they sometimes go towards lights in suburban areas and people discover them more. 

don't know if any of that is useful or interesting but might go a little way to answering your questions


----------



## dintony (Jan 19, 2012)

Way cute!! They are so tiny....

Gunbalunya is owned by ILC yeah?


----------



## -Peter (Jan 19, 2012)

The shortneck looks like tanybaraga.


----------



## olivehydra (Jan 19, 2012)

-Peter said:


> The shortneck looks like tanybaraga.



Yep and only a day or two old as it still has its caruncle (egg tooth)


----------



## waruikazi (Jan 19, 2012)

Thanks Raymonde, i hadn't considered the possibility of them being burrungandjii. Pretty sure they aren't but would have been cool if they were.

The monsoons haven't set in yet (i don't ever remember a wet season like this one) we should be pushing into our third big drenching by now but haven't had one so far! These guys are popping up a long way from the billabong and floodplain which i think maybe because of how low the water levels are and also because we had a really big and late wet season last year.



dintony said:


> Way cute!! They are so tiny....
> 
> Gunbalunya is owned by ILC yeah?



No, it's owned by the traditional owners and some of it is on lease to the ILC.


----------



## Raymonde (Jan 19, 2012)

-Peter said:


> The shortneck looks like tanybaraga.



Yeah, i wasn't sure if it could be tanybaraga, the book i was using last night said that didn't occur farther east than the south alligator river, but another book that i have at uni include both south and east alligator rivers.

However, turtle classification is still very fluid. Many of the experts still disagree on what should be different species or even different genera. Most of the species within a genus are divided by little more than geographical range with a few variations in their characteristics and will readily interbreed leading to hybridisation, even in naturally occurring wild populations. 

from what i can find in my books at uni, the long necks in the NT nest at the beginning or middle of the dry season, and then i guess (it doesn't say) take about 5-6 months to hatch, some hatchling will actually remain in the nest for weeks if the conditions are not favourable. The short necks do have similar breeding cycles to the rest of emydura species, nesting in sept-dec and hatching nov-feb


----------



## -Peter (Jan 19, 2012)

Good call on the longnecks Raymonde, I automatically thought rugosa as well.


----------



## saratoga (Jan 19, 2012)

I think the long neck is most likely rugosa as that is the long neck found on the Top End floodplains. From my limited understanding burrungandjii is more of an escarpment animal...clear water pools and waterways directly on or below the escarpment.
Gunbulanya sits in an interesting position on the edge of both the floodplain and escarpment. It wouldn't surprise me if burrungandjii occurred around the waterfall pools that are popular with the locals, but rugosa is the most likely candidate close to the township.


----------



## -Peter (Jan 19, 2012)

I thought the location gave either an even chance. You cant get much closer to the escarpment without being in it.


----------



## mad_at_arms (Jan 19, 2012)

Thanks for sharing mate. Thread has already produced an interesting read.


----------



## waruikazi (Apr 17, 2012)

Now the waters are dropping on our floodplains the turtles are on the move again. Back to the main pools and permanent mud puddles. I found this being eaten by a hawk. Interestingly it got into both rear legs but left the head and front legs. Probably because the turtle could defend itself if the hawk went for the front end. This explains why we find so many empty turtle shells at this time of year, i never considered the hawks as a predator of this species.


----------



## Kimberlyann (Apr 17, 2012)

I found this guy yesterday at summersby


----------



## SteveNT (Apr 17, 2012)

waruikazi said:


> Thanks Raymonde, i hadn't considered the possibility of them being burrungandjii. Pretty sure they aren't but would have been cool if they were.
> 
> The monsoons haven't set in yet (i don't ever remember a wet season like this one) we should be pushing into our third big drenching by now but haven't had one so far! These guys are popping up a long way from the billabong and floodplain which i think maybe because of how low the water levels are and also because we had a really big and late wet season last year.
> 
> ...



he he he he


----------



## CaptainRatbag (Apr 18, 2012)

they're way more than cute.... they're goooor-jus :lol:

Sad for the one the hawk got :cry:


----------



## waruikazi (Apr 18, 2012)

CaptainRatbag said:


> Sad for the one the hawk got :cry:



Not for the hawk!!!


----------



## GeckPhotographer (Apr 18, 2012)

> Not for the hawk!!!



My thoughts exactly....  It's all part of nature, and a good observation to document. I'd like to know whether you happened to get any pictures of the hawk as it was feeding on the turtle? If so I imagined you'd probably have posted them but no harm in asking. 

Thanks for a fairly interesting thread here.


----------



## waruikazi (Apr 18, 2012)

No i tried but the hawks are pretty shy, it flew away as soon as i walked out my back door.


----------



## GeckPhotographer (Apr 18, 2012)

yeah not really surprised. .


----------

