Red-headed Side-necked Turtle

1 Overview

The red-headed side-necked turtle is rather timid, especially newly imported wild individuals, and like other South American water turtles it does not tolerate low temperatures. Sex is told mainly by the tail — a thick, long tail marks a male, a slender one a female. On the whole side-necks adapt fairly well to captivity, but their behaviour and body may appear quite weak, to the point of seeming near the end.

Note: the source lists its origin as Southeast Asia, which is incorrect. Platemys platycephala is a South American species of the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

Chinese Name: Red-headed Side-necked Turtle (Twist-necked Turtle)

Binomial: Platemys platycephala

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Suborder: Pleurodira

Family: Chelidae

Genus: Platemys

Distribution: South America — Amazon and Orinoco basins.

2 Physical Characteristics

It is one of the brighter side-necks. ‘Red head’ is not always truly red — it depends on how it is kept, and some colouration can only be called yellow.

It has a very flat head and shell. Two keel-like ridges run the length of the oval carapace, forming a central groove between them — quite distinctive. The carapace is brown in varying shades with black stripes; the plastron is uniformly dark brown or black, with a pale-yellow edge extending onto the marginal scutes. The head is dark orange-red, the neck carrying tiny tubercles that decrease and shrink from top to bottom; the head is scaleless and smooth on top. The rest of the skin is deep black, and the limbs are covered with large black scales. Its limbs and toes link it to semi-aquatic turtles. Adults reach about 15 cm (roughly 6 inches).

3 Key Care Notes

Its husbandry is fairly complex. It is widely distributed, which means large numbers and many keepers, but nursing is the hardest part of side-neck keeping.

Distribution: the entire Amazon and Orinoco basin and tributaries — Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana all host it; it is among the most widely distributed South American water turtles.

Sexing is by tail. Females lay one egg at a time, usually on the ground or shallowly buried, 2-3 times a year. New hatchlings are fragile: start them on live food such as shrimp, fish and bloodworms, and once they pass the acclimation period and settle into a routine you can begin turtle pellets. Although omnivorous, they respond very actively to live food, so offer more animal matter — crickets, fish, mealworms and turtle pellets.

4 Captive Habitat

It is semi-aquatic, so leave a basking area in the setup. Some keepers use a storage tub with a basking dock — just keep the water healthy and the environment quiet.

It is timid and, like other South American water turtles, intolerant of low temperatures, needing careful heating and attention. It does not hibernate, but below 20°C it enters a dormancy-like state, so keep the temperature above 26°C to avoid the turtle exhausting itself.

Because it prefers shallow water and spends more time on land than typical water turtles, keeping it box-turtle style suits it better — you can also keep it like a South American wood turtle. The tank only needs a water basin it can fully submerge in.

5 Food Choice

Its food choices are rich and it is not a picky eater, but to keep the colour vivid some keepers feed freeze-dried red shrimp — that is fine, but keep the diet varied and do not blindly pursue colour deposition.

It is an omnivore and eats a lot; give it regular, scheduled food. Adults about three times a week, hatchlings once a day. Commercial turtle food and cat/dog food are nutritionally balanced and can be provided. With keen sight and smell it is good at grabbing food.

In captivity it favours animal food — fish, pork, organs, clams, snails and bloodworms (midge larvae), red worms (tubifex), mealworms and fly larvae; food must have no spines or bones to avoid injury, and fresh raw meat is best — cooked meat hardens and turtles dislike hard food. It loves shrimp most. In extreme hunger an individual may eat vegetable leaves, rice or soft fruit, but this is rare; hatchlings are essentially meat-only. It feeds day or night with no preference and scrambles for food when starving.