Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle

1 Overview

The Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle enjoys moist natural environments and tolerates only shallow water. In the wild it usually lives in shallow waters rich in aquatic plants, feeding mainly on vegetation and normally not eating meat.

Chinese name: Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle

Chinese alias: Flat-shelled Mountain Turtle

English name: Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle

Binomial name: Notochely platynota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Suborder: Cryptodira

Family: Geoemydidae

Species: Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle

Distribution: From southern Thailand, through Vietnam, the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.

Habitat: This turtle inhabits shallow water rich in aquatic plants, such as swamps, wetlands, and forest streams.

Diet: It is herbivorous, feeding mainly on aquatic plants, although there is one record of two individuals attacking a tentacled snake.

Reproduction: Apart from knowing that one 20.5 cm female laid three large, hard-shelled eggs measuring 56 x 27-28 mm, little is known about its breeding.

2 Physical Characteristics

The juvenile and adult appearance of the Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle differ greatly. The adult in particular looks very unusual because its carapace is flattened, as if someone had pressed down on it, making it look both strange and rather cute.

The hatchlings of the Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle have bright yellow to apple-green carapaces and are among the most beautiful baby turtles in the world.

Adult size: Adult Malayan Flat-shelled Turtles can grow to 13 inches (32 cm). The most obvious feature of the adult is the flat shell, so flat a car could seemingly drive across it. Another notable feature is that this turtle has six vertebral scutes (the scutes along the central axis of the shell). It is therefore also called the “six-scute turtle.” Almost all other turtles have five vertebral scutes, including red-eared sliders, Chinese pond turtles, leaf turtles, Burmese turtles, yellow pond turtles, and big-headed turtles. So counting six vertebral scutes is the best way to tell this species apart, as long as your math holds up.

The Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle, or six-scute turtle, can be identified by the 6 or 7 vertebral scutes on its flat carapace (all other freshwater turtles have 5). There is a low, discontinuous keel, and the flattened carapace is olive, light tan, or reddish-brown, while the hatchling carapace is bright green. The head is brown, and the young have two pale yellow stripes. The plastron has an incomplete hinge, and the toes are fully webbed. In addition, adult males have relatively longer and thicker tails and a slightly concave plastron.

3 Care Guidelines

The Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle is quite difficult to keep, and there are no successful cases of captive breeding, so the specimens seen on the market are usually wild-caught. Wild individuals adapt very poorly to captivity, and typically only about one in ten survives.

Its range extends from southern Thailand, through Vietnam, the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. If you do keep one, choose a very healthy specimen in good condition. They dislike heat, often hide in shady spots or soak in water, are inactive, and not very engaging. At birth the shell is blue-green and the belly purple, which is beautiful, but it soon turns brown as shown in the top photo. In captivity they feed mainly on fruit and vegetables.

Because the Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle has a reputation for being hard to keep alive in captivity, almost nothing is known about how they court, their breeding habits, or their egg-laying behavior. With rigorous management, strong parasite control, and a well-planted, “safe” large enclosure, keepers will eventually obtain beautiful, captive-bred Malayan Flat-shelled Turtles. Newly hatched individuals and their young all have an orange-yellow to lemon-green carapace that is very striking. The young one shown above is undergoing a color change toward the tan and brown of the adult.

4 Behavior & Habitat

The survival rate of the Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle is very low, mainly due to physical exhaustion during transport and unsuitable captive environments. First, understand that this turtle is very shy, so the enclosure should minimize disturbance and provide proper hiding places.

The Malayan Flat-shelled Turtle proves rather delicate. Provide 3 to 4 inches of filtered warm water and a land area with many natural hiding places. These can include tropical plants and small evergreen shrubs. Piles of leaves and palm fronds add to the sense of security.

The substrate should begin with a layer of fine gravel, then a half-and-half layer of peat moss and moist sand, finally covered with a thick layer of cypress branches to retain humidity. A UVB fluorescent bulb should be placed above the enclosure, and a 100-watt spot lamp above the basking area. The turtle rarely basks, and when someone approaches its enclosure it retreats to the nearest cover.

They spend most of their time hiding and move about very secretively. However, after the enclosure is sprayed with water they occasionally venture out. They are often found soaking in the enclosure’s pool at dawn. Most of their activity seems to take place early in the morning or at dusk.

5 Feeding Requirements

Wild Malayan Flat-shelled Turtles are usually herbivorous and rarely eat meat, but in captivity, to keep them healthy, some keepers try offering meat with some success.

Captive Malayan Flat-shelled Turtles are omnivorous. They have been seen eagerly eating earthworms, snails, slugs, and crickets. Besides invertebrates, they should be given a wide variety of salads three times a week. The salad can be made of finely chopped romaine lettuce, kale, pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato, apple, banana, melon, strawberry, and pear, even mango and papaya when available, and need not be too refined. Besides earthworms, banana and mango have also proved very effective for tempting new arrivals to eat. Once they start feeding, it is recommended to add some higher-protein foods, such as soaked commercial turtle pellets mixed into the salad, to boost nutrition.

Dehydration, stress, and especially heavy parasite loads are all proven contributors to health problems in imported Malayan Flat-shelled Turtles. Many refuse food, and the mortality of imported individuals is very high.