Pig-nosed Turtle

1 Overview

The pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta), also the Fly River turtle, is a soft-shelled, highly aquatic turtle with a distinctive pig-like snout. It almost never basks and is sensitive to water quality, so it is moderately hard to keep and mid-priced.

SOURCE NOTE: the source gave the binomial Carettochelys insculpta, retained here. It is the only member of its family (Carettochelyidae).

2 Appearance

It looks more like a softshell than a typical turtle – the carapace has no hard scutes, only continuous, slightly wrinkled skin, with a row of white spots near the edge and a central spiny keel. The long, fleshy, pig-like nose is its signature. Eyes sit behind a grey stripe. Limbs are flipper-like (cannot retract) with two obvious claws mid-front; the tail is short with crescent scales. Adults reach 46-51 cm and 18-22 kg (record 56.3 cm, 22.5 kg). The plastron is white/cream and cross-shaped; the head cannot retract.

3 Care & Temperament

They dislike basking, so water quality is the hardest part – build a mature nitrogen cycle with 24h filtration; with good bacteria, change 1/3 water weekly. Use water aged 2+ days. They are prone to skin rot, which is hard to cure, so prevention is key.

They grow large – use at least a 600 mm tank, away from direct sun (algae). Heater at 28 C year-round (cold = disease). Mostly pellet-based diet plus small-cut beef tenderloin, peeled shrimp, cherry tomatoes, grapes – their digestion is the weakest of turtles, so cut food small.

4 Habitat & Environment

In the wild they hide in river-bottom mud; new ones do too, then warm up to interacting. They are from northern Australia and New Guinea, in rivers, estuaries, lagoons, lakes, swamps and ponds (rarely brackish).Highly aquatic and laterally active, so use a wide, tall tank. Adults are territorial and fight over hides – give enough hiding spots. Because they dig, use overhead (not undergravel) filtration and fine coral sand substrate (gentle on skin, buffers water slightly alkaline).

5 Diet & Feeding

Omnivorous-leaning-vegetarian and unfussy – they ‘wait for food to come’ rather than hunt. Feed greens, fruit (banana, grape, tomato, cucumber), and meat/shrimp/organ/mealworms occasionally. New arrivals need a few quiet days to acclimatise before first feeding; tempt with fragrant fruit like banana or grape, then switch to normal feeding after the first clean defecation.