Pritchard’s Turtle

1 Overview

Pritchard’s turtle is distributed across most of China, and its appearance resembles both the Chinese pond turtle and the yellow pond turtle. Some researchers suggest it is likely a hybrid of the yellow pond turtle and the Chinese pond turtle, but that view has never been officially recognised.

Chinese Name: Pritchard’s Turtle (Lashio turtle)

Binomial: Mauremys pritchardi

Distribution: Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Taiwan, Hainan in China; also Japan abroad.

Reproduction: oviparous. Eggs laid May-September, 2-3 clutches a year, 1-5 eggs each, about 13 g. Hatchlings have an olive-green head and are called ‘green-head turtlelets’.

Habits: it inhabits fast-flowing hilly streams’缓冲 zones or backwaters. Omnivorous, favouring fish, shrimp, snails and insects, occasionally banana and other fruit.

Form: head smooth and scaleless on top; small head; snout projecting beyond the lower jaw, obliquely cut inward; upper jaw front-centre slightly notched.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Suborder: Cryptodira (note: the source lists Pleurodira, which is incorrect for Mauremys)

Family: Geoemydidae

Genus: Mauremys

2 Physical Characteristics

Its appearance is unusual: the head looks much like the Chinese pond turtle, while the carapace colour and pattern resemble the yellow pond turtle. Many feel it should be a hybrid-produced species, but some hold it is a distinct species.

Head smooth and scaleless on top; small head; snout projecting beyond the lower jaw, obliquely cut inward; upper jaw front-centre slightly notched. Carapace flat with three longitudinal keels. Head back green-yellow; throat and beak yellow; from behind the eye one yellow stripe runs above and below the eardrum. Carapace grey-brown or brown-yellow, with keels and each scute edge darker. Bridge and plastron yellow, each scute with a square large black spot at the rear centre. Limbs grey-brown. Tail sides with yellow longitudinal stripes.

Carapace length: males 189 mm, females 193 mm. Three keels with a clear central one. Carapace and plastron join by bone suture; plastron if shorter than carapace; gular scute protruding, front-centre notched; anal scute deeply notched behind; pectoral and abdominal sutures longest and nearly equal, humeral shortest. Fully webbed toes. Seven neural plates, first quadrilateral; 2nd-4th hexagonal with short side behind; 5th-6th pentagonal, 7th hexagonal with short side in front; intergular moderate; humero-pectoral suture crossing the rear quarter.

3 General Care

Artificial keeping is not complex, but outdoor keeping brings many concerns — predator prevention, disease control and so on.

Predator prevention: enemies are mainly snakes, water rats, yellow weasels and wild cats. In summer the turtle is often active at night, as are water rats and weasels; although the hard shell protects it, it is still easily bitten and killed. Also, when eggs rot they attract many ants that endanger eggs and hatchlings, harming keeping. So clear these enemies to give the turtles a good ecosystem for breeding and growth.

Disease control: captive aquatic turtles may develop shell ulcers. Though all are shell lesions, symptoms differ and so do the bacteria (Gram-negative and Gram-positive). Symptoms include shell separation, pigment deposition, ulcers, limb paralysis, lost claws and internal necrosis. Crayfish, snakes, sea slaters used as feed, as well as soil and polluted water, may be infection sources. Bacteria enter through scraped wounds. Treat with baths and appropriate systemic antibiotics — but various turtles can be allergic/poisoned by certain antibiotics, so use with care.

4 Captive Habitat

Keeping requires water-quality control; depth must not be too great. Use sunned tap water, but watch temperature changes; in winter, if you do not want it to hibernate, you must heat.

Water quality and level: the water should be fresh with about 30 cm clarity. Turtles are ectothermic, so water temperature directly affects body temperature; depth should change with season. Spring is cooler, so shallow (~0.5 m); summer hotter, deeper; autumn cooling, shallow again; winter stable level, because the turtle’s temperature follows air/water — if the temperature drops sharply and the level fluctuates, the turtle can only use its own stored nutrients to regulate, and dies when those run out.

Water treatment: tap water is generally neutral and meets turtle needs in hardness/pH, so no worry (except some special species like razorbacks, Matamata, Japanese pond turtle, snake-neck). But tap water must be dechlorinated — by sunning (2 days in strong sun, or 4-6 days in low light) or chemically with sodium thiosulfate (1 g per 10 kg water, stir to dissolve, then use).

5 Feeding

Providing reasonable food is key to healthy growth. New hatchlings have fragile bodies and digestion, so give soft, nutritious feed; adults have a rich choice.

Hatchlings are delicate — keep separate and manage carefully, feeding cooked egg white, yolk, cooked noodles, rice, and finely chopped fish and shrimp. Adults eat widely: small fish, shrimp, snails, clam meat, vegetables, rice and wheat. They start feeding when water rises above 15°C; June-September is peak feeding, November appetite drops.

Below 15°C they hibernate. In the cool spring and autumn feed at 8-9 am; in midsummer they are active morning and evening, so feed at 4-5 pm. They swallow food in water; intake is about 4% of body weight, fed every other day, and clear leftovers promptly to avoid harm. Change water often to keep it fresh. Growth relates to feed quality — regular animal feed gains about 50 g per month.