Texas Map Turtle

1 Overview

The Texas Map Turtle lives in the Colorado River basin of the Edwards Plateau in Texas. It is a relatively common map turtle, though priced higher, and resembles the Mississippi Map Turtle, sometimes hard to tell apart. It is the smallest-shelled of all map turtles, with no prominent keel.

Adult males are about 3.5 inches and females about 6.75 inches. This map turtle lives in the relatively fast-flowing, muddy rivers of the Edwards Plateau. Like all map turtles, they spend much time basking; females prefer deeper water than juveniles and males.

English Name: Texas Map Turtle

Latin: Graptemys versa

Chinese Name: Texas Map Turtle

Reproduction: Oviparous

Habitat: Colorado River system of Texas

Distribution: Colorado River of Texas. In recent years it has been widely introduced to the Chinese reptile market, mainly in Guangdong, Guangxi, and southern regions.

Temperament: gentle, active, warm-loving and cold-averse, demanding about water quality, gregarious; keepers should avoid children touching the turtle long-term, which clouds the water and can kill it.

Appearance: yellow rings on the carapace, and the crescent mark behind the eyes differs from the first two, which are horizontal. Some Texas Maps have an orange base color.

Price: relatively expensive, over 100 yuan, but it resembles the Mississippi Map Turtle, and some sellers pass off Mississippi Maps, tens of yuan, as Texas Maps, so verify when buying.

2 Physical Characteristics

The Texas Map Turtle looks like the Mississippi Map Turtle, but its keel is not prominent and its color is lighter; the plastron is also brightly colored, some yellow, a very attractive pet turtle, less common in the Chinese market than the Mississippi.

I. Appearance. Carapace olive with a net-like pattern of yellow lines; scutes raised; low, blunt spines on the keel, the spine tips often black. Plastron yellow with thin black lines along scute seams. Behind the eyes, bright yellow to orange, usually J-shaped stripes extend back. Lower jaw has yellow or orange vertical blotches edged in black.

The Texas Map Turtle is a small map turtle; females only reach 12.5 cm (4.9 in), males only 9 cm (3.5 in).

II. Buying advice. Some sellers pass off Mississippi Map Turtles as Texas Map Turtles; check carefully, as the price gap is large. Some sellers label a turtle as Mississippi but note ‘Texas-like’, meaning it closely resembles Texas; if you like Texas but find it expensive, this is a good choice.

3 Care & Husbandry

The Texas Map Turtle interacts very well with people; gentle and unafraid, but it demands higher water quality, so the care focus is maintaining water quality.

I. Care method. Surveys show map turtles are less commonly kept than sliders and painted turtles. Generally map turtles do well in captivity, but only with correct care and species-specific rules.

More often, map turtle care resembles that of sliders and painted turtles. Compared with other aquatic turtles, map turtles tolerate poor water quality poorly, so keep water clean for their health.

II. Care focus. Set up the tank to mimic nature; the Texas Map Turtle demands high water quality but frequent water changes are not advised, use a filter. Outdoors, provide land or lawn for basking and calcium; basking is usually 9:00 to 10:00 AM or 3:00 to 4:00 PM, not too long.

Map turtles’ distribution lies almost entirely within the U.S. mainland, and different species have different habits, food, and habitat needs.

4 Habitat & Environment

Map turtle habitats lie within a range; the Texas Map Turtle lives only in a small area of Texas, differing from other map turtles in its fast-flowing, clean rivers.

Map turtles’ range lies almost entirely within the U.S. mainland, widely distributed from Florida to Texas, north to the Dakotas and Quebec, in various habitats. Though superficially similar to sliders and painted turtles, map turtles have unique features. They are a varied group, many beautiful, each with different habits, diet, and habitat.

Map turtle habitats vary by species. Compared with ponds and lakes, many map turtles prefer rivers. Some species’ range is limited to a single river system. Among these, dense aquatic vegetation is preferred. Others, like the Texas Map Turtle, live in streams of moderate to fast flow with sandy and clay bottoms, though also found over limestone, silt, and gravel. In all habitats, ample basking sites are essential.

5 Diet & Nutrition

The Texas Map Turtle likes animal foods but does not refuse fruit; it is an omnivore, but its digestive system is fragile, so feeding frequency and amount need care.

I. What it eats. The Texas Map Turtle is omnivorous; feed grasshoppers, bloodworms, dragonfly larvae, hard-boiled egg white, tadpoles, small frogs, small fish, shrimp, plus a little fruit for nutrition and turtle pellets. Snails and other shelled creatures are not advised.

II. Feeding method. First foods: egg yolk, bloodworms (cladocera), pork liver, with formulated feed, or mixed formulated feed and animal feed. Live feed rate 10 to 12 percent of body weight, formulated feed 4 to 6 percent, fed within 2 to 3 hours; promptly remove leftovers from the feeding platform and underwater, and clean the pond bottom daily, adding new water to keep quality stable. For health, add multivitamins and probiotics (e.g., EM) to feed; avoid antibiotics to prevent resistance and gut flora imbalance.

Environmental control is a key technique throughout turtle keeping. From hatchling rearing, control the environment to improve ecology and raise survival and growth. Nursery water depth 3 to 10 cm, max 20 cm.