Three-striped roofed turtle

1 Overview

There are three species of giant roofed turtle: the Burmese Giant Roofed Turtle, the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle, and the Indian Giant Roofed Turtle. They differ in appearance but are similar in habits, with the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle being the rarest and hardest to keep.

Chinese Name: Giant Roofed Turtle

English Name: Three-striped Roofed Turtle

Scientific Name: Kachuga dhongoka

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Suborder: Cryptodira

Family: Geoemydidae

Genus: Giant Roofed Turtle genus

Distribution: Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River, Salween River, and their tributaries

Habits: Inhabits deeper fresh water and prefers plant food, though juveniles eat animal food such as shellfish. In captivity it eats small fish and pellets; in the wild it breeds in March-April, laying 20-30 elongated eggs.

Appearance: The giant roofed turtle is the giant of the roofed turtles; males reach 26 cm carapace length and females 48 cm. The carapace is a low-arched oval with three stripes, the central dark brown or black stripe being very distinct. The plastron is yellow, and the head is grey with bright patches on the sides.

2 Physical Characteristics

There are three kinds of giant roofed turtle, each somewhat different, so they are introduced separately. They are rare; the Burmese Giant Roofed Turtle was once thought extinct, and only a few captive cases of the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle exist.

1. Appearance of the Burmese Giant Roofed Turtle

Adult males have three black lines on the carapace, but unlike the river terrapin their marginal scutes have no black spots, and the top of the head has a single longitudinal black line from snout to nape, not the two black lines flanking a central red as in the river terrapin. Adult females are uniformly colored, overall brown-grey with only a pale yellow plastron, some with faint dark markings on the plastron, and at a glance resemble female river terrapins or female geoemydids.

2. Appearance of the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle

Hatchlings have a brown-grey to olive carapace and pale yellow to grey-yellow plastron, both without any markings. From the back of the head, several vertical stripes of alternating dark and light brown-grey extend onto the neck skin. When males mature, these vertical stripes become strongly contrasting bands of white and red; the top of the head turns bright red, two yellow stripes appear behind the eyes, and the rest is blue-green, together with golden eyes, making the male Red-crowned Roofed Turtle one of the most striking and unique head colorations among all turtles. Females have brown eyes and no bright markings.

3. Appearance of the Three-striped Roofed Turtle

The Three-striped Roofed Turtle likewise has a yellow line extending from the snout tip past above the eyes to the rear, an olive to black-grey carapace with three black lines, and a pale yellow unmarked plastron. Unlike the other two giant roofed turtles, adults show little sexual dimorphism in color, with only the male’s three black carapace lines being more pronounced.

3 Care Guidelines

Burmese Giant Roofed Turtle

Giant roofed turtles are rare, especially the Burmese Giant Roofed Turtle, once declared extinct; later by chance a few surviving individuals were accidentally discovered and then protected.

We begin with the rarest, the Burmese Giant Roofed Turtle. How rare? Only 12 living individuals are known, of which just one is an adult male. The species was first described and named in 1835 from two specimens, last seen in 1935 in Myanmar’s Chindwin River, after which no reports appeared and it was considered extinct. Then in 2002, among a large batch of food turtles in a southern Chinese market, one turtle caught the attention of a Chinese turtle collector, who bought it and posted it online, immediately drawing scholars’ interest. Most intrigued was Dr. Gerald Kuchling of the University of Western Australia, who led an expedition to Myanmar and, in a temple release pond, found several live individuals. With the monks’ help they were collected and, in cooperation with the local zoo, prepared for breeding; unfortunately, during a flood the male was washed away. Dr. Kuchling then asked fishermen to help gather more, eventually obtaining six, including one adult male.

4 Behavior & Habitat

Because the giant roofed turtle is very large, it is unsuitable for indoor keeping, as it is hard to provide adequate space; an outdoor pond is recommended. Smaller or juvenile turtles can be kept indoors with the following environment provided.

Two points deserve emphasis in setting up the habitat. Although interactive and lively, roofed turtles are timid, so a fully exposed setup will cause stress; at the same time, they love basking. Based on these, the following aspects must be addressed:

1. Provide suitable hiding places, such as cave-bearing driftwood or floating duckweed on the water surface, so they feel secure.

2. There must be a basking land area, not necessarily large; they don’t like walking on land much, they just need a spot to rest their plastron and enjoy the sun. Importantly, basking species kept without land, soaking long-term in water, will inevitably develop skin and shell rot; thus providing a basking area is a key prerequisite for preventing rot.

3. Building on the above, the air temperature must be higher than the water temperature! Otherwise basking at low temperature then entering warm water, or leaving warm water for a cold sunbath, is the biggest trigger for pneumonia. Remember, turtles bask to raise body temperature and enter water to lower it, so this gradient must never be reversed. Basically keep air at 30 degrees C (a heat lamp over the basking spot) and water at 26 degrees C, and the turtle will stay active with a good appetite.

5 Feeding Requirements

The giant roofed turtle eats enormously. In the wild it prefers plant food, but once accustomed to captivity it will also take pellets and meat. To keep it healthy, pay attention to ambient temperature when feeding.

1. Giant Roofed Turtle Habits

In captivity, the giant roofed turtle likes warmth and fears cold. At about 24 degrees C water it feeds normally; below 20 degrees C it stops eating; below 18 degrees C it stops feeding and becomes sluggish, and as temperature drops further it enters hibernation. Prolonged exposure below 10 degrees C is often fatal. In nature the Indian roofed turtle eats plant stems, leaves, and fruit. It is gentle, timid, and not aggressive.

2. Giant Roofed Turtle Keeping

The giant roofed turtle is fairly omnivorous and accepts typical aquatic turtle pellets, leafy greens, dead fish, dead shrimp, frozen bloodworms, and mealworms. As long as imported individuals are not infected or ill, it is not hard to keep. For juveniles, water depth should not exceed their standing height to avoid drowning. The Indian roofed turtle has long been listed under CITES I; because populations have recovered markedly, a proposal to downlist it to CITES II was passed in 2004.