Pictures still to come

Geomyda spengleri- Black breasted leaf turtle        Origin: Asia

Cute, cute, cute.  Fragile, fragile, fragile.  This adorable species is from Southern China and Vietnam.  It can be found in cool, mountainous terrain and thus needs to be treated DIFFERENTLY than most other Asian species of turtles.

There are still a few of this species coming into the country though these numbers are drying up rapidly.  The animals that do come into the country are generally afflicted with a variety of problems and the survival rate historically has been very, very poor.   Captive bred specimens are starting to show up in the pet trade in small numbers which will hopefully increase as time goes along. 

These diminutive animals (4 inches and around 125 grams) have definite spunk and even wild caught specimens are fairly outgoing.  Captive bred and long term captive animals are an absolute joy to own with inquisitive looks and a consistent joy in the presentation of their favorite food the earthworm. 

I keep this species on cypress mulch, which they enjoy burrowing under.  A shallow water bowl is well utilized for soaking purposes.  In terms of temperature, Memphis summers are much too warm so mine are kept indoors at temperatures ranging from the upper 70s to the mid 80s. 

Favorite foods include earthworms, red worms, the occasional mealworm, crickets, and waxworms.  I prefer gutloading the mealworms and crickets for a week or so before feeding them to my turtles in order to improve their poor calcium/phosphorous balance.

Links to further information on G. spengleri:

Husbandry et al: http://www.micronet.net/users/~turtles/exotics/spengleri.html

Husbandry: http://www.turtlecare.net/spengleri.htm