# Baby Mud Turtle



## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

I just brought home my first turtle. He's a baby mud turtle, about 1 1/2 inches long. I have him in a 10 gallon tank with a floating piece of cork bark to stand on. I plan to feed him tubiflex worms until he gets bigger.

Does anyone have any advice about turtles in general or mud turtles specifically?


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2004)

I've never seen a mud turtle bask, so I'm not sure they like leaving the water.

I would guess that they need shallow water so they can breach the top and beath easily.

I saw them for sale at a reptile show a few weeks ago. They were the size of quarters and cute as hell! I was very, very tempted to buy one.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

well mud turtles do stay on land alot more than musk turtles
i would do a 50/50 tank with some plants


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## Polypterus-91 (Jun 15, 2004)

Here are a couple of really good care sheets to check out.

Musk turtles

Mud turtles


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## Polypterus-91 (Jun 15, 2004)

Here is another really good article on mud/musk turtle care and natural history.


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

someone told me he might be a reeves turtle. how do i tell the difference? how big do reeves turtles get? i wish i had a pic to send.


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

the reason i ask is that mud turtles (i think) are supposed to have smooth shells, but mine has three ridges on his. one down the center, and one down each side.


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## Polypterus-91 (Jun 15, 2004)

Piscesarcana said:


> someone told me he might be a reeves turtle. how do i tell the difference? how big do reeves turtles get? i wish i had a pic to send.


 Look at the plastron (underside of the shell). Reeve's turtles have a completely ridged plastron that covers the entire underside of the body like you see in red eared sliders and similar species. Mud turtles have hinges on the front and back portions of the plastron (similar to a box turtle), and musk turtles plastron is very reduced (covering only a narrow space in the center) leaving the underside of the legs entirely exposed.


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

the underside looks to be about 3/4 as long and wide as the top of the shell. no visible hinges, but i'm not sure exactly what to look for. what do you mean by reeves turtles having a ridged plastron? it has grooves, if that's what you mean.


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

Here is an image of a juvenile reeve's turtle I found. Mine has ridges in the same spots on the top of his shell. The shape of the head and the feet are also the same. However, mine is green, very dark green. Is there another kind he could be or is he simply a different color of reeve's?

Also, do I need to go buy an expensive uva/uvb lamp for him? He gets partial sunlight on his tank, but I'm not sure if that's enough.


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## Polypterus-91 (Jun 15, 2004)

Piscesarcana said:


> the underside looks to be about 3/4 as long and wide as the top of the shell. no visible hinges, but i'm not sure exactly what to look for. what do you mean by reeves turtles having a ridged plastron? it has grooves, if that's what you mean.


 Oops, my bad. I meant ridgid as in stiff or immobile not ridged as in keeled or grooved.


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## Polypterus-91 (Jun 15, 2004)

Piscesarcana said:


> Also, do I need to go buy an expensive uva/uvb lamp for him? He gets partial sunlight on his tank, but I'm not sure if that's enough.


 I am going to have to do a little research on this ID issue.

Regarding the lighting, if the partial sunlight is not filtered by glass, then it should be enough. If it is though, a UVA/UVB bulb is a good idea.


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

Alrighty...so I'm still not sure what this guy is. His plastron (underneath side of shell) is only connected to the top at the two sides, and also has lines.


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

Hmm...I've been looking at the species galleries on that site you sent, particularly at the underside of the turtles, and the reeves turtle has a shell that's way too connected. He's gotta be either a mud or musk turtle. Is there any easy way to tell the difference between the two?


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## aaron07_20 (Apr 23, 2004)

Well congrats on your turtle. I used to have a razorback muk turtle, when he was a baby I kept him in a 10G with Mud on the bottom, very shallow, and a hill for him to climb up and bask. He barely ever soaked in the mud, most of the time he liked to bask out of the water. A few months ago I had him in my 55G (I just recently gave him to my lfs to live with their turtles and caimans) I had a piece of cork bark for him to float on, deep water, he never spent time in the sand on the bottom, he always stayed on the cork bark. Just try to put sand or something on the bottom. He doesnt have those feet for swimming because he is a musk turtle, but he never had a problem getting to the cork bark.


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## aaron07_20 (Apr 23, 2004)

Piscesarcana said:


> Here is an image of a juvenile reeve's turtle I found. Mine has ridges in the same spots on the top of his shell. The shape of the head and the feet are also the same. However, mine is green, very dark green. Is there another kind he could be or is he simply a different color of reeve's?
> 
> Also, do I need to go buy an expensive uva/uvb lamp for him? He gets partial sunlight on his tank, but I'm not sure if that's enough.


 Sounds like a musk turtle..I could be wrong..


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## Piscesarcana (Apr 22, 2004)

yeah but mine has swimming feet


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## aaron07_20 (Apr 23, 2004)

Piscesarcana said:


> yeah but mine has swimming feet


 So do musk turtles. They're webbed just like red eared sliders, painted, w/e...but they don't have the shape to make them go real fast, musk and mud turtles dont.


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