A lot of people nowadays are getting turtles as pets. One of the kinds of turtles that people love to have is the soft shell turtles. Agressiveness is innate among soft shell turtles yet, they can also be great pets. Soft shell turtles look like pancake because of their soft shells and flat bodies. In this article, you will know the basic things about these species.
Soft shell turtles belong to family Trionychidae. Soft shell turtles have more or less than thirty species. The most common species of these turtles are Apalone mutica, Trionyx axenaria, Apalone spinifera emoryi, Apalone spinefera and the Florida soft shell turtle or Apalone ferox.
Although there are some soft shelled turtles that live in salt water, most of these species can be found in fresh waters. They can be found in slow running rivers that have muddy or sandy bottoms. These turtles love to bask on large rocks and sand bars near the river water. They also like remaining submerged under the mud or sand and they can remain there for more maximum of five hours. Usually, soft shell breed during May and eggs were laid on the sand bars of the river during June or July.
As what its name says, soft shell turtles have shells without scales that are common to most turtles. Its shell is like a leather and bendable with solid bone under it. Their bodies are oval in shape, flat and have flexible soft shells. The color of their shells matches the color of the sand making them hard to see. They stay under the sand and let their snouts or heads to pop out. Their long necks let them breathe even when they are hiding. Adult soft shell male turtles have shells that are brown or gray color and have dashes and dots on the back and females have dull color with dark marks.
Soft shelled turtles are meat eaters of carnivores. Depending on the kind of species, they are capable of devouring larger fish that they can hold using their powerful long necks. Part of these turtles' diet is fishes, insects, worms, caterpillars, crustaceans and some amphibians. They also eat some carrion and selected plant material.
Soft shell turtles are great display animals. However, they are delicate and they need extra care when planning to have them as pets. They have soft covering that can be damaged easily by bites and scrapes. Their tank should be filled with sand enough to bury them and they should be kept in an area that is low in house traffic and noise. The water should be kept clean using proper water filtration since they are susceptible to diseases.
These are the basic information about soft shell turtles. If you want to know more about their health, diet and reproduction, you can make little search over the internet. Remember that these turtles make great pets if fed and cared for properly.
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