Ewald Roddewig and above these, a 50 W spotlight creates a localised hotspot on the terrestrial section over noon. This arrangement takes care of creating zones with different temperatures in the intended oviposition substrate. The sand is kept slightly moist by splashing it with some water from the aquatic section if and when necessary. The turtles can access the terrestrial part via a piece of cork bark that extends from the water right onto the sand. For their part, the two males were kept together in an aquaterrarium with a volume of 260 litres from their juvenile stage until two years after they became sexually mature. They then had to be separated as they were noted to engage in aggressive interactions occasionally. One of them has since been living without problems in the company of two male black-knobbed map turtles (Graptemys nigrinoda nigrinoda), while the other now shares a tank with two males of the Sabine’s map turtle (Graptemys ouachitensis sabinensis). Both groups are housed in a 230-litre tank each. These are outfitted in a manner that approximates the aquaterrarium of the females, except that they use only one filter and lack a sand-filled terrestrial section. Propagation I deem providing the turtles with a naturalistic, varying and high-quality diet an essential precondition for successfully propagating them. Chrysemys picta dorsalis feeds on both animal and plant matter (comp. Hennig 2003). The females receive food on a daily basis, sometimes even in very large amounts, but – just as they would in nature – also varying very widely in volume. My observations suggest that it is particularly important to establish an optimal feeding regime for gravid females right until they enter their hibernation period as only this will create a solid basis for a successful breeding season in the following year (comp. Hertwig 2001). The males consume much less food than the females and I therefore feed them only every two to three Fig. 6. Bruja incubators. The covers of the view-in windows have been removed for the purpose of this photograph. Save for three, all the small ventilation openings in the top have been closed off (some of which are indicated in the photograph by the short strips of brown sticky tape); this reduces the need for frequent remoistening and favours constantly high levels of relative humidity. The ventilation openings in the bottom have been left open. 58 RADIATA 23 (1), 2014
Husbandry and Breeding of the Southern Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta dorsalis Fig. 7. Nursery containers for the first four days after hatching. days. I do without any additional vitamins in both sexes. As far as the vegetarian portion of their food is concerned, I give preference to aquatic plants such as duckweed and water-thyme from a nearby pond. If I have to use pellets, I select a type with a high content of algae. The turtle jelly that I prepare myself also contains plant matter (comp. Roddewig 2010). The animal portion of their diet consists, amongst others, of numerous calcium-rich crustaceans such as freshwater shrimp, sand shrimp (2-3 cm), krill and Gammarus. The females can furthermore help themselves to cuttlefish shell any time. Over and above all this I feed the turtles with live roaches, crickets of various species, locusts, caterpillars (excluding of course those of protected butterflies and moths), earthworms, giant (Zophobas) and ordinary mealworms, flies, spiders, woodlice, snails and slugs, as well as small fish (typically in the shape of defrosted frozen fish) such as smelt, roach and blueband dwarf barb. Fowl meat, beef and octopus are offered on occasion. The females in particular are also given defrosted pink mice. Courtship and mating behaviour differs between the two males: Male # 1 will badger and attack a female on sight and place a holding bite preferably on her neck (but occasionally also on a leg or the tail. It then takes only a few days before the females start fighting and biting back until the male will be intimidated enough to just sit motionlessly in a corner of the tank. Male # 2, on the other hand, will swim in circles around a female, vibrate the claws of his front feet, and touch them to the head and neck of the potential mating partner. This male is therefore placed with the females shortly before the hibernation period and remains with them until the next spring. Following the first oviposition events of a season, one of the two males is then once more introduced to the tank of the females for a stay of about three days. This procedure is repeated several times during summer. This has been ensuring that the females in my care produce exclusively fertile eggs over the past years. The first oviposition events of a season take place in May, June or July, with further clutches following until into September. The RADIATA 23 (1), 2014 59
