Markus Auer Fig. 2. An
Markus Auer Fig. 2. An adult wildcaught female of C. guttata with a juvenile of a few weeks old. Fig. 3. Captive-bred C. guttata at three weeks of age. was that the turtles would experience more of the natural weather conditions and the entire cyclic changes of the year in general there than in my living quarters. The two females now jointly occupied a small raised pond constructed from pond liner and measuring 230 × 200 cm. It offered water depths from 10 to 40 cm. The adjacent terrestrial section occupied 50 × 230 cm in space. Both on the left and right hand sides of it, plastic boxes filled with sand were sunk in, offering spots for oviposition. The pond itself was once more well structured with rocks and pieces of roots amongst which the turtles would find shelters. The two females proved to be highly compatible and I never noted any disagreements between them. The turtles suddenly started flourishing in general and exhibited a very alert and inquisitive behaviour. For his part, the male was once more housed on his own in a separate tank. In late March of 2013, right after hibernation, I placed the male with the two females for several days. I now witnessed them mating for the first time, even though the water in the greenhouse pond was still rather cold. The two females each deposited 22 RADIATA 26 (2), 2017
fertile eggs for the first time in May, followed by more clutches over the subsequent weeks. The larger female produced a total of three clutches (with 2, 2 and 1 eggs, respectively), whereas the younger one from 2007 deposited two with four eggs each. Hibernation The Spotted Turtles became visibly more quiescent from September and now also spent much more time on land. As temperatures decreased and the days shortened in October, their appetite lessened significantly. I moved the turtles to a cold basement room in early November where every specimen was placed in a small container of its own. These measured ca. 40 × 25 × 20 cm (l×w×h) and were filled with water to about 2–3 cm above the dorsal shell of the occupant specimen. I furthermore added a handful of beech leaf litter to the water as to make the turtles feel concealed and protected. The leaf litter also has some fungicidal action. The hibernation tanks were covered and left to stand at temperatures of 4–8 °C. The hibernation period was timed to last about four months. Fig. 4. Captive-bred C. guttata from the first and third clutches of the same year, photographed in October. Fig. 5. Same as in Fig. 4, dorsal view. RADIATA 26 (2), 2017 23
