Anthony Pierlioni
Anthony Pierlioni species even in earlier times. One of the reasons for this situation, in my opinion, is surely the small size of these turtles, but also the fact that Bog Turtles have a very secretive lifestyle and will retreat to a shelter very circumspectly and inconspicuously when they are approached. Distribution The Bog Turtle is native to the eastern parts of the USA and occurs in Massachusetts, Connecticut, eastern New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland in the north, and Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia in the south. The northern and southern populations do not appear to be distinct, as was presumed by Dunn (1917), neither with regard to their light-coloured occipital spots nor in other aspects investigated thus far (Lovich et al. 1998, Ernst & Lovich 2009). Fig. 2. A G. muhlenbergii begging for food. Housing I attempt to keep the specimens in my care in an environment that emulates the natural setting as closely as possible. The reason for this philosophy is simply that naturalistic and therefore species-specific husbandry conditions will most often lead to reproductive success by default. In their natural habitats, Bog Turtles live in “bogs”, which are groundwater-fed marshes that will be vegetated by Sphagnum moss and a variety of marsh plants. Plant deposits acidify the water substantially in the fashion perhaps better known from “black water” in the aquarium hobby. Taking this fact into consideration, I create water of a similar quality by appropriately “vegetating” the Bog Turtle tanks with moss. Sphagnum moss is also added to the water directly where it will be fragmented by the population of marbled crayfish that co-inhabit the tank and turned into muddy sediment over time. This bottom layer of mud is left in the tanks, because keeping these turtles in an environment that is “too clean” will only lead to skin issues in the end. Nitrite and Nitrate levels are continuously reduced by pothos plants that have grown their roots into the water to extract these substances and metabolize them for their growth. The muddy bottom and the plant roots at the same time provide the turtles with a sense of being safe and thus reduce stress. The illumination for each tank is comprised of a T5-type fluorescent tube that will supply the plants with adequate light, and an additional 35-W HQI spotlight with UV emission. The latter creates a basking spot that gravid females in particular like to make use of. The tanks measure 60 × 60 × 40 cm (l×w×h), but I also employ a few measuring only 42 × 60 × 35 cm. They are each furnished with a glued-in terrestrial section of some 10 cm wide in the rear where peace lily (Spathiphyllum) and pothos (Epipremnum) are left to grow in potting soil. This area is also covered with a 6-cm layer of Sphagnum moss, which is remoistened at regular intervals. It is also the place where the females will deposit their eggs. The Bog Turtles in my care are kept on a strict basis of one-by-one. It is a strategy 28 RADIATA 26 (2), 2017
Spotted Turtles Fig. 3. The occipital spots fade with age. Fig. 4. A view into a Bog Turtle tank with its dense vegetation of Epipremnum. Fig. 5. An old male Bog Turtle basking under a UV-B spotlight. RADIATA 26 (2), 2017 29
