Yellow Blotched Sawback Map Turtle (EXTREMELY RARE)

• Report rights infringement
• published: 13 Sep 2010
• views: 26969

This is my Yellow Blotch Sawback Map Turtle!!!!!! Its care follows: The term 'sawback' is attributed to three (and possibly a fourth) of the map turtles species. They are designated as sawback map turtles because of their extremely accentuated scutes going down the center of their carapace, the vertebral keel. The rear of these vertebral scutes, especially the first three, strongly juts upward creating a serrated or saw-like appearance. Though similar to its close relative the Ringed Map Turtle G. oculifera, the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle is especially beautiful with the center of each scute accenting its otherwise olive brown body with a bright touch of yellow. Being fairly easy to take care of, the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle is good for beginners. It is very shy and alert, plopping into the water at the approach of its keeper. However it will soon become tame, and though it will still dive off into the water it will quickly re-surface to see if any food has been offered. An avid basker and active swimmer, it is a joy to observe. The Yellow-blotched Map Turtle can make a good companion in a community habitat as long as there is plenty of space and lots of decor. It can be kept with other map turtles as well as other baskers such as sliders, cooters, and painted turtles. However when kept with other turtles, it is important to add add an extra basking spot or two to the environment, and to avoid crowding. The Yellow-blotched Map Turtle Graptemys Flavimaculata was described by Cagle in 1954. They are found in the Pascagoula River system in Mississippi where the current is moderate, the bottom is sandy or muddy, and there are numerous basking spots among logs and driftwood jutting out of the water. There are a twelve species, and several subspecies, of map turtles in the Graptemys genus. They are all found in the central and eastern United States and into southern Canada, generally in clear fast-flowing rivers and nearby ponds and lakes. The greatest concentration of these turtles are in the river systems of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. Status The Yellow-blotched Map Turtle is an officially endangered species in the United States: U.S. Endangered Species Act, May 4, 2004. They are also listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: EN - endangered, and list on CITES: Appendix III. Description: The beautiful Yellow-blotched Map Turtle has an olive to brown body highlighted with yellow accents on each of its scutes. It is one of the 'sawback' map turtles, having a serrated appearance due to extremely accentuated scutes along its vertebral keel, with the rear of each of these vertebral scutes projecting strongly upward. There is also a black spine on the first four scutes of juveniles and adult males, which becomes smaller with time and may be absent from adult females. Adult map turtles have muscular heads but they have two distinct appearances, those that are 'broad-headed' (primarily for cracking mussels and snail shells), and those that are 'narrow-headed' designed more for eating insects. The Yellow-blotched is one of those with a narrower head, and its head has markings similar to the Ringed Map Turtle G. oculifera. As with many of the map turtle species, there is extreme sexual dimorphism in the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle. It is a small species with females only reaching 6" to 7" in length, but mature males are even smaller reaching only 3" to 4". Males also have elongated front claws which they use in courtship displays. Care and Feeding: Map turtles are omnivores. In captivity, the majority of their captive diet consists of floating aquatic turtle food, a variety of aquatic plants and greens, and some protein. Freeze-dried shrimp and krill are a great treat for map turtles. Interestingly, hatchlings and the young of several species of map turtles feed on more plant matter than adults. Physically, adults develop large, muscular jaws in response to a natural diet of hard-shelled snails and crayfish. They also eat a wide variety of aquatic insects. In fact, in some species the small males never leave this existence of feeding on aquatic insects in the shallows at the river's edge. Care must be taken that these, and any turtles, are not released into a wild habitat. The reasons are many. The introduction of non-native species can lead to the introduction of diseases and can lead to hybridization of introduced and native species. In addition, many turtles raised in captivity and released into wild situations are confused, unable to cope with extreme weather changes, and many surely fall prey quite quickly to predators they may encounter. (I DID NOT WRITE THIS! Its A bunch of different info that I have put together from other websites....)

Yellow Blotched Sawback Map Turtle (EXTREMELY RARE)

• Report rights infringement
• published: 13 Sep 2010
• views: 26969

This is my Yellow Blotch Sawback Map Turtle!!!!!! Its care follows: The term 'sawback' is attributed to three (and possibly a fourth) of the map turtles species. They are designated as sawback map turtles because of their extremely accentuated scutes going down the center of their carapace, the vertebral keel. The rear of these vertebral scutes, especially the first three, strongly juts upward creating a serrated or saw-like appearance. Though similar to its close relative the Ringed Map Turtle G. oculifera, the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle is especially beautiful with the center of each scute accenting its otherwise olive brown body with a bright touch of yellow. Being fairly easy to take care of, the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle is good for beginners. It is very shy and alert, plopping into the water at the approach of its keeper. However it will soon become tame, and though it will still dive off into the water it will quickly re-surface to see if any food has been offered. An avid basker and active swimmer, it is a joy to observe. The Yellow-blotched Map Turtle can make a good companion in a community habitat as long as there is plenty of space and lots of decor. It can be kept with other map turtles as well as other baskers such as sliders, cooters, and painted turtles. However when kept with other turtles, it is important to add add an extra basking spot or two to the environment, and to avoid crowding. The Yellow-blotched Map Turtle Graptemys Flavimaculata was described by Cagle in 1954. They are found in the Pascagoula River system in Mississippi where the current is moderate, the bottom is sandy or muddy, and there are numerous basking spots among logs and driftwood jutting out of the water. There are a twelve species, and several subspecies, of map turtles in the Graptemys genus. They are all found in the central and eastern United States and into southern Canada, generally in clear fast-flowing rivers and nearby ponds and lakes. The greatest concentration of these turtles are in the river systems of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. Status The Yellow-blotched Map Turtle is an officially endangered species in the United States: U.S. Endangered Species Act, May 4, 2004. They are also listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: EN - endangered, and list on CITES: Appendix III. Description: The beautiful Yellow-blotched Map Turtle has an olive to brown body highlighted with yellow accents on each of its scutes. It is one of the 'sawback' map turtles, having a serrated appearance due to extremely accentuated scutes along its vertebral keel, with the rear of each of these vertebral scutes projecting strongly upward. There is also a black spine on the first four scutes of juveniles and adult males, which becomes smaller with time and may be absent from adult females. Adult map turtles have muscular heads but they have two distinct appearances, those that are 'broad-headed' (primarily for cracking mussels and snail shells), and those that are 'narrow-headed' designed more for eating insects. The Yellow-blotched is one of those with a narrower head, and its head has markings similar to the Ringed Map Turtle G. oculifera. As with many of the map turtle species, there is extreme sexual dimorphism in the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle. It is a small species with females only reaching 6" to 7" in length, but mature males are even smaller reaching only 3" to 4". Males also have elongated front claws which they use in courtship displays. Care and Feeding: Map turtles are omnivores. In captivity, the majority of their captive diet consists of floating aquatic turtle food, a variety of aquatic plants and greens, and some protein. Freeze-dried shrimp and krill are a great treat for map turtles. Interestingly, hatchlings and the young of several species of map turtles feed on more plant matter than adults. Physically, adults develop large, muscular jaws in response to a natural diet of hard-shelled snails and crayfish. They also eat a wide variety of aquatic insects. In fact, in some species the small males never leave this existence of feeding on aquatic insects in the shallows at the river's edge. Care must be taken that these, and any turtles, are not released into a wild habitat. The reasons are many. The introduction of non-native species can lead to the introduction of diseases and can lead to hybridization of introduced and native species. In addition, many turtles raised in captivity and released into wild situations are confused, unable to cope with extreme weather changes, and many surely fall prey quite quickly to predators they may encounter. (I DID NOT WRITE THIS! Its A bunch of different info that I have put together from other websites....)