What type of turtle is this?

jorg3beto

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Hi, I hope someone here may know.

My parents found this turtle in the woods, near a highway by the center part of Mexico. They decided to keep it in and they've had it for some months now. I wanted to help them find the best conditions to keep It healthy, but I just don't know what type of turtle it is.
If anyone knows what kind it is, please let me know.

Thank you!!
 

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wellington

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Looks like a turtle not a tortoise. They should never be taken from the wild if they are native.
Put it back where it was found just out of harm's way once you post better pictures and it us positively ID.
 

Tom

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Whatever species of turtle it is, it appears to be in dire need of some water. Do your parents have a pond for it? Somewhere it can swim and get underwater?
 

Yvonne G

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I agree with Mark. . . one of the mud turtle species - a water turtle that lives in water. Key word here being WATER!!
 

Markw84

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Hi, I hope someone here may know.

My parents found this turtle in the woods, near a highway by the center part of Mexico. They decided to keep it in and they've had it for some months now. I wanted to help them find the best conditions to keep It healthy, but I just don't know what type of turtle it is.
If anyone knows what kind it is, please let me know.

Thank you!!
Although your pictures aren't the best for identification, I'm pretty sure that is a Jalisco Mud Turtle - Kinosternon chimalhuaca

Native to the area just west of Guadalajara and to the coast of the Gulf

It is indeed a water turtle and needs to be kept in the water.
 

Maggie3fan

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Although your pictures aren't the best for identification, I'm pretty sure that is a Jalisco Mud Turtle - Kinosternon chimalhuaca

Native to the area just west of Guadalajara and to the coast of the Gulf

It is indeed a water turtle and needs to be kept in the water.
show off...are you ever wrong? impressive...lol
 

jorg3beto

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UPDATE:
Here are some better photos. It won't let them take a picture of the head close, it hides away.

Thanks so much for all the input you have given me.

I'm well aware it was not a good choice to take it out of its natural habitat, but it's just something I won't get inside my parent's head, but I hope with the information you gave me, I may help them give it the best life possible.
 

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zovick

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UPDATE:
Here are some better photos. It won't let them take a picture of the head close, it hides away.

Thanks so much for all the input you have given me.

I'm well aware it was not a good choice to take it out of its natural habitat, but it's just something I won't get inside my parent's head, but I hope with the information you gave me, I may help them give it the best life possible.
It is not a mud turtle of any type. The photos show it to be a box turtle. Possibly a Coahuilan Box Turtle if it came form that area of Mexico. Therefore do not keep it in deep water. It needs a land area plus a water bowl.
 
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Yvonne G

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It is not a mud turtle of any type. The photos show it to be a box turtle. Possibly a Coahuilan Box Turtle if it came form that area of Mexico. Therefore do not keep it in deep water. It needs a land area plus a water bowl.
I think these are pictures of two different turtles. The pictures in the first post show a flatter turtle with no domed carapace and the big square head of a mud-type turtle.
 

zovick

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I think these are pictures of two different turtles. The pictures in the first post show a flatter turtle with no domed carapace and the big square head of a mud-type turtle.
The OP did not say the second pix were of a different turtle, though. The carapace scute patterns look the same in both sets of pictures to me, so it looks like the same turtle to me.

If you look at the last picture of the first group, the turtle has the front lobe of the plastron pulled up in a partially closed position. Some of the Box Turtles in Mexico are relatively primitive. IE, not as domed as ours in the US and maybe their heads are larger also. Then when you look at the second set of pictures, it is obviously a Box Turtle with a very visible hinge shown.

The plastron is much larger than the plastron of any mud or musk turtle as well.
 

mark1

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i change my guess to zovicks ......... i'm not familiar with the turtle , but i believe the type box turtle zovick mentioned is a primarily aquatic turtle
 

Markw84

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Come on guys, don't cofuse the poster. That is a Mud Turtle! They have a hinge like that, and the mud turtles have very well developed plastrons. The scute pattern on the plastron is totally mud turtle. The Coahuilan Box is critically endangered and very rare. Very different scute pattern on the plastron and also different width and shaped scutes for vertebrals.

Jalisco Mud Turtle Kinosternon chimalhuaca
 

zovick

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Come on guys, don't cofuse the poster. That is a Mud Turtle! They have a hinge like that, and the mud turtles have very well developed plastrons. The scute pattern on the plastron is totally mud turtle. The Coahuilan Box is critically endangered and very rare. Very different scute pattern on the plastron and also different width and shaped scutes for vertebrals.

Jalisco Mud Turtle Kinosternon chimalhuaca
OK, I defer to the original ID by Markw84. It is a Jalisco Mud Turtle rather than any type of Box Turtle. Sorry to have confused anyone with my mistaken identity.

Therefore this turtle is aquatic and should be kept in water.
 

mark1

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Come on guys, don't cofuse the poster. That is a Mud Turtle! They have a hinge like that, and the mud turtles have very well developed plastrons. The scute pattern on the plastron is totally mud turtle. The Coahuilan Box is critically endangered and very rare. Very different scute pattern on the plastron and also different width and shaped scutes for vertebrals.

Jalisco Mud Turtle Kinosternon chimalhuaca
i'd be as confused as the poster , initially i'd thought mud turtles , after zovicks post ,i looked at some pics , this one made me rethink

kssonoriensetu1008.jpg

having never had either , i'd guess the box turtle does not have the two chin barbels and the mud turtles do? also the leg scales ? the head does appear to be a different shape ?
46955_463146177111_7341997111_6595184_5127418_n.jpg

23814101510_a69975b448_b.jpg


interesting how similar that type of box turtle is to a mud turtle , at least in pics ....
 

turtlesteve

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I’ll chime in here and say it’s definitely a mud turtle. On box turtles the front and back of the plastron are moveable. On mud turtles the front is hinged and the back is rigid.

From the pic of the carapace, the coahuilan box turtle really does look similar. It's the plastron photo that is most useful because you can see the back portion of the plastron is fused to the carapace.
 

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