Cuora mouhotii obsti

PJay

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I'm really enjoying raising a group of captive bred Southern Keeled Box Turtles. This lightly colored juvenile is enjoying a warm water soak and some tasty treats. The striations of color on this individuals shell are fantastic!20200605_222853[1].jpg
 

Hutsie B

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What a beauty. I love this species and have had them for years. I don't have any now but am on a waiting list for a hatchling. What do you feed yours?
 

PJay

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What a beauty. I love this species and have had them for years. I don't have any now but am on a waiting list for a hatchling. What do you feed yours?
The base diet for Keeled Box Turtles is Omega One Adult Turtle Sticks, but I also blend in Mazuri Aquatic Turtle Diet sometimes. Other additives to the Omega One include scrambled or boiled eggs with the crushed shell, chopped dandelion greens or spring mix without spinach. I also offer various berries from the store or whatever is in season in the backyard (mulberries, blackberries, wine berries, wild strawberries), and occasionally butternut squash, cantaloupe, a little banana, pineapple or mango. Live earthworms are relished and live or dried black soldier fly larvae and frozen/thawed pinky mice and shrimp are also a hit. My North American box turtles beg for horn worms but the obsti aren't interested. I've thought about adding live snails to their diet but still looking for a good candidate species for home culture.
 

Hutsie B

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How do you house your adults? I have large outdoor enclosures for them outside in the shade with spotted sunshine. Inside I keep them in 50 gallon rubbermaid troughs singularly when I have them. My hatchling will start out in a smaller container with spagnum moss as a substrate. I know they like it moist and wet even.
 

PJay

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I have a juvenile group of captive bred 1-4 year olds. Older juveniles are kept individually in outdoor mostly shady quarters with a wet substrate mix of backyard soil, coco coir, peat and sphagnum moss when the weather is warm and 50 gallon indoor plastic tubs when it gets cold. I keep very young turtles alone for several weeks in plastic shoe boxes with lids and moistened paper towels to maintain humidity while monitoring the quantity and quality of their outputs before moving to larger quarters with more natural substrate. The substrate has a population of spring tails to keep things tidy and earthworms and pill bugs for active hunting.
 

Hutsie B

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thanks for your info. I have kept mine very similarly. I have 8' by 4' wire top wooden enclosures out side in the shade with speckles of sunlight for my adults. They have dirt and leaves for substrate, a water source and a wooden hide. Some wooden small branches for decoration and climbing.
 

Hutsie B

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The base diet for Keeled Box Turtles is Omega One Adult Turtle Sticks, but I also blend in Mazuri Aquatic Turtle Diet sometimes. Other additives to the Omega One include scrambled or boiled eggs with the crushed shell, chopped dandelion greens or spring mix without spinach. I also offer various berries from the store or whatever is in season in the backyard (mulberries, blackberries, wine berries, wild strawberries), and occasionally butternut squash, cantaloupe, a little banana, pineapple or mango. Live earthworms are relished and live or dried black soldier fly larvae and frozen/thawed pinky mice and shrimp are also a hit. My North American box turtles beg for horn worms but the obsti aren't interested. I've thought about adding live snails to their diet but still looking for a good candidate species for home culture.
Do you feed raw shrimp with or with out the shell?
 

Hutsie B

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The base diet for Keeled Box Turtles is Omega One Adult Turtle Sticks, but I also blend in Mazuri Aquatic Turtle Diet sometimes. Other additives to the Omega One include scrambled or boiled eggs with the crushed shell, chopped dandelion greens or spring mix without spinach. I also offer various berries from the store or whatever is in season in the backyard (mulberries, blackberries, wine berries, wild strawberries), and occasionally butternut squash, cantaloupe, a little banana, pineapple or mango. Live earthworms are relished and live or dried black soldier fly larvae and frozen/thawed pinky mice and shrimp are also a hit. My North American box turtles beg for horn worms but the obsti aren't interested. I've thought about adding live snails to their diet but still looking for a good candidate species for home culture.
do you feed the shrimp raw with the shell on, or cooked and shell off?
 

PJay

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You can feed them in any form with or without shell, cooked or raw. The shell contains protein, calcium and chitin so that's preferred. A young turtle may have problems eating a large shrimp shell so make your selection with the turtle in mind. I usually pick a big bag of the best option available at my local warehouse club, toss it in the freezer, pull from it as needed and thaw. I find the cooked shrimp has less odor but it doesnt seem to matter to the turtles.
 

harris

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I don't know how, but I completely missed this thread! Outstanding!!!!
This is one of my all time favorite species of that Asian region. I currently keep C m mouhoti (2 females) and have 2 hatchlings coming in next week. I had a beautiful group of 2.3 WC in the late 80's (Pyxidea! I'm still not used to classifying them as Cuora). They remind me more of the Manouria genus than anything! Unfortunately, 1 male and 2 females succumbed within the first 8 months of receiving them.
 

PJay

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A pair of two year old Cuora (Pyxidea) mouhotti obsti after soaking/feeding and a quick checkup. Love this species!
 

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ZenHerper

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... I've thought about adding live snails to their diet but still looking for a good candidate species for home culture.
My ramshorns always survive fenbendazole dosing against planaria, et.al..
 

jonathan gray

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Nice job! Beautiful turtles! Mine go crazy for snails; fortunately, I can gather them right off the tree beginning in early Spring here.
 

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