Leaf Turtle Food

[Delirium]

Question for Leaf Turtle experts. We know they love fruit, what about organic baby food and/or apple sauce? Our little dude seems to have a tough time with taking bites of things and prefers mushy things.

Dee

[Turtle Matt]

Bugs and fruit.. Earthworms,mealworms,waxworms, snails,pinky mice, most fruits,may eat veggies, I would probably stay waway form the baby food and apple sauce due to preservatives (can't be great for him).. Also,from what I remember with the splengleri's that my friend kept, they like low light, high heat and VERY high humidity, lots of hiding places and a shallow water area to drink from and soak in... Not strong swimmers so make sire it is shallow and easily accesable..Sorry if I repeat anything you already know...PM me if you need more help:).
Matt
Matt

[gfisher2002]

I'm with Matt on this.

[Delirium]

Ya his house is set up really well. He's got exactly that. Mossy ground, plant foliage to hide under as well as an actual hide, a few things to climb on and a shallow wading pool. Humidity and heat are doing well as well.

I was worried also about the preservatives which is why I was thinking organic. They don't have any of the crap that the gerber ones do.

I'll wait and see if he goes off food at all and i'll get some input from the vet tonight. So far he's really got a thing for bananas. Turned down night crawlers. Loved meal worms a little too much heh.

Dee

[red bootz]

Now, I have no personal experience with spengs. That being said I have always been fascinated with them.
From what I have read and heard from keepers in Asia, this species is quite prone to heat stress. Being a montane species from cooler evergreen rainforests in southern china and vietnam, high humidity and ambient temps COOLER than the regular 26-30 degrees celsius may be more comfortable for him. Think in terms of the temps for the various montane Asian colubrids as a guideline...
That is a beautiful specimen, Good luck!

[Dani33]

Maybe try melon or mango, mine goes crazy for it.

[Delirium]

So exactly how rare are these little guys? The vet yesterday was astonished with him and had never seen one live before. Also, I keep getting asked about him. My research is only saying rare...brought to North America initially in 1961 but not really documented until 1985. I can't find much more then that. I know they have one at the zoo rofl. Thinking about the legality of him as well.....worried a bit...not that it will change anything regardless. Love him too much.

Dee

[red bootz]

The legality of keeping the beast is probably not an issue. As I remember they are not even CITES listed. That is not to say that they are not endangered. Their plight is the same as most of the asian batagurids. Suitable habitat is shrinking, in addition to be being heavily collected for the pet and food market.
As for rarity in canada, It is probably safe to say that all chelonians are rare in Canada. They are a not quite so rare in the states. Captive-bred babies are available as well as WC adults. There is also quite a market for them in Asia as well, both for the pet industry and for medicinal/food purposes.
Try a web search under Black breasted leaf turtles or geoemyda spengleri. They are not as uncommon as you might think.
good luck!

[ReptileHQ]

There are lots around in Canada with chelonian collectors. Also of note is that this species doesn't bask.....as far as my experience with them in the past....I'm pretty sure that they have now gone CITES 2 or are on the list for the next convention, but I'll double check on that...

Chris