Small specimens of turtles, the size of which is 5-10 centimeters, can be kept at home in a decorative aquarium with a variety of aquatic plants. However, growing up, they begin to tear and destroy all the vegetation. And the animal, which will be discussed later, can perfectly live with decorative fish.
A photo and description of the Caspian tortoise is presented in this article.
It should be noted that they are representatives of one of the 4 orders of modern reptiles that are of the Chordata type. The age of the remains of fossils is approximately 220 million years.
General description of turtles
Turtles of various species are quite different in size and body weight. For example, a land spider tortoise has a length of not more than 100 mm with a body weight of 90-100 grams, and an adult leathery turtle can reach 250 cm in length and weighs 500 kg. The giant among land turtles is the Galapagos elephant. The length of its shell can exceed 1 m, with a body weight of 400 kg.
The color of almost all of these animals is dim and modest enough, allowing them to easily mask in the environment. But among them there are several species that differ in contrasting bright pattern. These include a radiant tortoise, which has yellow spots on a dark background of carapace with numerous rays.
Characteristics of a Caspian tortoise
This variety is named after the point of its very first description. This is a coastal section of the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan).
Her carapace is smooth, short and oval. The abdominal shield is connected to the dorsal bone bridge. The carapace, painted in olive-brown color with a mesh light yellow pattern, has a length of about 23.5 cm. There are well-developed swimming membranes on the legs. Plastron (ventral shield of the carapace) is colored yellow with black spots. The neck and head have longitudinal stripes of a light yellow hue.
In males, the tail is thicker and longer than in females, and their plastron is curved.
Habitat
The Caspian tortoise, the photo of which you can see in the article, lives in the East and Central Transcaucasia (including Dagestan), in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece (including the island of Crete), and Cyprus. The distribution area includes the territory of Turkey, reaching Lebanon, Israel and Syria. You can meet her in Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Turtle of this species likes to settle in reservoirs with fresh or slightly brackish water. She avoids the river with a fast flow, and prefers flat, flowing reservoirs with coastal vegetation on the sloping banks.
Occasionally, they can be found even in the city and in the villages. The tortoise can rise to heights above 1800 m.
Lifestyle and habits
Active described reptiles, mainly in the daytime. During this period, they get their own food and take sun baths, and with the onset of dusk they go down to the bottom of the reservoir, where they bury themselves in silt.
The Caspian tortoise dives and swims superbly, for a long time it can be at the bottom of the reservoir. By the way, this variety, although it is freshwater, can also swim well in sea water.
Food
The reptile is fed both in water and on land, but it does not depart far from the water. The main food is vegetation (sedge, algae, horsetail), various species of fish, small crustaceans, insects and amphibians. Turtles can also feed on carrion. On land, they can eat berry litter, legumes, wormwood and hodgepodge.
When kept at home, the Caspian tortoise needs to be fed with fish, pieces of raw meat and additives from the vegetation. For a change, you can feed earthworms, mice, shrimp, frogs, snails, insects. With pleasure, turtles eat berries, duckweed, cabbage, carrots, lettuce and dandelions.
Breeding
Puberty in animals of this species occurs by 10-11 years, when the length of the carapace (carapace back shield) is approximately 16 cm. Mate in the spring, in March-April. The female produces three clutches per season, each of which has about 5-12 eggs. The incubation period is approximately 60-100 days.
In September, offspring appears. More often, the cubs do not appear on the surface, but having chosen themselves from the nest, remain in the ground. Only next spring young growth comes to the surface.
The breeding of this species of turtles in terrarium is quite successful.
