Flowerback Box Turtles or
Indochinese Box Turtles
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I brought most of these turtles home from the food markets in Guanzhou, China, in 2000 and 2001. These are some of more photogenic members of my group. Click on the thumbnail image to see a larger version.
Samuel is a big male with a wonderful, calm, grandfatherly personality. However, he's not grandfatherly around the females!
Sharma, 5", is quite a charmer!
Toni, 6 1/4", was a gift from a special Chinese friend.
Goldie, 6 1/4", is a beautiful sweetie!
Rosalyn, 7", is shy and very sweet -- eats her worms delicately!
Peggy, 4 3/4", has always been outgoing and bold.
Amelia, 5 1/2", spent her first year in the water area, was very shy, and would not eat on her own. Then she started eating worms in very shallow water. A little later she came out of the water, hardly goes back in, and became voracious, begging, and bold!
Cuora galbinifrons and bouretti Information and Care
Wild habitat: Their home range is not well documented, but they are probably from northern Viet Nam, the surrounding areas, and Hainan Island.
Captive Care: These turtles are from subtropical areas, and so require warm, humid conditions. They mainly live on land, but do need access to water for drinking and soaking. They are omnivorous and tend to eat more protein than fruits and vegetables.
Web Sites and E-Mail Lists
There is not much information on captive care of Cuora galbinifrons and bourettiin book form. Box Turtles, by Jordan Patterson, has a small section on captive care of Cuora. Most general turtle references, such as Turtles of the World by Ernst and Barbour, and Encyclopedia of Turtles by Pritchard (TFH, now out of print) have descriptive and natural history information.