Pictures

Babies!!
C. galbinifrons
C. bouretti

Baby Cuora galbinifrons

Teshi hatched September 17, 2004, and is three weeks old in these pictures.

As of October 2011, Teshi is 6" long and 7 years old!

Adult Cuora galbinifrons

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!

Sharman is quite a charmer!

Tony was a gift from a special Chinese friend.

Goldie is a beautiful sweetie!

Rosalyn is shy and very sweet -- eats her worms delicately!

Cuora bouretti

Peggy has always been outgoing and bold.

Amelia 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 has recently become better documented. Cuora galbinifons seems to be from northern Viet Nam, Cuora bouretti from central Viet Nam, and Cuora picturata from southern Viet Nam.

Captive Care: These turtles are from subtropical areas, and so require warm, humid conditions. Other than the climate-related differences, their care is much like American box turtles. They mainly live on land, but do need access to water for drinking and soaking. They are omnivorous, eating protein, fruits, and vegetables.

Links and References

Web Sites and Email Lists

• Box Turtle Care and Conservation by Tess Cook, which includes her online book Box Turtle Care A to Z
• The section on Cuora galbinifrons at Mary's Turtle Puddle
• The World Chelonian Trust caresheets
• Email lists for discussing Flowerback box turtles, box turtles in general, and the Asian turtle crises at Yahoo! Groups

Books

There are several books with information on captive care of Cuora galbinifrons and bouretti:

• Box Turtles (Complete Herp Care) by Tess Cook is sold on Amazon.com.
• 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.