Snake-necked Turtle
Chelodina longicollis

CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Testudines
FAMILY: Chelidae

SIZE:
Carapace is up to 10 inches, neck up to 6 inches long

RANGE:
Southeastern Australia north to southern Queensland

HABITAT:
Snake-necked turtles are a freshwater species that prefers to live in slow-moving rivers, streams, swamps, and pools.

DIET:
Wild - They are carnivorous, eating any aquatic animal that is small enough for them to handle.
Zoo - Fish, meat

DESCRIPTION:

• Snake-necked turtles have necks that are over half as long as their carapace.

• Their head, neck, and legs are brown to dark gray above, the head and neck are yellowish below, the legs are cream colored below.

• The skin on their neck is covered with pointed tubercles.

• The carapace is dark brown to black.

• The plastron is basically cream to yellow with dark brown to black edges to the scutes.

• As snake-necked turtles mature, the edges of their shells become upturned and their heads become broader.

FACTS:
Snake-necked turtles can somewhat match the color of their background by lightening or darkening their skin.

YOUNG:
Snake-necked turtles breed in September and October and lay 6-24 eggs in November and December. Young are black to dark gray with orange spots on each scute on the side of the carapace and on each belly scute. They have a curved yellow orange mark on their chin and a broad yellow to orange stripe from their mouth to the ventral side of the neck.

STATUS:
Not threatened.

REFERENCE:
Turtles of the World, Carl H. Ernst and Roger W. Barbour
Australian Freshwater Turtles, John Cann