EASTERN RIVER COOTER

PSEUDEMYS CONCINNA CONCINNA

Eastern River Cooter's are the largest freshwater turtle kept as pets in New Zealand and  there are very few of them left surviving. In the 50's and 60's quite a few of these were seen for sale in the Pet Shops along with Red-eared Sliders. No-one to our knowledge has bred any, so the few that remain alive are very old indeed.

Females can reach a shell length of 40cm, and males a shell length up to 20cm.

Like the male Red-eared Turtles, the male River Cooter's have extremely long claws  on their front feet and a very large tail in relation to the females.

Adult River Cooter's make excellent pond turtles due to their large size, but if you are wanting to keep these guys in a tank then we recommend that you obtain males.

Adult River Cooter's require a low protein diet. This should consist of Cos lettuce to be supplied daily for them to graze on at will. This can be supplemented two or three times a week with a low protein Turtle diet. We use Zoo Med Maintenance Diet which is formulated for American vegetarian Turtles. Young River Cooter's can be fed a little more protein in their diet.

River Cooter's are very hardy however they are a species that doesn't hibernate, so if kept in ponds over the summer they will either require their pond to be heated during the cooler months, otherwise winter accommodation indoors will need to be provided. River Cooter's will adapt to summer pond life once three or four years old.

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