Flat shelled Turtle Aestivation

[PilbaraPythons]

Here is a aestivation site that most people would not even be aware of. The second pic is the same place but after I have dug away and cleared the grass and substrate. Can you spot the two turtles half buried in the pindan, the typical sandy soil found around here.

Chers Dave

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Second pic

 

[Australis]

I can see one head, how did you spot them?

 

[PilbaraPythons]

The heads are not visable as they tuck them to the side. I knew they were in this area in the first place and just had to do a search for them.

 

[mines bigger]

what is in the bottom left of the first pic?? is that the turtles??

 

[lizard_lover]

whats is a Aestivation

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Here is the same pic with a drawing.
aestivation is basically what some turtles are forced to do when ponds dry up e.g bury themselves underground until better times. They don't always do this for this sole reason though as often they do it even when there is plenty of water for reasons that I wish I understood. Maybe with this particular species it has something to do with maternal cycling ? or to rid them shells of algae, any ideas ?

 

[mines bigger]

well its not the turtles so what is it?? it looks like a lizard head

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

what clued you into this particular spot,that there would be turtles there?

 

[PilbaraPythons]

$NaKe PiMp
These turtles are not in the wild (as I did not naturally find them in the bush), they are in my back yard and have been missing for some time. That’s how I knew they had to be aestivating somewhere, not because of any particular bush tracking skills in the wild if that’s what you may have thought.
I have tried hard to set up a huge area ( approx. 300 square metres ) of similar habitat including, trucked in local river sand mixed with different things like gum leaves etc to hopefully stimulate natural behaviour. So far I am confident that this is working.
Seeing what they do here gives me some idea where they would be likely found aestivating in the wild when there is still plenty of water around. I have found though that the more I observe them, the more questions that arise that I can’t answer yet. For example what reasons would some choose to aestivate and others not ?

Cheers Dave

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Dave,

Herpetology in Australia needs more people like you. I don't know of many people in the captive herping game who would give two hoots as to why some of their turtles were aestivating and others weren't. Hardly anybody is concerned about wild biology any more, which is really disheartening. I enjoy your posts, and appreciate your abstract way of thinking.

Cheers

Jonno

 

[ad]

Agreed Jonno - great pics/info Dave,
Cheers
Adam.

 

[deebo]

Weird.....what would happen if someone stepped on one, woudl it damage the shell/turtle at all or are they really tough. How long can they stay like that do you know? Im assuming that their body just sort of shuts down to conserve energy etc.

Dave

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Thanks for the encouragement guys.
David
I read some where, that in severe drought apparently some turtles can aestivate continuously for up to three years.

Although I currently have a stable non aestivating population of 7 turtles in the pond, occasionally the odd one from the aestivating population of 12 appears in the pond for a day or so only to disappears again. I think I will be able to rule out a few possibilities when the wet arrives. The big buzz will be if we actually successfully breed them. Fingers crossed.

 

[Miss_Croft]

Do they come out at night?

Do they come out at night - I have read somewhere that they are often nocturnal and are active early evening - especially during the summer months. They sound like great pets as they do not release odor like the Eastern snake necks. I would also suspect they would have a much lower UVB requirement.

 

[Kratos]

very interesting, do you have any pics of what the turtles look like?

 

[Miss_Croft]

http://pilbarapythons.com/45759250.jpg
http://www.chelodina.com/steindachneri2.jpg
http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/bis/turtles/pictures/c steindachneri overview.jpg

 

[Deborah]

Hey all,

Interesting questions about aestivation. Rent work of a PhD student at Uni of Canberra has looked at bet hedging in the Eastern snake-necked turts (Chelodina longicollis) and why some choose to sit out dry periods by aestivating in leaf litter, whilst others move to water holes. Soon to be published in the Journal 'Ecology'. Reference below.

Roe, J.H. and Georges, A. (2008). Maintenance of variable responses for coping with wetland drying in freshwater turtles. Ecology, in press.

 

[crush the turtle]

good spotcouldnt u build a large pond for them lol...

 

[urodacus_au]

The pond is plenty big enough, believe me

Good observations mate, info like that is worth recording, after a few years of watching them it may start to make more sense.
Cheers
Jordan