D'Orbigny's slider facts for kids
Quick facts for kids D'Orbigny's slider |
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Trachemys
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dorbigni
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The D'Orbigny's slider or black-bellied slider (Trachemys dorbigni) is a type of water turtle. In Brazil, people often call it tartaruga-tigre or tartaruga-tigre-d'água. These names mean "tiger turtle" and "water tiger turtle" in Portuguese.
This turtle lives in the water and belongs to the Emydidae family. You can find it in southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay. There are two main types, or subspecies, of D'Orbigny's slider: Trachemys dorbigni adiutrix and Trachemys dorbigni brasiliensis.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The scientific name, dorbigni, honors a French naturalist named Alcide d'Orbigny. Naturalists are scientists who study nature.
About D'Orbigny's Slider
The shape of a turtle's bottom shell, called the plastron, helps tell if it's a male or female. After a few years, you can see clear differences between them. D'Orbigny's sliders can live for a very long time, from 30 to 100 years, when they are kept as pets.
These turtles usually live in water bodies like lakes, marshes, streams, and rivers. They prefer water that flows slowly or moderately. They also like places with soft bottoms and lots of water plants.
Baby turtles are born very small. They weigh about 11 grams (0.39 oz) and have a shell (carapace) that is about 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) long. In the wild, they grow about 3 centimetres (1.2 in) each year. However, if they are kept as pets, they can grow much faster. They might grow over 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in just one year!
Female turtles can grow larger than males. Females can reach up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in shell length and weigh over 2.7 kilograms (6.0 lb). Males are smaller, growing up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in shell length. When males become adults (around 2 years old), their color gets darker. Females stay green even after they become adults (around 5 years old).
Telling Males and Females Apart
You can only tell the sex of these turtles when they are adults, usually at 5 or 6 years old. Females are bigger and can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long. Their bottom shell (plastron) is slightly curved outwards, or convex. This shape gives them more room for eggs.
Males are smaller, reaching 20 centimetres (7.9 in) to 25 centimetres (9.8 in). They have a longer and thicker tail. Also, the male's bottom shell is flat or slightly curved inwards, which is called concave. The male's cloaca (a body opening) is further down its tail than the female's.
Reproduction
Female D'Orbigny's sliders usually lay about 10 eggs in each nest. They often make two nests in one season. The eggs are buried about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) deep in the sand. These eggs are white. Each egg is about 39.3 millimetres (1.55 in) long and 25.8 millimetres (1.02 in) wide. They weigh about 14.9 grams (0.53 oz).
The eggs take about 2 to 4 months to hatch. Not all female turtles lay eggs every year; only about 31% of them do. An interesting fact is that the temperature of the sand during incubation decides if the baby turtles will be male or female. Cooler temperatures lead to more female turtles.
Turtle Health and Diseases
Turtles can get sick, just like people. Some common diseases for them include pneumonia (a lung infection), dystocia (problems laying eggs), bone decalcification (weak bones), and vitamin deficiency. They can also get stomach problems like gastroenteritis or prolapses (when an organ slips out of place).
If you have a pet turtle, you should avoid putting small objects in their tank. Turtles tend to eat anything they can! Small things like pebbles or plastic decorations can get stuck in their gut. This often means they need surgery to remove the object.
Even though these turtles are tough, they can get a disease called rachitis. This makes their shell soft because they don't get enough protein. You can help fix this by giving them more protein in their food, especially fish.
If turtles are kept on rough surfaces, their bottom shell can get hurt. These injuries can let fungi and bacteria get in and cause infections.
It's very important to keep your turtle at the right temperature, between 28 and 34 degrees Celsius. Also, they need daily sunlight or special UV light. This helps them use vitamin D properly, which is important for their bones and overall health. Without enough UV light, they can have metabolic problems.
What They Eat
D'Orbigny's sliders are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and animals. In nature, they can eat almost anything! This includes shrimp, vegetables, fruit, dead animals (carrion), small fish, snails, and worms.
When they are young, for their first two years, these turtles mostly eat meat. They hunt small animals and eat carrion. But as they get older, they change their diet. They start eating more plants and algae than meat.
Feeding Pet Turtles
If you have a D'Orbigny's slider as a pet, here's some advice for feeding them. For the first two years, it's good to feed them more than once a day. After that, you can switch to feeding them once every two days.
Protecting These Turtles
In Brazil
In Brazil, you need special papers to own a D'Orbigny's slider. When you buy one, the receipt must show the turtle's common and scientific name. It also needs to state how many turtles you bought. You'll also need a certificate that shows where the turtle came from. This includes the invoice number and the number of the farm that bred the turtle, as recorded by the Brazilian IBAMA (the environmental agency).
It is against the law to let these turtles go into nature. If you do, you could face penalties under Brazilian law. If an owner can no longer keep their turtle, the store that sold it must take the animal back. The turtle will then be sent to the only farm in Brazil allowed to breed them.
In Uruguay
In Uruguay, you also need special documents to own these turtles. They are a protected species there, which means it is against the law to buy or sell them.
See also
In Spanish: Tortuga morrocoyo para niños
