By Dylan Whitehill
Dylan Whitehill is a private hobbyist and breeder from the United States. He has been keeping turtles for almost four years, with a particular interest in Asian box turtles of the genus Cuora. In this article, Dylan discusses his experience breeding an Endangered species, the West Malaysian box turtle (Cuora amboiensis couro).
The West Malaysian box turtle
Cuora amboinensis couro, commonly known as the “West” or “Cuoro” Malaysian box turtle, is one of several subspecies of Cuora amboinensis. They are very underrated and misunderstood turtles. Like the North American box turtles found in my home country, the West Malaysian box turtle can completely close its head and limbs inside its shell. They do this by pulling parts of their shell in, using hinges like a door. Besides this defensive adaptation and their opportunistic appetite, they are quite different animals.
This Asian species has much more tropical requirements than its distant North American cousins. The Couro Malaysian box turtle is an island species that is native to Java, Sunda, Sumatra, Bali and other small nearby islands. These freshwater turtles are highly aquatic and are found in low-lying vegetation areas near lakes, warm streams, and swampy regions. It is fairly warm year-round in their range, reaching average highs of 35 °С and an average low of 22.7 °С. As for diet, C. amboinensis are omnivorous. They will feed on bugs, worms, crustaceans and mollusks, as well as plant material. The percentage of their diet that is comprised of plants grows as the animals mature. “Couro” are one of the biggest types of Malaysian Box Turtles. However, they are still not as comparatively large as other freshwater turtle species. Adult shell length has been recorded at 18 – 24 cm (7-9.5 inches) long with a considerably domed carapace. The shell varies from dark brown to almost black, while the skin is greyish yellow. One of the defining characteristics of this species is the three yellow lines on the side of the animal’s head and neck.
Box turtles in the trade
This species is somewhat common in the US pet trade but is vulnerable in the wild. Most captive Couro seen in the US are established, imported adults. Not many keepers care to put the time and resources into getting offspring from their groups. Turtles are a lot of work! But, determined that I wanted to work with the more difficult rare species of Cuora, I knew I needed to produce this more popular species.
My first Malaysian Box was an adult female, a long-term captive, legally imported, very friendly and fun to watch. I was hooked and quickly started looking for a male to pair her with. Eventually, I located a small adult male who looked similar to my female. After confirming he was healthy and checking with a Cuora expert, to ensure the two were certainly the same subspecies, I introduced the pair.
They instantly began interacting with each other. I quietly watched, to not disturb the interesting head bobbing and neck movement. The male tried hard to impress his new companion but no breeding was observed.
I built an outdoor enclosure with a small pond amended with ramps and logs for a variety of Asian species of turtles. They were kept together for the summer and then moved back indoors as the weather started to cool down. Our far-from-tropical Pennsylvania winters get much colder than these turtles can handle. So, after a warm season out in the pond and no eggs or breeding witnessed, the pair was brought in and cooled for the winter months. During the cooldown period, I discovered that she had laid a clutch of two eggs. I quickly incubated as soon as I saw she was finished laying. Unfortunately, the eggs were infertile and never developed.
Breeding in captivity
In early spring, I was offered a group of mature Malaysian box turtles that were the same “Couro” subspecies as my pair. So, I gladly accepted in hopes of increasing the chances of propagating the turtles.
I noticed with Cuora and Mauremys, that the females will avoid the main water source if it’s deep and a group of males are congregating in it. Cuora prefer to breed in shallow water but are capable of breeding on land, while Mauremys usually need water to copulate so females of both genera will hide from a chance male encounter. Like previous years, in spring the turtles transition to the outdoor enclosure. The Couro females would hide all season to avoid the males and not breed. They would be close to water, near shallow pools or upstream by the waterfall. But I hadn’t seen any breeding activity. This made me think I may never get fertile eggs.
I tried to learn as much as I could through different social media platforms and various online resources. I would see many keepers in Asian countries having success. They were getting their different Asian box turtles to breed in simple tubs. Malaysian box turtle housing is fairly undemanding. They require fresh shallow water and easily accessible land. They are highly aquatic but do enjoy exploring solid ground and basking. This makes it easy for the female, who may not be interested in breeding, to wedge herself up in a nook or cranny. Hence, avoiding the male’s advances.
From what I could gather from pictures online, the success I was witnessing from the keepers overseas came from pairing the animals individually by introducing them in small containers for brief encounters. This leaves the adult female no place to escape the male’s advances. Determined to ensure fertile eggs I searched the enclosure for one of the pairs. I located the largest male and a mature female from their outdoor enclosure. I filled a clear tote with a few inches of water (just enough so the male could mount her underwater) and placed them together. Within minutes of them settling into the tub, he was ready. He quickly realized a female was in the water with him and he mounted and copulated with her. Finally, a visually confirmed breeding! I wish I would have had this turtle epiphany much sooner!
The animals moved back inside for their winter rest where they were much more easily monitored. When I started hearing banging and scratching from the enclosure, I knew someone was nesting. After digging and constructing a nest for hours, she deposited one egg. Again, I quickly shuffled to the incubator.
After a day of incubation, that night I had to peek. I saw a little white dot! The following day I checked the egg again. As I suspected, it was fully banded and I was sure it would be fertile. This was my second species to produce fertile eggs. During incubation I didn’t count days, I simply checked on it by candling a couple of times. I thought it had died but let it continue incubating.
This Couro success came directly after the hatching of my very first species, the Reeves turtle, Mauremys reevesii. This Cuora amboinensis egg was incubated along with the Reeves at +28.8 °C (hoping for females) and it hatched. I used sphagnum moss as a medium, in a small Tupperware container. I just made sure the moss was slightly moist at all times, never dry to the touch. Sadly, while moving, I did find two more eggs that were too dry to be viable. They were incubated and candled but were either infertile or got too cold and the germ died. Either way, this was a great first step!
This year with the single Couro hatchling, we hatched every Reeves turtle egg successfully. The result was 16 Reeves hatchlings at 100% hatch rate. I’d like my work with Cuora to be this productive! It is a goal to contribute as many captive-born C. a. couro as I possibly can. There is something so special about bringing life into the world, especially from animals that were vacuumed from the wild and continue to be to this day. Furthermore, we are preserving pure subspecies of a fairly confusing lineage that all look very similar. This group now starts to produce F1 captive born animals that will start breeding groups of their own. Preserving purity is a heavy focus in my collection.
The small successes I’ve experienced so far push me further on my journey with what I consider the most precious gems of the turtle world, the Asian turtles. I hope next year brings much more success for myself. I also hope other keepers of any kind can read this account of my experience and it pushes them to continue to improve on their husbandry. Ultimately, bringing the most rewarding and fulfilling gift, happiness.
