Pelomedusa

The carapace of Pelomedusa subrufa measures approximately 20 cm, with a record of 32.5 cm. Their plastrons do not have a mobile hinge, unlike Pelusios castaneus, can be completely uniform, without sheen, ranging from ochre color. However, some specimens present very dark and uniform colorations. The shell is oval in shape with colors ranging from brown to olive green.

They mainly occupy small basins and stagnant ponds occasionally filled but which soon dry out given the high temperatures. In its biotope during hot summer days, the ambient temperature reaches an average of 30 °C. It needs a constant temperature throughout the year oscillating between 25 and 30 °C.

Pelomedusa subrufa is an omnivorous species. Its nutritional intake is mainly from protein-rich foods; for these same reasons it is necessary to provide it with a very varied and balanced diet. Young specimens require daily feeding with one fasting day per week, adults can be fed every three days given their much slower digestion time than juveniles and sub-adults. Its captive diet can consist of insects: crickets, earthworms, bloodworms, mealworms and other larvae. Freshwater fish (African tetras, tilapias, guppies, neon tetras, etc.) chicks, dead or live mice, in pieces or whole (depending on turtle size). To this it is recommended to supplement with other foods: small invertebrates (whole snails as the shell is very rich in calcium), mollusks, freshwater shrimp. Diet can also be varied with white meats, aquatic turtle pellets, but under no circumstances should they be given red meat that could cause problems for turtles (for example shell deformation), nor any fish containing thiaminases (carp, plecos, smelt...) which would cause them problems assimilating calcium.