We are delighted to welcome a pair of Roti Island snakenecked turtles to their new home in Tropical World.
O
ur new arrivals have moved into a large tank where guests can enjoy an excellent view of their swimming abilities and active hunting skills. This fascinating reptile is a brand new species for Marwell. Roti Island snake-necked turtles (Chelodina mccordi) are expert swimmers and as their name suggests they have a very distinctive long neck which looks like a snake. It is believed that this adaptation enables it to probe between logs and rocks and into mud to hunt for food. Roti Island snake-necked turtles are carnivorous and here at Marwell they enjoy a diet of crab, snails, insects, worms and crayfish. They are largely aquatic but will come onto land to bask and lay eggs. In the wild, Roti Island snake-necked turtles have a very small distribution on Roti Island and Timor in Indonesia. Sadly the species is classified as critically endangered and numbers are struggling due to their huge popularity in the international pet trade. Whilst It is now illegal to capture them this activity still continues which has put these turtles in great danger of extinction.
Their necks are almost the same length as their shell! When the turtle retreats into its shell it will fold its neck sideways into an ‘s’ shape.