Variations
2 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Red-bellied short-necked turtle
Active and bold; may eat fish.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
- Red-bellied short-necked turtle should be kept without other species, and it needs a land area too.
- Red-bellied short-necked turtle should be kept without other species, and it needs a land area too.
- Red-bellied short-necked turtle should be kept without other species, and it needs a land area too.
Care and water
Behavior
Active and bold; may eat fish.
Check your local laws. Not listed on CITES. Australia does not allow commercial export of live native reptiles, so pet-trade animals are captive-bred outside Australia or come from New Guinea. US: live turtles under 4 in (10 cm) carapace length may not be sold. Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Good to know: Needs a basking dock with UV and heat lamp and deep water. Never house with fish.
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Food
Pellets, vegetables and insects.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Male or female
Males have long, thick tails and a narrow notch at the rear of the plastron; females have short tails, a wide plastral notch, and grow larger.
Health
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Breeding
Egg-layer (buried clutch) · Moderate
Egg-layer: females lay brittle-shelled eggs in a nest on land; wild females lay around September (Cann 1978).
Pair.
Large tank with basking.
Warm season.
About 10 eggs on average; clutches of about 5-20 reported.
Hatchlings are fully independent: house them in shallow warm water with a basking spot and feed small pellets, worms and daphnia daily.
- Undersized tank and weak filtration
- No UV or basking heat (soft shells, poor growth)
- Releasing unwanted turtles into the wild
Where it lives in the wild
The story of the red-bellied short-necked turtle
A side-necked (pleurodiran) turtle from southern New Guinea and the tip of Cape York with red to pink colouring on the underside of the shell.
German-Australian zoologist Gerard Krefft described this turtle in 1876. It lives in southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Its red belly makes it popular.
First described by Gerard Krefft in 1876.
- Its belly is red or pink.
- It is a side-necked turtle.
- It is active and prefers deep water.
Sources
9 facts checked with sources
- Scientific name
Reptile (aquatic side-necked turtle, Chelidae), not a fish. TTWG 2025 recognises two subspecies, E. s. subglobosa (New Guinea and the Jardine River, Cape York) and E. s. worrelli (Diamond-head turtle, Northern Territory). The 'Jardine River' trade form was described as E. s. angkibaanya (2019) but TTWG 2021 sank it into E. s. subglobosa (Reptile Database). The Reptile Database calls the species rare in Australia.
The Reptile Database: Emydura subglobosa · Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (Rhodin et al.) 2025, Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas, 10th ed. (IUCN SSC TFTSG, Chelonian Research Monographs 10) - Familycorrected
New value (legacy had none).
The Reptile Database: Emydura subglobosa - Size
Straight carapace length (SCL), not total length. Maximum SCL male 20.0 cm, female 26.1 cm (TTWG 2025); typical adults 20-25 cm. Legacy 25 cm is a large female.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (Rhodin et al.) 2025, Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas, 10th ed. (IUCN SSC TFTSG, Chelonian Research Monographs 10) · Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis Biodiversity Center): Emydura subglobosa · Toronto Zoo: Red-bellied Short-necked Turtle - Where it livescorrected
New value (legacy had none). Also introduced on New Britain and in northern PNG (TTWG).
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (Rhodin et al.) 2025, Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas, 10th ed. (IUCN SSC TFTSG, Chelonian Research Monographs 10) · The Reptile Database: Emydura subglobosa - Male or female
Legacy (male smaller with longer tail, female larger) agrees; plastral-notch character added.
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis Biodiversity Center): Emydura subglobosa · Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (Rhodin et al.) 2025, Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas, 10th ed. (IUCN SSC TFTSG, Chelonian Research Monographs 10) - Breeding
Buried land clutch agrees. Legacy trigger 'warm season' is loosely right (September is late dry season/early spring in the range); not separately sourced.
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis Biodiversity Center): Emydura subglobosa · Toronto Zoo: Red-bellied Short-necked Turtle - Eggs and youngcorrected
Legacy 8-15 sits inside the sourced range, but sources show wider variation (5-20). Incubation time not found from a reliable source. A paper on this exact topic exists (Lovich, Gotte & Ernst 1983, Herpetofauna 14:95) but its text was not available.
Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis Biodiversity Center): Emydura subglobosa · Toronto Zoo: Red-bellied Short-necked Turtle - Story
Red pigment fades to pinkish salmon with age (Ernst et al.).
The Reptile Database: Emydura subglobosa · Turtles of the World (Ernst, Altenburg & Barbour; Naturalis Biodiversity Center): Emydura subglobosa - traits.legalcorrected
Legacy said Australia bans export of native wildlife; DCCEEW confirms commercial export of live native reptiles is not permitted. The species also occurs in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian Papua, so the Australian rule does not cover all wild stock. US federal rule (FDA, 21 CFR 1240.62, in force since 1975): live turtles under 4 in (10.2 cm) carapace length and viable turtle eggs may not be sold or distributed commercially; exceptions include bona fide scientific/educational/exhibition use (not pets), non-business transfers and labelled export-only shipments. Salmonella hand-washing advice in legacy text was not separately sourced.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (Rhodin et al.) 2025, Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas, 10th ed. (IUCN SSC TFTSG, Chelonian Research Monographs 10) · Australian Government DCCEEW: Wildlife trade frequently asked questions · US eCFR 21 CFR 1240.62 (FDA): Turtles intrastate and interstate requirements