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Photo: Kei, on the land area in her tank, on Aug. 2nd, 2016.

About my turtle:

Species / subspecies
This turtle is "Cuora amboinensis" in the scientific name.
In the spring of 2012, I wanted to care for another Malayan Box Turtle, because I found caring for this species was / is giving me great pleasure.
I visited more than several shops to get this species, and at last I found the animal sold as captive bred one from the U. S. A., by the name of "Jawa Hakogamé", here in Japan that indicates the subspecies "Cuora amboinensis couro". This subspecies is supposed to have a little flatter carapace than "C. a. kamaroma", which the other turtle of mine, named Yuu, belongs to.

Sex
Now I find that the turtle is female.
I have seen male turtles and female ones that belong to this species, so I can tell the sex of this animal, by watching its tail and plastron. Mine has a flatter plastron and a shorter tail that are characteristic of female ones.

Name
I call her 'Kei', which means 'to enlighten', 'to begin' and 'to open'. And this name in Japan can be both a man's and a woman's.

When I started caring for her / her age
kei was brought to my home on March 26th, 2012. Then she was supposed to have been born in the autumn one year before, as the shop keeper told me. So, she should be 12 years old now.


How I care for her:

Growth
At first (March 2012) her straight carapace length (SCL) was only 57 mm. Then she weighed about 78 grams.
Recently her shell's SCL is 230 mm, and she weighs 2,390 grams (Measurement on March 30th.)
(Click here to see the graphs on both my turtles.)

Diet
Rep-Cal Box Turtle Food with some greens are fed to Kei mainly. Occasionally Tetra ReptoMin is fed as well. I feed Box Turtle Food or ReptoMin at most only 3 times a week, because she seems to be getting a little obese.
She likes eating vegetables better than Yuu. The vegetable Kei loves eating best among many greens is Komatsuna. (Click here for informatioin about this plant.) I have never seen her get tired of it.
My opinion on treatment for Kei's obesity is the same as the content of the article with the headline 'Diet' on my other turtle, Yuu's page.

How she is doing recently
In these weeks she sometimes goes up to the land area for basking, but she seems to like staying at water area as well.
It seems that she has been in good health almost all the time since the beginning of this year.

Accommodation
The size of her tank is 90 cm W x 45 cm D x 45 cm H, set in an indoor environment.
Water - I set it around 26 degrees C (79 F,) and keep the water depth at about 9 cm (3.5 inches.)
Filtration - I set a canister filter (Kotobuki PowerBox SV4500.)

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The reason I am introducing my pet turtle when I am not an English speaker is that I want to tell you that turtles are cared for as pets here, as well as where you live.
Turtles live long. I don't hope you start to care for one or some without any research on the animal.

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Information about Komatsuna:
Komatsuna (scientific name: Brassica rapa var. perviridis) is one plant species leaves of which are mainly eaten in Japan and Taiwan for ordinary cuisines.
The ancestor of Komatsuna is considered to have existed in the Eurasian Continent, and it was brought to Japan 1,000 years ago or over. This nutritious vegetable is especially rich in Vitamin A, C, Iron and calcium.
Komatsuna belongs to the Brassicaceae family. This family also includes cabbage, broccoli, kale and so on. These vegetables are often considered as improper ingredients for herbivorous animals' food, due to the presence of goitrogen. Some keepers of herbivorous reptiles avoid feeding this plant to their animals.
Actually, komatsuna also contains goitrogen, but few people avoid feeding komatsuna to their pets. Many animal owners feed komatsuna to their herbivorous reptiles, birds and other animals. Because Komatsuna is supposed to contain so less goitrogen than greens like cabbages.