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Indian Tent Turtle (Pangshura Tentoria)

Indian Tent Turtle Facts

The Indian Tent Turtle is a unique, crawling reptile and is aptly named after its tent-like appearance of their high vaulted shells that feature hump-like’ projections on the keel.

They have one or two brownish to red dots behind their eyes; a significant marker, which differentiates them from Indian roofed turtles that have a crescent-shaped red mark behind the eyes.

These turtles are small sized; the males averages 3.5” – 5”, while the females are slightly bigger ranging between 5’- 9”. The male Indian tent turtles are brightly colored compared to the females and have longer and thicker tails.

Due to the pink band on the seams of their carapace, they are also known as Indian pinked ring tent turtle. They also have some pink markings on the prominent projections on the keel.

Where are Indian Tent Turtles found?

Indian Tent Turtle (Pangshura tentoria)

In line with their name, they are primarily found in Central and Northern India, Western Bangladesh, and Southern Nepal.

They show a preference for large rivers such as Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna rivers and their tributaries. They are diurnal aquatic turtles spend a great deal of time basking on the river banks, logs and rocks during the day.

Indian tent turtle diet

Indian tent turtles are mainly omnivorous and consume a wide variety of aquatic plants and animals in the wild. As pets, their diet consists of crickets, worms, shrimps, fruits, leafy vegetables and other natural foods in addition to the commercial available turtle foods.

The younger tented turtles are more carnivorous but as they grow larger and older, become more inclined towards a herbivorous diet.

These turtles are especially fond of watercress, water lettuce and water hyacinth. They also exhibit a marked fondness of lettuce, kale and other leafy greens.

Indian tent turtle breeding

Indian tent turtle (Pangshura tentoria tentoria)

These intelligent, beautiful colored turtles have a mating ritual in which the males seek consent from the females.

The male turtles swim in circles around the females fanning their front claws until the courtship takes place. The breeding period starts in October and lasts approximately six months to the end of March.

The female Indian tent turtles burrow in soft substrates to bury their fertilized eggs after mating.

They lay two egg clutches in a year and each clutch consists of 3- 10 eggs, the size of the eggs is mostly dependent on the body size of the laying female. The eggs are white and elongated.

The incubation period of these tented turtles varies with the climatic conditions.

Indian tent turtles as pets

These small, palm-sized, intelligent aquatic turtles make great pets once they become attached to their owners.

They are playful, colorful and do get attached to their owners. In return, they require a pond with a lot of water that is predator proofed – cats, dogs, and even kites are quite fond of turtles and must have a basking platform.

If housed in an aquarium, the water should be kept clean, and the temperature maintained at between 70oF- 82oF but can be slightly higher on the basking platform 85oF- 95oF.

The basking platform should be accessible to the turtle and should preferably feature a UVB light source in the absence of natural sunlight.

The ideal UVB bulb (80 -100 watts) should be placed above the basking area without a glass or plastic partition for maximum efficacy in synthesizing vitamin D3.

Indian Tent Turtle Care Video

Conclusion

Do you have an Indian Tent Turtle? Let us know in the comments below! We love hearing from you!

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FlaseTheTurtle

Sunday 13th of August 2023

1.MY TURTLE DOSNT EAT ANY LEAF VEGTABLE OR FRUIT HE ONLY EAT WHAT I BUY FROM SHOP. (MAIN QUESTION) 2. HOW MUCH SUNLIGHT HE NEED? OR I SHOULD BUY UV LIGHT FOR HIM (FOR NEEDS)

Astha Gupta

Thursday 13th of January 2022

I have an Indian tent turtle....is it legal to keep it with me or do I have to make a license for it

Suryansh

Thursday 11th of August 2022

@Astha Gupta, no it is not legal to keep home but many persons keep secretly and keep like as a pet so u can also kept it .

Shrutuj

Tuesday 12th of October 2021

How much time I shall keep my indian tent turtle in sunlight and shall I buy uv light for it and keep in it?

Sneha

Wednesday 11th of August 2021

My turtle shed its shell pieces a little ?? Does it happen or it my turtle sick?? And i think that my turtle is becoming pale white and he also has red mark above nose and red spots near the eye lids.. is it normal please help?!!!!!

Sneha

Wednesday 11th of August 2021

My Indian tent turtle was a bit darker when i first brought ut home but its now a little whiter and that does not look good ... Does it need more sunlight???

Vaibhav

Saturday 21st of August 2021

@Sneha, feed him some green leaf veggies and Carrots.