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Common Snake-neck Tortoise - Chelodina Longicollis

Distribution -
Found from the Adelaide area in South Australia, throughout Victoria, coastal and inland New South Wales to the Roma area in Queensland and as far north along the east coast as Cape York.

Snake-neck Tortoise (Chelodina Longicollis) from
Eastlakes Swamps, Sydney. This location, or
across Botany Bay at Kurnell, could possibly be
the type locality of this species.

Description -
This is the familiar tortoise of the south-eastern states. It is so familiar in fact that many people are unaware that there are other varieties of tortoises inhabiting Australia. The hatchlings are often brightly marked with black and orange on the undersurface, but the orange colouration bleaches with age. The carapace of the adult is either black or dark brown, while the plastron is white or yellowish with dark pigmentation separating the shields. The long neck is covered with distinctive pointed tubercles; it can be completely retracted beneath the front of the carapace. This tortoise may attain a length of 27.5cm, but 20cm could be considered an average maximum length.

Hatchling Snake-neck Tortoises.

Habits -
Of all the species kept in captivity, the Common Snake-neck is without doubt the easiest to maintain. In the colder months some specimens leave the water to hibernate, while others hibernate underwater.

When provided with a satisfactory enclosure this tortoise will readily breed in captivity. As positive identification of the sexes by external characteristics is virtually impossible it is difficult to establish if you have both males and females. One enthusiast who had 150 Common Snake-neck Tortoises in captivity marked each female tortoise he observed nesting in an attempt to establish distinguishing characteristics between the sexes, but the results were far from conclusive. The greater percentage of females did have the expected convex rear lobe on the plastron and were wider and heavier in build, but this was not true of all females examined.

Snake-neck Tortoise (Chelodina Longicollis).

Nesting generally takes place during spring or early summer. The female deposits eight to twenty-four eggs, usually in hard earth, and the juveniles appear between the months of January and March. The period of incubation is largely governed by the location. On one occasion when a tortoise deposited its eggs in a shaded section of an enclosure, the owner opened the nest and removed half the eggs to a more favourable position exposed to warmth of the sun. These hatched after 130 days, but the others in the shade did not appear for six months.

Newly captured specimens often eject a strong smelling liquid from scent glands as a means of defence, but this objectionable behaviour soon ceases once the tortoise has settled into captivity. The timidity of a newly captured specimen is further illustrated if it is released on land, when it scurries off most erratically with the head tucked beneath the carapace.

The strong plastron of this tortoise is rarely affected by infections that many tortoises suffer in captivity.