They are an aquatic turtle that comes from eastern north america.
Common musk turtle tank size.
The common musk turtle also known as the eastern musk turtle or the stinkpot is a popular choice as a pet because of their size and relative ease of care.
Look out for part 2 coming soon.
A common musk turtle living in a wild habitat eats a variety of insects such as crayfish snails earthworms and mollusks.
As you may expect from the name the flattened musk turtle has a shell that is more flat rather than high domed.
The common musk turtle is a small species reaching an adult length of 7 5 12 5cm 3 5 inch.
They are typically brown in color with the head having a olive color with speckles on it.
Looking into tank mates.
Most turtle hobbyists recommend keeping common musk turtles in at least a 20 to 29 gallon tank.
Males can be determined by the longer tail and overall larger size.
The tank should also be tall enough to provide areas for the turtle to swim so we suggest a minimum height of around 300mm.
Housing one or a pair of common musk turtles is easily accomplished in an aquarium.
3 0 3 9 in 7 5 10cm lifespan.
The common musk turtle is known as the stinkpot turtle because they can emit an offensive foul odor.
What does the common musk turtle look like.
The musk turtle can grow to 100mm 4 4 long and needs a proportional amount of space to live happily.
Still more to cover on this species including marie going on a diet.
If they feel threatened they can release a foul musky odor which is how they got their alternative name of stinkpot.
It s hard to say no to her.
They also feed on aquatic insects like damselfly nymphs tadpoles and dragonfly and fish eggs.
I have used a 20 gallon long tank to keep one adult musk turtle with a fluval 2plus canister submersible filter to keep things clean.
For this reason we suggest a tank with at least 600mm in width.
Although musk turtles are considered carnivores by nature however they may also eat algae.
Their shell colouration can be black grey or brown.
Common musk turtle diet.