Long-neck Turtle - GoKids - Connect and Learn through daily fun interactions!

Scientific Name: Chelodina longicollis

Long-necked turtles often need to migrate from one waterhole to another to survive droughts. Many of them will not survive because they do not move very fast and they don’t have much road sense. During the early 1990s in Victoria, hundreds of long-necked turtles were killed by passing trains as they tried to cross railway tracks.

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE? Long-necked turtles are brown, black or green, depending on where they live and how much algae they have on the carapace. They have a very long neck, which makes up about 65% of their body length. Their feet are webbed but they also have claws to help them walk on land.

SIZE: The carapace may be over 25 centimetres long. An adult long-necked turtle weighs over 1 kilogram.

WHAT DO THEY EAT? Long-necked turtles are carnivores. Being ambush predators, they bury themselves in mud or leaf litter on the bottom, waiting for prey to swim past. To catch prey they shoot out their long necks and suck prey into the mouth. The attack is very fast and accurate.

WHERE DO THEY LIVE? This species is widely eastern Australia, except for the far northern tropics. They survive the cold southern winter buried in leaf litter or under logs on dry land. During this time, they hibernate. Being cold-blooded reptiles, they can’t heat up their bodies, so they slow down their metabolism and sleep through the winter.

BREEDING & CARING FOR YOUNG: Long-necked turtles breed between September and December. Females can lay several clutches of 8–24 hard-shelled eggs in a shallow nest near the water’s edge. Baby turtles hatch after 4–5 months.

PREDATORS & THREATS: Long-necked turtles are lucky because they don’t share their habitat with crocodiles, like some of their northern cousins do. However, they can be killed by birds of prey. Goannas and feral pigs also dig up and eat their eggs. Long-necked turtles can defend themselves well. They squirt out a liquid from four special glands just above each leg. This foul smell is so strong, that it keeps even the hungriest predator away. It is not a surprise that these turtles are also known as the "stinker" turtle!

WHAT IS THEIR STATUS? Long-necked turtles are very common, tough animals, able to survive droughts and pollution.

Extracted from Fact File: Australian Freshwater Critters