Cagle's Map Turtle
Graptemys caglei
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Identification
The carapace is olive-green to olive-brown, and each scute bears many light, maplike markings. The saw-backed vertebral keel has black projections, and it is particularly well-developed on males and juveniles. Posterior marginals are strongly serrated. The plastron is creamy-yellow, and the scute seams are dark. The skin of Cagle's map turtles is dark but busily patterned with many light creamy-yellow stripes. Both narrow and wide stripes are on the limbs. The head, including the chin and throat, is profusely patterned with light yellowish lines and spots. These, too, are both broad and narrow. The postorbital crescents (the markings behind the eyes) are particularly broad. Extending posteriorly as a "V," these broad lines converge at the back of the head. Three stripes are between the eyes, other stripes are below the eyes, and four curved stripes contouring the jaw line mark the chin. Longitudinal yellowish stripes vividly pattern the neck and throat of Cagle's map turtles.
Range
The threatened Cagle's map turtle is endemic to three Texas waterways—the Guadalupe, San Antonio and San Marcos rivers—but can also be found in associated creeks and tributaries.
Diet
In captivity, they do well on Mazuri and ReptoMin, Reptile/Pond 10, Cichlid Sticks, snails, crickets and assorted worms and insects. Occasionally Graptemys caglei taking bites of leafy, green vegetables has been witnessed.
Notes
Cagle's Map Turtles are the smallest of the map turtles with adult females measuring 5½ to 6½ inches in length. Adult males may be as small as 3 inches, but they are more often between 3½ and 5 inches in length. Hatchling Cagle's map turtles are about 1¼ inches in length and very strongly saw-backed. Like all map turtles, they are sensitive to water quality, but Cagle's Map Turtles appear to be less sensitive than most other species of maps, although they are still more sensitive than other species that are commonly kept. Almost never available, Cagle's Map turtles are a rare treat. Known to some as the "green" map turtle to differentiate it from the similar Texas map turtle, the threatened Cagle's map turtle cannot be taken, possessed, transported or sold in the state of Texas. It is also a federal candidate for the Endangered Species List. Some private breeders outside of Texas work with this species, so it is sporadically available in the U.S. pet trade.
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