Phrynops hilarii

Hilaire's Side-necked Turtle

Distribution: Southern Brazil, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Paraguay.

Empire Stock: Uruguay and CBR.

Size: Up to 40 cm.

Habitat:  Found in ponds, lakes and other soft bottomed bodies of water with abundant aquatic vegetation.

Diet: I feed mine Mazuri Freshwater Turtle pellets, fish, and snails.

Sexing: Males have longer thicker tails.

Breeding: Eggs are spherical and take around 150 days to hatch at 30º C. Cooling of eggs may be required prior to incubation. This depends on how your animals are housed. In north central Florida I must cool fall and winter clutches, but not spring ones. Cooling for 90 days at 21º C  (from Dr. M. Ewert), then placing them at room temperature for 10-14 days until chalking, and then beginning incubation has worked for me.

Genotypic Sex Determination (GSD)

Notes: I recommend a pH of 6.5 or slightly lower, especially for hatchlings. 

Care Sheets: ATP , Chelidae

Another of my favorite turtles. Hardy, cold tolerant, and attractive. They always look like they are smiling.

Female covering her nest.

Pipped and resting.

Sometimes I have individuals hatch weeks before the main group. This though was a mass hatching, from nothing visibly pipped in the morning to every egg hatched by lunchtime.

Much like a thumbprint each plastron is unique.

Egg tooth and barbels visible.

Yellow fluid is visible on the inguinal and axillary areas of the bridge. This is a normal defensive response. Animals that are handled often tend not to do this. Seen also in the Geoffroy's Sideneck.

Suggested Reading

Fabius, David. 2004. Phrynops hilarii: general information and notes on captive husbandry and breeding. Manouria 7(25): 28-38.

McCord, W., M. Joseph-Ouni, W. W. Lamar. 2001. A Taxonomic Reevaluation of Phrynops (Testudines: Chelidae) with the description of two new genera and a new species of Batrachemys. Rev. Biol. Trop. 49(2): 715-764.

McKeown, Sean. 1998. The Spot-bellied Side-necked Tutle (Phyrnops hilarii). Reptiles 6(6) 78-83.