Here is an eastern long-necked turtle showing off his long neck

Today I want to write about a really cool species of turtle, the eastern long-necked turtle.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. Also known as snake-necked turtles, these guys have a shell that grows up to 26 cm long and their neck can grow about 15 cm long.
2. Their long neck goes into the shell sideways and is used to strike at prey such as frogs, fish, tadpoles and freshwater crayfish.  They have very powerful jaws and their strong claws are used to tear apart large prey.
3. They breed in the summer months, laying between 2 and 10 eggs.  The eggs are often eaten by water-rats or large lizards and the babies are often eaten by large fish and birds.
4. When threatened, they use glands in their armpits and groin to let out a very smelly odour that puts off predators.
5. Eastern long-necked turtles are very common and can be found in slow-moving freshwater throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and parts of South Australia.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about eastern long-necked turtles?