The Western Swamp Tortoise Pseudemydura umbringa has a short neck and a shell length of about 15cm, so it is easily distinguishable from the other (more common) freshwater tortoise in WA the oblong Tortoise. Cheloldina oblonga has a neck equal in length to its shell.

LIFE CYCLE

June July (Winter )

The tortoises enter swamps once there is a couple of centimetres of water in them. They only live in non-perennial (temporary) shallow swamps with a clay base, where

much of the surrounding land is predominantly sand. They sense the time has come to leave their aestivation tunnels and begin to feed on small crustaceans and insect larva to build up their body mass.

September (Spring)

As we move through spring and into summer the Western Swamp Tortoises are also on the move, out of the drying swamps and back into the natural or artificial aestivation tunnels.

Aestivation (a type of hibernation) protects the tortoises from the hot Western Australian summer and any bushfires that may occur.

November and early December (Summer)

Adult breeding females (at least 8 years old) lay 3-4 eggs underground in the Aestivation tunnels near the edges of the swamp, and take no further care of them.

May (Autumn)

Eggs hatch from late Autumn to early Winter, and the hatchlings are about as big as a ten cent coin