Kurome and Papoe’s Physical Differences

Back in 2011, Mommy shared Kame and my differences in both physical and behavior…she was actually planning to do more but completely abandoned the idea when Kame left us. You can see the list of our differences in this page> Our Differences. It was once called as Kame vs Kroten.

It has been over a year now and I think we should start that section again. Mommy will try to share about me and Kame based on her memory, she said she had a post drafted ages ago. I will take over the writer position when Kurome and Papoe are being talked about here 😉

My two little brothers are from different species, Kurome is a Chinese Three-keeled Pond Turtle (or Reeves Turtle) while Papoe is a Pink Belly Short Necked Turtle (or Emydura Schultzei)…That fact leads to so many differences in their physical appearance 😉

One post won’t be enough to cover all their differences…hence I will only share the obvious ones 🙂

1. The Shapes

Kurome has a long shaped carapace, he also has three keeled. Papoe’s carapace is round like a coin. Kurome’s carapace reminds me of tortoise rather than fresh water turtle 😉

Apart from the shape, Kurome’s carapace is very hard like a rock, even harder than mine…while Papoe’s is very soft.

2. Hiding Methods

Kurome is just like me (Red Eared Slider), he can put all his arms and hind legs inside his shell. he can also push his head inside. As for Papoe, he gave quite a surprise for us….it was the first time we both knew that there is a turtle who can’t put his arms and legs inside the shell, and to make it even weirder he also can’t put his head inside! I guess now we know why Papoe has round shell, he needs it to protect his head, arms and legs 😉

3. The Hands

Both Kurome and Papoe has web around their claws..however, Papoe has bigger web than Kurome. Papoe’s hand is like all web with small nails. The size of their web determined their ability to swim. Papoe is a really good swimmer, he is very small but he can swim well on my tank while Kurome can die in my tank…he can’t swim well, that’s why he lives in tank with shallow water level.

4. The Eyes

Hohoho…this is the best!! Papoe has yellow eyes with black pupil…Kurome is a special reeves, he is a melanistic reeves turtle, meaning he has all black body including his eyes. He has no bright part at all! How cool is that? His eyes are the one that made Mommy fell in love with him.

5. The Smiles

Last but not least…Kurome and Papoe have differences beak/mouth shape. Kurome has a sad shaped mouth while Papoe has happy smile face.

I will let you all see it for yourselves 😉

Although Kurome has sad shaped mouth…but that doesn’t mean he is not cute!! Trust me, he can be incredibly cute…I am a bit threaten by him, Mommy’s heart often melt whenever she saw Kurome.

Overall…I am happy to have them both as little brothers. Black Kurome and the little Papoe, both are very special to us