This Is The Most Unique North American Turtles

One of the most unique North American turtles, the diamondback terrapin is in need of conservation. Terrapins, although not federally protected, are still protected in many states, which means keeping them is either illegal or allowed only with a permit. Check your state and local wildlife laws if you plan to acquire a terrapin. Captive-bred specimens are always the way to go.
Diamondback terrapins are one of the most physically variable turtles, having different shell patterns, skin colors, markings and shapes, even among specimens within the same subspecies. Another trait that distinguishes them is their large hindfeet, which gives them greater mobility in strong tidal currents and undertows.
Diamondback terrapins are medium-sized turtles that have a grayish, nearly black carapace. Their plastron is usually a yellowish or greenish gray. With white skin that's patterned in black and gray, these turtles have markings that are as unique as human fingerprints.
An adult terrapin needs at least a 60-gallon tank with a large basking area. Basking sites can be built using slate rock, river rock, etc., and should have a heat lamp to keep temperatures in the mid 80s Fahrenheit. They also require a UVB light and a day-night cycle that approximates the current season. The water temperature should be approximately 78 degrees.

Wild diamondback terrapins are found in brackish habitats, and providing captive terrapins with saltwater is important. Add one-fourth cup of salt per 20 gallons of water; commercial kits are also available at tropical fish stores. Good filtration is essential to maintaining their health.
In nature, diamondback terrapins are predominantly carnivorous, eating a wide range of salt marsh mollusks and crustaceans, as well as insects and fish. In captivity, however, these turtles usually accept commercial turtle food, insects and fish. For variety, offer smelt or cooked shrimp (not too often), but avoid freshwater crayfish. Adult terrapins should be fed daily, while juveniles need to be fed several times a day. Good sources of calcium for terrapins are coral (as substrate), calcium blocks and cuttlebone (such as that sold for birds). Diamondback terrapins tend to be messy eaters, necessitating more water changes or feeding them in a separate location.

Desert Tortoises Have Lived In The Deserts Of California

Desert tortoises have lived in the deserts of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah since the Pleistocene. In the early years of the 20th century, they still thrived within the Southwest’s arid landscapes: As many as 1,000 tortoises per square mile once inhabited the Mojave. But by the end of the century, this population of the desert tortoise was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Livestock grazing and urban development, along with the ever-increasing use of off-road vehicles, continue to degrade the tortoise’s vanishing habitat, while Army translocation projects threaten to devastate the Mojave population.

Thanks to a lawsuit filed by the Center and Desert Survivors, in 2008 Fort Irwin officials suspended a disastrous desert tortoise translocation project that killed hundreds of the animals as part of “mitigation” for expanding the military base into tortoise habitat. The Army and Bureau of Land Management proposed a new translocation project in 2009 — but after tens of thousands of letters from Center supporters, the Bureau halted the project.

We’ve been working for the Mojave desert tortoise since 1997. Challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s grazing practices on arid public lands, we’ve helped protect millions of acres of fragile tortoise habitat. We’ve actively sought to limit off-road vehicle use throughout the desert tortoise’s range, including appealing the opening of two illegal off-road vehicle routes in Kern County, California. In 2000, we made significant gains for the desert tortoise when, as a result of our legal efforts, the Bureau permanently cancelled all livestock grazing on 276,125 acres of the Granite Mountains Grazing Allotment. In 2002, we and allies won another landmark settlement in which 1.9 million acres of the California Desert Conservation Area were protected against livestock grazing and 18,000 acres of tortoise habitat were closed to off-road vehicle access. More recently, we called on the U.S. inspector general to investigate the role of political meddling in the tortoise’s badly revised draft recovery plan and went to court to prevent a California mine expansion from affecting 178 acres of tortoise habitat.

In 2011, a study showed that desert tortoises in California and the Southwest are two different species instead of one. Scientists discovered that desert tortoises living north and west of the Colorado River (the Mojave population now called Agassiz's desert tortoises, or Gopherus agassizii) are officially a different species from tortoises in Arizona and Mexico (previously called "the Sonoran population of desert tortoises" and newly dubbed Morafka's desert tortoises, or Gopherus morafkai). The new study means that each desert tortoise species is even rarer than previously thought.

The Common Snapping Turtle Information

The common snapping turtle has a large head with a strong beak instead of teeth. The edges of the jaws have sharp edges to rip apart food. The squamosal meets the postorbital bone in the skull, but doesn't meet the parietal. The maxilla bone and quadratojugal also don't meet. The stapes is enclosed by the quadrate bone. This turtle does not have a secondary palate in the roof of the mouth. The vertebrae help create the carapace and then extend into opisthocoelous caudal vertebrae of the long tail. This long tail is armored by the dermal scales. The carapace has laterally reduced pleurals, 11 peripleurals, and long rib-like processes on the nuchal. The plastron is reduced and joined to the carapace by ligaments. The shell is covered by dermal scutes that create a horny armor on the turtle shell. This is caused by the cornification of the epidermis. The pelvis does not completely meet until the later adult stage is reached. There is a wide separation in the pubic and ischiadic symphyses. Due to the common snapping turtle being aquatic most of the time, its feet are webbed and have four or five claws on each foot.

The Common Snapping Turtle

 The mates from April to July, with the females laying 20-50 eggs. The female will travel to her favorite nesting site, even if it means crossing roads. The turtles come out on land to court, making them more visible in the spring. The baby turtles hatch in late summer and instinctively know to head for water. The temperature makes a difference as to how many of each gender are hatched.

The Snapping Turtle likes to walk along the bottom of the pond scavenging for food. They eat lots of vegetation such as the plants growing in the pond, but they also eat fish, snakes, crustateans, and carrion. The turtle gulps its food using the incredible suction created by its buccal cavity. He extends his neck to create the negative pressure necessary to pull his prey into the mouth and down the throat. Some turtles actually spit their prey back out, shredding it with their beak before they swallow it.

The Snapping Turtle is considered a Cryptodira because their neck is pulled directly back into their shell. The head of a snapping turtle is too big to pull all the way into the shell so they have developed a new defensve behavior in snapping at their enemies. Their hard keratinous beak on their jaw is attached to adductor muscles that are positioned at an angle with the trochlear to create an immense force. The force is so great it can take off someone's finger if they get to close. The snapping turtle needs this speciallized muscle attachement since they do not have any temporal openings in their skull through which muscles may be attached to the jaw.

The body of the snapping turtle is covered with a carapace and plastron. The carapace is the upper shell which is a brown or black color. The belly of the turtle is protected by the much smaller, yellowish plastron. They have webbed feet with claws but short digits for walking through the mud and swimming. The legs and tail look armored due to the scales covering them since they cannot be pulled into the shell for protection. The snapping turtle can grow to shell lengths of 18 inches, but most are only 10-12 inches.

Common Musk Turtles Are Capable Swimmers

The common musk turtle is also called “stinkpot” because of its ability to expel a rather repulsive musky scent from glands on its plastron when disturbed. Common musk turtles can turn their necks and reach surprisingly far behind them, often pinching the fingers that were holding them. However, most common musk turtles settle down in captivity and will stop emitting the foul smell. Because of their small size, they can make good pets.

Common musk turtles are capable swimmers and do well in aquariums that contain deep water, however they must be provided with structure, such as submerged logs, where they can rest with their heads extending out of the water. They do not need to bask all that frequently, as evidenced by the thick growths of algae that often cover the shells of wild-caught individuals. They should be provided with the opportunity to bask, however.

Aquariums should contain submerged logs and stones, as well as plastic plants. Make sure that none of the artificial crevices you provide will unintentionally trap a turtle underwater.

Common musk turtles are generally carnivorous. In the wild they often crawl along the pond or stream bottom in search of aquatic insects, worms, and especially small snails. Dead fish and other carrion are scavenged when available. Musk turtles do not prey on live, healthy fish, although they may capture one in an aquarium setting.

Water should be kept clean and filtered.

The Bog Turtle's Story Is Filled With Irony And Contradictions

The bog turtle's (Clemmys muhlenbergii) story is filled with irony and contradictions. It is Pennsylvania's smallest turtle. Even though it does not require large areas of habitat to survive, its populations have suffered from more problems associated with habitat loss than any other turtle in the Commonwealth. Bog turtles are cute, petite, and very attractive, which makes them an easy animal for people to like and want to protect. However, those same attributes also make this species very desirable in the black market pet trade. It lives in wetlands primarily in the southeastern counties of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, those areas also have the highest human population densities in the Commonwealth.

They are small, semi-aquatic turtles typically reaching a maximum shell length of around four inches at adulthood. Their shells are usually mahogany or black. A bog turtle's most identifiable characteristic is the prominent yellow or orange splotch on each side of the head behind the eye. A lack of yellow or light spots on the carapace (upper shell) helps to distinguish this species from the spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata), which may also be found inhabiting wetlands where bog turtles live. Bog turtles are long-lived. They reach reproductive age between five and eight years and may live 20 to 30 years, often spending their entire lives in the wetlands where they were born.

Bog turtles prefer to live in spring seeps and open, marshy meadows, which are usually found in flat or gently rolling landscapes of the valleys of southeastern Pennsylvania. Yet, these same areas are also prime locations in which to build homes and housing developments to support the urban and suburban sprawl that centers around the cities of eastern Pennsylvania. Some well-meaning people want to protect this species so much that they actually unknowingly endanger the turtles by removing them from the wild when they are seen crossing roads.

Typically, the turtle is dropped off at a pet store or nature center with little or no information pertaining to where it was picked up. In many cases, these "saved" turtles cannot be released back into the wild because their wetland of origin is unknown. Disease and genetic issues often preclude releasing these individuals in areas other than their native wetland. Bog turtles are listed both as a Pennsylvania endangered species and threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, and therefore they are protected by special regulations. Consequently, some land developers are concerned that their proposed projects may be affected by its presence.

Meanwhile, others see the bog turtle as a barometer for the quality and health of wetlands and watersheds in their communities. This little turtle, which exemplifies so many different things to so many different people, remains one of the most endangered and controversial species in the Commonwealth today.

Captive Care Of Bell’s Hingeback Tortoise

Introduntion

Bell ’s hingeback tortoise, Kinixys bellina, is one of the most common tortoise species seen in the pet trade. Unfortunately, the vast majority of specimens offered for sale are imported, wild-caught animals that have proven difficult to establish in captivity. It is a moderately large African tortoise, with adults measuring up to 22 cm and weighing up to 2 kg. Adult males specimens have a much longer tail than females. The preferred habitat of Bell ’s hingeback is savanna and grassland. As these areas may exhibit strong seasonal changes in precipitation and temperatures, the activity of the tortoises may be restricted to particular times of the year. In South Africa , for example, Bell ’s hingeback may become inactive during the cool winter months of May through September. Such seasonal patterns are likely important for successful captive breeding of the species.

Selecting a Specimen

A healthy hingeback should feel heavy and solid, roughly the same as an equivalent volume of water. A tortoise that feels light or hollow is likely dehydrated and malnourished. Hingebacks may be very shy so patience and gentle handling is necessary to allow inspection of the head and limbs. The eyes should be open and clear, or should open within several seconds of initial handling. Eyes that are swollen or sealed shut may indicate dehydration or conjunctivitis. The nostrils should also be clear. Any nasal discharge should raise suspicion of a possible respiratory infection. The skin should be thoroughly inspected for ticks, mites, swellings or lacerations. The shell may have a variety of injuries, some of which may be old and healed, and others that may be active areas of infection. If possible the mouth of the tortoise should be opened and the tongue and palate should be evaluated for signs of infection. If the tortoise passes feces during examination, evaluate the stool for blood, mucous, worms, or diarrhea. Finally, if circumstances permit, offer the tortoise some preferred food items (see below) to assess its appetite.

Permanent Housing

Once established on a good diet, and free of parasites, Bell ’s hingebacks may be set up in a more natural environment. If kept in groups, sufficient area and multiple hid boxes must be provided for individual tortoises to retreat from each other. Bark mulch may provide a visually appealing substrate, and the tortoises seem to enjoy burrowing. It must be changed weekly. Take care that feeding stations are designed to prevent accidental ingestion of mulch.

Alternatively, and preferentially, outdoor enclosures may be used if climate permits. They must be designed appropriately as Bell ’s hingebacks can be excellent climbers and burrowers. When kept outdoors, this author has observed that Bell ’s hingebacks are most active at dawn and dusk, retreating to shady areas during most of the day. The only mid-day activity observed has been during and after rain showers.

Preventive Healthcare and Diseases

Bell ’s hingebacks are often heavily parasitized. As such, thorough evaluation of feces by a veterinarian is essential. A deparasitizing program should be established, and hingebacks often need prolonged and repeated treatments to completely eradicate parasites. For very ill animals, more extensive testing and treatment may be recommended. Animals that have stopped eating, have nasal discharge, weight loss, diarrhea, vomiting, or swollen eyes or limbs should be brought to the veterinarian.

Asian Box Turtle

This Asian box turtle has a highly domed, somewhat elongate carapace and a strongly hinged plastron. The carapace is dark brown, and most specimens bear a yellow vertebral stripe or spot on each vertebral scute. The growth rings (annuli) are usually quite distinct and the central areolae may be yellowish (the carapace of the young turtles is actually quite rough). The plastron is black rimmed with yellow. The head is grayish on top, and the face is pinkish tan to peach. A broad butter-yellow to bright greenish yellow stripe extends from each eye to the neck.

These turtles are very alert, and even after many years of captivity they will return quickly to the dry ground and seek shelter beneath overhanging grasses and other ground cover if disturbed.

At the advent of cold weather or during periods of drought, they burrow deeply enough to completely conceal themselves. Once burrowed in, they usually fail to respond to gentle lawn sprinklings or a brief shower, but will emerge and forage if the ground becomes saturated.These beautiful box turtles eagerly accept worms and insects, but will also eat an occasional prekilled pinky mouse, trout chow, puppy chow, some berries, other fruits, squash and a little dark lettuce. They will eat both in and out of the water.

American box turtles should ideally be kept outdoors. Any turtle would appreciate the fresh outdoors better than being cooped up indoors. You could have a small pond for your pet. Make sure it gets both sunlight and protection from extreme sunlight as well as some water and greenery to play around in. Take note too, that you should ensure your turtle’s safety against possible animal predators or pets that may harm it.

You may not be able to afford an outdoor enclosure. In this case the most sensible box turtle care tip for housing is to keep an indoor enclosure and occasionally take your pet outdoors.

You should not keep your turtle in an aquarium. Aside from the danger of overheating due to the glass sides, your pet may become agitated with all the activity that it sees outside. Your indoor housing should be a plastic or wood case. A four-inch square box that is two inches high would do well. Provide a shallow wading dish with a little water and a hiding pot or box. For the substrate, you can use a commercial product or use potting soil. Substrates though need to be constantly monitored, cleaned and changed.

Alligator Snapping Turtle Paradise

The prehistoric-looking alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America and among the largest in the world. With its spiked shell, beaklike jaws, and thick, scaled tail, this species is often referred to as the "dinosaur of the turtle world."

Found almost exclusively in the rivers, canals, and lakes of the southeastern United States, alligator snappers can live to be 50 to 100 years old. Males average 26 inches (66 centimeters) in shell length and weigh about 175 pounds (80 kilograms), although they have been known to exceed 220 pounds (100 kilograms). The much smaller females top out at around 50 pounds (23 kilograms).

Alligator snappers spend most of their lives in water, the exception being when females trudge about 160 feet (50 meters) inland to nest. They can stay submerged for 40 to 50 minutes before surfacing for air.

The alligator snapper employs a unique natural lure in its hunting technique. Its tongue sports a bright-red, worm-shaped piece of flesh that, when displayed by a motionless turtle on a river bottom, draws curious fish or frogs close enough to be snatched.

Adult snappers have no natural predators other than humans, who capture them for their meat and shells, and to sell in the exotic animal trade. A severe reduction in population due to unregulated harvesting and habitat loss has led states to protect them throughout most of their range, and they are listed as a threatened species.

African Spurred Tortoise

The African spurred tortoise is also called the spurred tortoise or sulcata. The sulcata used to be a rare tortoise but because of successful captive breeding it is now one of the most common tortoises in captivity. So much so that it is considered a problem because some keepers do not give the tortoise the thought that is required when obtaining one. They then find that they do not know what to do with a 50 pound plus monster and end up placing it up for adoption.

The sulcata can attain a very large size in a relatively short time so care for this tortoise must be thought out carefully with accommodations being the primary concern. Sulcatas enjoy a temperature range of 80 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This tortoise is best considered for warmer climates where it can be maintained in a large outdoor enclosure with the range extending into cooler climates with the use of supplemental heating.

Sulcatas are not only capable burrowers but frequently do dig burrows when given the opportunity which can be over 2 foot in diameter and over 15 feet in length. For this reason they should be provided with housing that they should be encouraged to use.

In their native range food and water is relatively sparse with reports of them feeding mainly on succulent plants and grasses. In captivity the Sulcata is an opportunistic feeder where it readily takes almost any vegetable matter but grasses and dark leafy greens are the most common staple.

Even though sulcata are considered desert type tortoises water, should be provided at all times.

Knowing Aldabra Tortoise

Aldabra Tortoiseare found on the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, and they are one of the largest tortoises in the world (the largest tortoise on record being the Galapagos tortoise – Geochelone nigra). Aldabra tortoises have a varied habitat on their home and introduced islands, ranging from mangrove swamps and coastal dune areas to grasslands and scrub forests.

You can find Aldabra tortoises for sale at select reptile stores, reptile shows and sometimes on the Internet. If you are able to find one, no doubt you will find them very rewarding to keep.

The average weight of an adult male Aldabra tortoise is approximately 550 pounds, although there is one at the Fort Worth Zoo that weighs in at nearly 800 pounds.

Keeping Aldabra tortoises outdoors is usually the best way to house them. Hatchlings up to 2 years old can be housed indoors, but once they get beyond that, they need the great outdoors to roam. For babies up to a year old, tortoise tubs or the equivalent work very well. Use bark or crushed coconut for the bottom of the enclosure. Provide a hotspot of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit at one end of the enclosure with an ambient temperature of about 80 degrees. Mercury vapor lights work well for this, as they provide both UVB and heat all in one fixture.

Aldabra tortoises get large, so as a rule of thumb, the bigger the outdoor enclosure, the better. I house mine in a pen made of ornate cinder blocks. The wall is a bit over two feet tall, and the paddock area is 100 feet by 30 feet. Depending on how many you plan to house, the size of your paddock can vary.

 Aldabra tortoises do best at temperatures of 80 to 95 degrees. Provide your tortoise house with heat lamps, heat emitters and/or large outdoor-use heat pads (“pig blankets”) to maintain the proper temperature even when the weather outside is cold. The entrance to the house should be large enough for the tortoise to easily enter and exit, and a door is handy to lock the tortoise inside on very cold days or nights. Aldabra tortoises love mudholes, and if you can build one, or a shallow pond for them to soak in, they will be very content. Unlike most tortoises, they are also good swimmers.

Aldabra tortoises get very large and live a very long time. They need lots of space, special habitat setups and a bit of care. They make very rewarding pets as long as you have the time and space to dedicate to their needs. You'll more than likely have to arrange for their long-term care in advance since they are probably going to outlive you. They are smart, personable and very entertaining. I find that after a long day at work, just sitting outside and watching them eat can calm the nerves of a hectic day.

Finding A Two-Headed Tortoise

These tortoise pictures prove it. Two-headed creatures are no longer the stuff of legend and myth but a startling reality.

This angulate tortoise was discovered in Wellington, Western Cape South Africa and it has two heads that are joined separately to a shared body. But it seems quite normal otherwise and both heads feed on grass, leaves, and softened rabbit pellets.
This species seldom grows bigger than 22 centimetres (eight or nine inches), and has a lengthened straw-colored shell with somewhat raised shields that are black in the middle and on the sides.

Male angulates grow larger than the females and they are shy and reserved, usually retreating into their shell at the first disturbance. They drink rather more infrequently than other species but take in a large amount of water at one time. They submerge their heads when drinking which can be rather alarming when first encountered.

This is only the second reported case of its kind in South Africa in over 20 years. The other one was discovered in the early 1980s.

There are a total of 43 species of these reptiles worldwide and 13 of them can be found in South Africa including the highly endangered geometric tortoise.

Male turtles may start to lose their cool

As global temperatures rise, male turtles may start to lose their cool.Many reptiles, including most turtles, display temperature-dependent sex differentiation. In other words, the temperature that an egg incubates at determines the sex of hatchlings. In the case of turtles, warmer temperatures yield more female offspring, and cooler temperatures yield more males.

Worldwide, a population bias already exists against male sea turtles. Largely female sea turtle populations are common, whereas male-skewed populations are almost unknown.In an effort to understand what nesting conditions produce a balanced sex ratio, Kamel and Mrosovsky logged temperature fluctuations at four types of sea turtle nesting sites in Antigua: an open beach, in low vegetation, in the forest, and along the forest edge.

Their temperature data suggest that only eggs laid in the forest itself are cool enough to produce male turtles—nests laid in all other environments produce exclusively female hatchlings. That means that as more Caribbean forests are cleared to make way for new resort development, fewer turtle nests will be able to produce male turtles.

Climate change compounds the threat of localized habitat destruction for these sensitive reptiles. Global warming predictions range from a 1° to 6° Celsius mean temperature increase over the next century, and studies have shown that as little as a 1° increase in mean incubation temperature can dramatically reduce the ratio of male turtle hatchlings to female. A 4° increase effectively eliminates male turtles from a clutch.

But behavioral change is limited to individual turtles, and there is no evidence that whole species, or even whole populations, will adapt in this way. According to Janzen, air temperature is only one of many indicators that signal the start of nesting season. Other factors less influenced by global warming, such as ground temperature and day length, ultimately influence how early turtles will start to nest.

We Must Save Sea Turtles

Sea turtles roam the planet in every ocean except the Arctic. Though it’s only the size of the little state of West Virginia, Costa Rica hosts five of the seven remaining species of marine turtles and has taken the lead in conservation efforts. And you, my fellow traveler, play a vital role.

We’d wait for them to lay their eggs along Mexican beaches and then dig up millions, taking them by pack trains of burros to market. We’d kill them by the millions in Ecuador so that we could sell turtle leather shoes in Italy (and other places), or make combs and trinkets. We relentlessly killed them everywhere on the planet.

Millions of eggs were (and still are) sold in bars to drunken patrons across the world as aphrodisiacs. Vast numbers were accidentally killed by drowning in huge ocean fishing nets or barbed tuna hooks. And, of course, innumerable beaches now sport hotels, resorts, and housing developments.

No more. Sadly, in just a few decades, these animals---which have survived for some 150,000,000 years---have been reduced to a tiny, tiny fraction of their former numbers.

Actually, they've probably been around for a few million years more than that, as evidenced by the discovery off a Scottish Island of a 164,000,000 year old sea turtle fossil, click.

Green Sea Turtle's Life

The green turtle is a large, weighty sea turtle with a wide, smooth carapace, or shell. It inhabits tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world and has been observed clambering onto land to sunbathe.

It is named not for the color of its shell, which is normally brown or olive depending on its habitat, but for the greenish color of its skin. There are two types of green turtles—scientists are currently debating whether they are subspecies or separate species—including the Atlantic green turtle, normally found off the shores of Europe and North America, and the Eastern Pacific green turtle, which has been found in coastal waters from Alaska to Chile.
Weighing up to 700 pounds (317.5 kilograms) green turtles are among the largest sea turtles in the world. Their proportionally small head, which is nonretractable, extends from a heart-shaped carapace that measures up to 5 feet (1.5 meters). Males are slightly larger than females and have a longer tail. Both have flippers that resemble paddles, which make them powerful and graceful swimmers.
Unlike most sea turtles, adult green turtles are herbivorous, feeding on sea grasses and algae. Juvenile green turtles, however, will also eat invertebrates like crabs, jellyfish, and sponges.

While most sea turtles warm themselves by swimming close to the surface of shallow waters, the Eastern Pacific green turtle will take to land to bask in the sun. Occasionally seen sunbathing alongside seals and albatrosses, it is one of the few marine turtles known to leave the water other than at nesting times.
Green turtles, like other sea turtles, undertake lengthy migrations from feeding sites to nesting grounds, normally on sandy beaches. Mating occurs every two to four years and normally takes place in shallow waters close to the shore. To nest, females leave the sea and choose an area, often on the same beach used by their mothers, to lay their eggs. They dig a pit in the sand with their flippers, fill it with a clutch of 100 to 200 eggs, cover the pit and return to the sea, leaving the eggs to hatch after about two months. The most dangerous time of a green turtle’s life is when it makes the journey from nest to sea. Multiple predators, including crabs and flocks of gulls, voraciously prey on hatchlings during this short scamper.
Green turtles are listed as an endangered species, and a subpopulation in the Mediterranean is listed as critically endangered. Despite this, they are still killed for their meat and eggs. Their numbers are also reduced by boat propeller accidents, fishnet-caused drowning, and the destruction of their nesting grounds by human encroachment.

Turtle's Interesting Life

 Sea turtles are air-breathing reptiles remarkably adapted to life in the sea. Their streamlined shape, large size and powerful flippers enable them to dive to great depths and travel long distances.
The only time sea turtles leave the ocean is when females emerge to lay their eggs on a sandy beach.
A turtle must drag her great weight ashore, dig a nest, deposit about one hundred eggs, and cover and conceal the nest before returning to sea. The arduous process of nesting can take up to three hours.

 Nests are found by walkers the next morning. It looks as if a tractor has emerged from the ocean, turned around and gone back in the ocean.
The mother turtle leaves her eggs to incubate in the warm sand and never visits her nest again. A female will usually lay several nests during one season and many nest every two to three years.
Volunteers mark the nest for monitoring because the tracks and body pit containing the egg clutch are quickly obliterated by the wind, human foot traffic.
Here in the sugar sand of South Walton, the average incubation time for the eggs to hatch is about 62 days.

A joyful site is a succesfully hatched nest! This hatched nest was found at dawn. All hatchlings emerged about the same time, and left baby tractor tracks as they scurried directly to the ocean, in synch with the divine plan. This is not always the case anymore.

Sea turtle nest numbers looking good, although latest waves take out 2 green turtle nests

Waves bashing the Treasure Coast are having a negligible effect on the annual monthslong sea turtle nesting season that appears to be ending up with normal or better numbers of successful nests, according to preliminary estimates.
The Treasure Coast is at the center of one of the largest sea turtle nesting areas in the world, so the outcome of each nesting season is important to the species' survival, scientists say.
The season had appeared destined for a record until midseason Hurricane Irene hit with outlying waves during August. Those washed out 17 percent of the loggerhead nests and 11 percent of the green sea turtle nests in one survey area in the middle of the Treasure Coast, said Ken Gioeli, a natural resources extension agent with the St. Lucie County Cooperative Extension.
Season totals are still being tabulated for most areas along the coast. Yet from what Gioeli has seen, "We had a fairly good year."
The nesting season ends in five days and virtually all the thousands of nests laid during the season previously hatched out, said Niki Desjardin, a scientist who help monitor nesting in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties.
Green sea turtles are the last to nest. The latest round of waves only washed out two green sea turtle nests — one each in Martin and Indian River counties — during high tides this past weekend, she said.
Gioeli's assessment is based on a count of nests from the southern part of St. Lucie County to the St. Lucie Inlet in Martin County. In that area, there were 3,478 loggerhead turtle nests, 376 leatherback turtle nests and 243 green sea turtle nests.
Loggerhead turtles are the most common. Green and loggerhead turtles are rare.
In Gioeli's survey area, leatherback nesting was at a 31-year high, surpassing last year's 248. At the same time, green sea turtle nesting declined to a normal level, after a record of 390 in 2010, Gioeli said.
Indian River County sea turtle coordinator Rick Herren said both green and loggerhead nesting was the second highest in the past seven years in the area he surveys from Wabasso Beach to the south county line.
Anyone who sees eggs on the beaches should just leave them alone, Desjardin. "If they are rolling around, they probably are not viable," she said.

Newberry springs take off site near main solar list

An area 20 miles from Newberry Springs originally identified as one of 24 prime “solar energy zones” in the western United States was taken off a plan designed to speed the development of alternative energy projects.
A study completed in 2010 named 24 different prime solar energy zones in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The study named four in California. One of the zones was for a 23,950 acre parcel of Bureau of Land Management land near Pisgah, in an area between Ludlow and Newberry Springs on both sides of Interstate 40.
A revised study released last week removed two of the solar energy zones in California, including the Pisgah site, and reduced the size of several others, reducing the total acreage amount from about 677,000 acres to about 285,000 acres. The solar energy zones were removed because of resource conflicts or development constraints that make them inappropriate locations for prioritizing solar energy development, according to the BLM.　　
　　Calico solar plant to undergo additional environmental study
A solar energy plant proposed near Newberry Springs will have to have an additional environmental study because the developer changed the type of solar technology that will be used, the BLM announced last week.
K Road purchased the Calico Solar Project last year and decided to change the project from the solar thermal SunCatcher dishes to photovoltaic panels with the possibility of using some SunCatcher technology.
The study has not been prepared yet, but the public will have 45 days to comment on it once it is published, according to a statement from the BLM.
Construction of the Calico project is set to begin in early 2013, with two separate phases of construction. The supplemental environmental report would have to be approved by the California Energy Commission before it can begin construction on the part of the part of the project that will use the SunCatcher technology.
First Ivanpah tortoise released into wild
Biologists released a tortoise found on the Ivanpah project site into the wild for the first time in early October.
The tortoises found on the project site have been kept in pens and have been monitored closely by project biologists, according to a posting on Ivanpah’s website. The tortoises can only be released during specific times in the spring and fall when the temperature is between 65 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
The tortoises also have to undergo comprehensive medical assessments to make sure that the animal is healthy and does not carry a common and potentially fatal respiratory disease before they are released.
The female that was released has settled into her new home and appears happy and healthy, said BrightSource spokeswoman Kristin Hunter. It’s likely that she’ll burrow for the remainder of the winter months over the next few weeks.

Quincy Marine center care "zombie" the tortoise back to life

　　During this past weekend's snowstorm, a walker along Martha's Vineyards' Edgartown beach came across a near dead Kemp's Ridley Turtle, in a "zombie-like state" and suffering from hypothermic shock from the below freezing temperatures.
The endangered sea turtle was rescued just in time, as it was immediately taken to a wildlife sanctuary and is now safely recovering inside New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Care Center in Quincy.
Massachusetts typically sees hundreds of these endangered turtles popping up along the coastline throughout the winter season. Beyond life threatening hypothermia, nearly all of the effected sea turtles also suffer from dehydration, malnutrition, metabolic problems and possibly even pneumonia.

　　Last year, more than 120 endangered and threatened sea turtles were brought to the Quincy Marine Care Center, for treatment and recovery until the weather permitted their return to the Ocean.
The rescued turtle, found early Sunday afternoon, will be slowly re-warmed, at a few degrees warmer each day, until it's body temperature returns to it's normal state in the low 70's.

Help Seaturtles alert to volunteer

　　Paul and Connie Summerlin were in the middle of their early-morning walk along the beach in south Baldwin County when they spotted a commotion.
When they investigated, a fisherman had reeled in an endangered Kemp’s ridley turtle. Because of their role with Share the Beach, the Summerlins quickly moved into action as the crowd watched the angler remove the monofilament line that had put the turtle in distress.
As members of the Share the Beach program, the Summerlins, who call Foley home, patrol a 1.3-mile stretch of beach to look for signs of sea turtle nesting activity. On this morning in May, they were distracted from their regular vigil.
“About 75 yards away, we saw a fisherman and there was a crowd gathering around him,” Paul said. “I thought he had caught a big fish, but I leaned out and looked that way and realized it was a turtle. So we ran down there right quick to look at her. He had already removed the monofilament and was fixing to release her. But I looked at her and told him we didn’t need to release her; we needed to get a recovery team out here with the Share the Beach turtle program.”

　　An endangered Kemp’s ridley turtle, nicknamed Molly, is lifted from its transport crate and deposited on the beach near the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge by Lisa Crawford of the Gulfarium and Paul Summerlin of Foley as Connie Summerlin looks on. As part of the Share the Beach program, the Summerlins played a role in the rescue and rehabilitation of the turtle, which scooted down the sugar-colored sand and into the Gulf of Mexico, where she quickly disappeared into the clear, blue waters.Share the Beach (www.alabamaseaturtles.com) is a volunteer program that enlists concerned citizens to walk every mile of the Alabama beaches from Mobile Bay to the Florida line, as well as Dauphin Island.
“We walk every morning during turtle-nesting season,” Summerlin said. “We walk it right at daylight to see if we spot any turtle trails before the crowds get out and disturb the tracks. If we find a turtle crawl, we call in a team and move the nest if necessary. We excavate the nest and count the eggs. We mark them and monitor them. The turtles will nest any time from May to the first of October. There are usually several rescues a year, but this is the first rescue effort we’ve been involved in.”
The Kemp’s ridley rarely nests along the Alabama Coast, although several nests have been verified. The majority of the nesting for the Kemp’s ridley, which is mostly carnivorous, occurs in Mexico and southern Texas. Although they rarely nest in Alabama, Kemp’s ridley turtles are frequently seen in Alabama waters by recreational and commercial fishermen.
Other sea turtles that may be encountered along the Alabama Coast include the loggerhead, leatherback, hawksbill and green sea turtle. The leatherback and hawksbill are also listed as endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, while the loggerhead and green are listed as threatened. The green sea turtle gets its name from the color of its fat because of its diet of vegetation and algae. The leatherback diet is made up mainly of jellyfish, while the hawksbill feeds primarily on sponges, invertebrates and algae. The loggerhead, which is the turtle most often encountered along the Alabama Coast, dines on hard-shelled animals like conchs and whelks, as well as crabs and other crustaceans.
When the Summerlins called 866-SEA-TURTLE to report the turtle in distress, a team from the Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was quickly dispatched to recover the turtle and assess its health.
Rachel Cain, one of the turtle rehabilitators at Gulfarium, said the Summerlins definitely took the right action.
“The monofilament line was wrapped so tightly that it had cut off the circulation in the flippers,” Cain said. “The turtle was unable to swim well. She was brought to the Gulfarium to make sure the monofilament was completely removed, and she did have to undergo a course of antibiotics because of the deep cuts along each flipper. She also went through a little physical therapy to get a little more movement in each flipper. She did not lose any part of the flipper. One of the flippers is a little less functional, but she is able to get around with all the abilities she had previously. It’s just one flipper doesn’t move as well.

　　“They are a more-endangered species. We have a few nests in our area. This is one that is rarer, and we don’t encounter them as often in our area. It’s a smaller turtle species for our area. It gets to be about 100 pounds when it’s fully grown. Its shell is different. It looks almost like a lily pad compared to the other species, which have shells that are more teardrop-shaped.”
Patrick Berry, general manager of the Gulfarium, said the Kemp’s ridley release near the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge was one of three for the week.
“The Gulfarium has been in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for more than 55 years,” Berry said. “We have quite a variety of species of animals at our facility. As far as our role in this project, we have been involved in sea turtle rehabilitation for many, many years, almost as long as the facility has been in existence. We’ve worked with the gamut of the sea turtle species to rehabilitate them and return them to the wild.
“Just the other day, we released another Kemp’s ridley turtle near Fort Walton Beach, where it was rescued. We’re also going to release a green sea turtle at Pensacola, where it was rescued. We’re thrilled to be a part of the sea turtle rehabilitation effort. It’s good for our staff, as well as the animals. We like to get the message out about how to conserve these animals for future generations.
Berry said the greatest threats to sea turtles are habitat degradation, entanglement in monofilament or netting, boat strikes and ingestion of garbage.
“Plastic bags get blown into the water that the turtles mistake for jellyfish,” he said. “Some of this is man-made, so we need to try to be careful to reduce those variables by reducing, reusing and recycling. All of us can do those simple little things that help conserve this type species and other species in the ocean.”

Terrible turtles

　　
　　Let's start with the basics. There are two types of snapping turtle: the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and the Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). A common snapper has a smoother shell than an alligator snapper's, which has three distinct spiky ridges. Don't be fooled by common snapper hatchlings, however. They have ridged shells at birth that even out over time. The alligator snapper has a more triangular head with little bumps that look like eyelashes around the eye. Generally, the alligator snapper looks more prehistoric than the common snapper. Can you tell these two apart? (Source)
2. Common Snapping Turtles are an Ancient Species

　　People say turtles are slow, but snapping turtles might say that humans are slow! The modern snapping turtle evolved over 40 million years ago, while anatomically modern humans emerged only 200,000 years ago. Snapping turtles hung out with dinosaurs, but they're not closely related at all. Birds have more in common with dinosaurs than snapping turtles do. Source.

India's festival to slaughter the turtle to celebrate

　　A Hindu festival that celebrates light has been shrouded in darkness following the sacrificial slaughter of up to 100,000 turtles.
Shown in these horrifying images, critically endangered species including the northern river terrapin and the black soft-shell turtle, are sacrificed in the name of religion.
The ancient ritual takes place during the celebration of Kali Puja, which started in Bengal yesterday.

　　Slaughtered for tradition: A Bangladeshi trader kills a turtle with a knife and stick in the early morning hours in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Held once a year, and corresponding with the festival Diwali, sacrifices are made to Kali, the Hindu goddess of power.
During Kali Puja, market streets are teeming with devotees who purchase and consume thousands of turtles.
One of the species found on Dhaka's markets is the northern river terrapin.
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Around 25 individuals are known to exist, making it one of the rarest animals on earth.
On paper it is offered the same level of protection as a tiger.
Another targeted species is the black soft-shell, which has only recently been officially been found in the wild and it has a single population in a pond in the region of Chittagong.
Even though many of the turtles are critically endangered and feature on Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, the slaughter is often overlooked by authorities.
The act has enraged conservation groups in India and abroad.

　　Laid on the table: 100,000 turtles were butchered and their meat, limbs and organs were sold to customers to eat, it is sole for between £6 to £37 per kilo
"Since the killing of turtles was made illegal, this mass slaughter has been carried out in the name of 'religion'," said Dr Rashid of Centre for Advanced Research in Natural Resources & Management (CARINAM) in Bangladesh.
'It's because of this that the authorities turn a blind eye - they are too scared of causing social unrest."
At Dhaka's Tanti Market, the turtles are butchered and their meat, limbs and organs are then sold to customers.
The meat sells for between $10 - $60 per kilo (£6-£37), depending on the species.
Followers believe that by eating the turtle, they will take on its strength and longevity.
During festival, the majority of Bangladesh's Hindu population consume turtle meat.
Businessman Sunil Kumar Bala commented: "We have been eating turtles during Kali Puja for a long time. It is a tradition that we will maintain even if the government tries to stop us."
The turtle trade offers a source of income to up to 30,000 people.

Sea turtles and pearl

　　
　　Will, found at The Pearl-Qatar
The United Development Company (UDC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, have jointly agreed to establish the country’s first urban turtle sanctuary at The Pearl-Qatar.
The sanctuary, the Turtle Rehab Project, already has its first beneficiary - “Will”, an endangered green sea turtle that was found injured near The Pearl-Qatar in October 2010. The project was announced by Mohamed al-Jaidah, an environment expert at the Ministry of Environment, and one of the team members who accompanied “Will” on her journey to the United Arab Emirates.
Jaidah explained to delegates at the ecoQ conference: “The Pearl-Qatar’s Environmental Affairs team contacted us to assist in Will’s rehabilitation. After treatment in Doha and later at a specialised facility in Dubai, it was decided by the Ministry of Environment and UDC to establish a turtle sanctuary encompassing education and research at The Pearl-Qatar to care for turtles with conditions like Will.
“Facilities at The Pearl-Qatar’s state-of-the-art sanctuary will include an aquarium, touch pools for marine life, turtle hatchery, rearing pools and wet and dry treatment labs,” Jaidah added.
“This project primarily embraces programmes of injured turtle treatment and rehabilitation, nest protection, research and education while providing a visitor attraction. Education is a key component and emphasis will be placed on learning, whether it’s a child understanding of the life cycle of a sea turtle or a PhD student researching marine conservation in the Middle East.”

Released the turtle

　　
　　The 75-pound Kemp's Ridley sea turtle named Talulla returned to the water on Friday. She was rescued June 28 on a beach on Eglin Air Force Base property. The emaciated turtle was found on its back just out of the water.
The Northwest Florida Daily News reports staff at the Gulfarium nursed the turtle back to health.
Kemp's Ridley turtles are listed as endangered species.
Next week, the Gulfarium will release its last two rehabilitated turtles -- one in Pensacola and the other near Gulf Shores, Ala. Four other Kemp's Ridley turtles live at the marine park.

The tortoise is not allowed to trade

　　Nguyen Ba Toan, a Hanoi man who has caught and sold a 22-kg Asiatic soft shell turtle, can be fined up to $24,000 for trading threatened species, said lawyer Nguyen Viet Trieu, head of Viet Trieu law firm in Hanoi.
Giant turtle sold to Chinese man

　　Trieu said Vietnamese laws state that any attempt to hunt, capture, raise or kill wild animals listed in appendix IIB of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) can receive a fine of VND400-500 million (US$19,200-24,000).
Toan discovered the giant turtle on October 12 when he went fishing under Chuong Duong Bridge and caught it by himself.
After bringing it home, he invited many people to his house to see the turtle and offered to sell it.
After hearing that the turtle is in the Red List of Threatened Species, Toan tried to raise it while waiting for authorities to solve the case.
But as no government official turned up and the turtle started to become weak, he sold it to a person in the northern province of Bac Giang for VND100 million (US$4,800) on October 14.
Many wonder why officials didn’t take any action and let Toan sell the creature.
Nguyen Van Quan, head of the wild animal preservation at Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) said that after hearing about the case, he immediately called the Department of Captured Fisheries and Resources Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, he was told to contact Hanoi’s Forest Protection Department, which later said turtles are a marine creature and thus fall within the responsibility of the former department.
But according to a government decree issued on June 20 2008, the Forest Protection Department is in charge of cases related to Asiatic soft shell turtles.

How learning more about can help conserve sea turtles

　　
　　This is an Olive ridley turtle fitted with satellite-relayed data logger in French Guiana. Credit: Copyright: JYGeorges
Ecologists are a step closer to understanding one of nature's most extraordinary sights – the 'arribada' or synchronised mass nesting of female olive ridley sea turtles. The new study, published today in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, is the first to combine three different approaches – genetics, demography and behaviour, and the results should help conserve these vulnerable marine creatures.
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The study, lead by Virginie Plot of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France, gathered three sets of data. First, to get an accurate estimate of the size of the olive ridley population in French Guiana, the ecologists monitored nesting beaches at Cayenne and Remire-Montjoly every night during the nesting season (May to September) each year between 2002 and 2010.
Then, to learn more about how the turtles behave before coming ashore, they attached satellite data loggers to the shells of 10 individuals. By recording data every 10 seconds and sending them by satellite every time the turtles surface for breathing, these units gave a detailed picture of the turtles' geographic location, the depth and duration of their dives and the temperature of the water.
Finally, the team took skin samples from the turtles so they could investigate the variability of their DNA. These tests reveal the genetic diversity of the population and also allow researchers to estimate past population levels.
The results show that although olive ridley numbers in French Guiana have increased during the past 10 years, the population suffered a massive collapse in the past 2,000 years.

　　These are Olive ridley turtle hatchlings in French Guiana. Credit: Copyright: Sébastien Barrioz, Kwata
According to Ms Plot: "Looking at the DNA of these turtles tells us that they come from a much larger population, one that has collapsed by 99% over the past 2,000 years. This is one of the sharpest collapses ever reported in large species and their population in French Guiana remains at a critical level."
The researchers found that even though fewer than 2,000 olive ridleys nest in French Guiana, they still synchronise their breeding, all leaving the sea to lay their eggs on the beach on the same nights. Until now, this behaviour had only been recorded among large populations of olive ridleys in India, Costa Rica and Mexico.
And thanks to the data loggers, the researchers gained a unique insight into how the turtles behave at sea between successive nesting events. During the first part of the nesting season individual turtles show a wide range of diving behaviour. Then, triggered by a cue that remains a mystery, they all start behaving in the same way, returning to the nesting beach and performing regular, systematic and shallow dives.

Gopher tortoise survival.

Nearly 20 percent of Mobile County, Alabama’s population lives below the poverty level. Low incomes have created a demand for small, affordable house lots, fragmenting the longleaf pine habitat essential to the threatened gopher tortoise. Much of the undeveloped habitat is in poor condition because of inadequate management.
Afraid it would run afoul of the Endangered Species Act, Mobile County stopped issuing building permits in 1999 for areas with tortoise populations. Besides being controversial among landowners and developers, it quickly became apparent that a moratorium by itself would not improve gopher tortoise survival.
The Mobile Area Water and Sewage System (MAWSS) proposed that the County establish a “conservation bank” on properties around its reservoir. The “bank” is a large piece of property that can be managed more effectively than a smaller number of unconnected tracts. Landowners and developers who had tortoise habitat on their property could purchase credits to fund management at the “bank” and to continue building. The MAWSS could also use credits to add more land to the bank, expanding its quality habitat that more than makes up for land lost to development.
In 2001, about 220 acres of longleaf pine habitat became the gopher tortoise conservation bank. Today, more than 55 bank credits have been sold for $3,500 per credit. As the bank’s owner, MAWSS finances tortoise conservation on its lands while helping to avoid a costly endangered species controversy.
Environmental Defense assisted in designing the conservation bank and drafting its habitat conservation plan. The USDI Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) works with MAWSS to manage the bank and monitor the tortoise population. The University of South Alabama also monitors the bank, while a science advisory board assists with the bank’s operation.

Give the tortoise inoculated

　　It’s 5 a.m. and a busy morning for the staff at the San Diego Zoo Desert Tortoise Conservation Center (DTCC) in Las

　　Pamela carefully places a desert tortoise into the Mojave Desert.
Vegas, Nevada. We are anxious for the big day ahead, because it’s time for our fall translocation of desert tortoises back to the Mojave Desert, where they will live freely in their native habitat.
This day begins unlike most days in the Las Vegas Valley; the air is cool, and dark, ominous clouds linger over the city. As our mini-caravan of 3 vehicles, 10 people, and 72 tortoises head south on the I-15 toward the U.S. Fish & Wildlife-approved release site, we enjoy a torrential downpour of rain! The clouds are so dark, and the wind and rain are so strong, that it’s difficult to see the vehicles ahead of us. It has been a long, hot, dry summer, and we are thrilled to see the rain, but we think that perhaps this may not be the best day for hiking and releasing tortoises. But only moments later the storm passes, the skies are clear, and it’s another beautiful morning in the Mojave Desert.

　　The DTCC team provides fluids to a tortoise about to be released.
When we arrive at the release site, DTCC staff members administer fluids to the tortoises, ensuring they are well hydrated for their new journey. We take our time, because we want to give every tortoise the best chance of survival, and providing them with these extra fluids may carry them through a period of unexpected drought in the months to come.
Once the final tortoise is released, we take a deep breath, admire the beautiful landscape, and head back to civilization. But on the way, we discovered a wild tortoise crossing a paved road. Normally, we would watch the tortoise from a distance, ensuring its safe arrival to the other side of the road, but not this time. In the distance we see a fast-moving vehicle heading straight toward us, so we immediately jump out of our truck, and Paul, one of our seasonal research assistants, quickly but carefully moves the tortoise off the road to safety several hundred yards into the desert. What a great way to end the day; we saved a wild tortoise from possible injury or death.

　　The desert tortoise moments before its rescue from an oncoming vehicle.
Every translocation we conduct takes place at a release site here in southern Nevada that is approved by our partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and the Bureau of Land Management. The San Diego Zoo is the only organization approved by USFWS to return desert tortoises to the desert; that’s because we put tortoises through a full battery of medical and behavioral tests for at least a year to ensure they are completely healthy before they leave the facility.

This newborn Galapagos tortoise

　　This newborn Galapagos tortoise looks tiny as it stands next to its massive mum - who is a staggering 3,000 times bigger.
The hatchling weighed just 87 grams when it was born and will take 30 years to get to the same size as its mother, who is a massive 256 kilos.
Keepers will not know if it is male or female for several years so have given it the unisex name NJ.
The tortoise - who is barely the size of its mum's foot - can expect to live to 150 years.

　　Hello titch: This newborn Galapagos hatchling weighed just 87 grams when it was born and will take 30 years to get to the same size as its mother
Its mum has become a first-time mother at the age of 90 but will play no role in its up-bringing.
As soon as a Galapagos tortoise is born they are left to fend for themselves.
The youngster is now roaming around its pen and nibbling on fruit and flowers at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales, Australia.
Keeper Jennifer Conaghan said: 'A Galapagos tortoise can live between 100 and 150 years so we expect NJ to be around long after we have all gone.
'It loves exploring the outside environment and is especially active on warm sunny days.

　　Hungry fella: Keepers will not know if the Galapagos addition is male or female for several years so have given it the unisex name NJ
'We are very careful with NJ's diet and it currently gets fed three to four times per week.
'The diet is as varied as possible and includes a variety of edible plant species, lucerne hay, herbs and finely chopped fruit and vegetables.
'Our Galapagos tortoise are responsive to bright coloured, edible flowers and fruit, such as roses, hibiscus, grapes and watermelon. But just like any youngster we ensure the hatchling eats all the veggies first.'
The zoo has been attempting to breed the Galapagos Tortoise for the last ten years.
Jennifer added: 'It involves manipulating and fine-tuning our husbandry techniques to achieve this fantastic result.
'At the end of the day however, regardless of what we do, it is up to the individual animals compatibility.
'There has only been a handful of zoos around the world that have had success with breeding this species and we currently have more eggs in the incubator.
'The incubation process is very temperature dependant and once the female lays the eggs the incubation time may take three to five months.
'NJ weighed in at about 87gms at hatching, which is about 0.00034 per cent of the size of its mum. It therefore has lots of growing to do over the next 30 years or so until it catches up.
'Although the size difference is huge, NJ is an exact replica of the adults.
'It's amazing to think of how much growing it has to do and the challenges any young hatchling would struggle with in the wild.
'Galapagos Tortoise are very responsive to getting a rub under the chin from their keepers and will stand up and extend themselves up for as long as you want to scratch them.
'They do have loads of personality but like everything to do with them - nothing happens quickly so you just have to be a little more patient to see it.'

Africa, south of the Sahara Tortoise

　　Range: Africa, south of the Sahara
Habitat: Savannahs, Grasslands. Human Farming areas.

　　Natural Diet: Vegetarian diet, heavy in grasses.
Diet at Rain Forest: Fresh diet prepared daily of various types of greens.
Size: Females 20-25 Pounds--Males 25-60 Pounds. (record size is over 150 pounds)
Rain Forest Facts: The African Spur thigh tortoise lays a surprisingly large clutch of eggs, most tortoises lay a small number of eggs, usually 2-4, the African Spur thigh tortoise can lay as many as 20 eggs per clutch, with several clutches possible in a breeding season. The largest main-land dwelling tortoise, the African Spur Thigh Tortoise is only eclipsed in size by the island dwelling species of the Galapagos and Aldabra Islands.
Many types of animals utilize the burrows created by the digging of the African Spur Thigh tortoise. This powerful animal excavates long burrows into the soil to escape the mid-day heat of the African sun. Both vertebrates and invertebrates utilize the long burrows as shelter, the loss of such an important animal as the Spur Thigh would result in a domino effect on many other species that depend on the tortoise for shelter.

The turtle breeding methods

1 feeding

Pond turtles are in captivity, tank support, tubs raising ponds and reservoirs to support a variety of ways, each with advantages and disadvantages, you can choose according to local conditions. Specialized households in general and small-scale farms, to build ponds better, because this way, easy management, cost-effective as well.
Pond construction: pond turtles and turtle breeding pond can refer to the young turtle breeding pond and pool construction specifications and methods. Built into the turtle pool and also into a turtle pond turtle's almost, but the area can be larger, so that a greater number of turtle farming. If the turtle into a large pool, you can also fish, turtles polyculture, in the pool to support a number of herbivorous and filter-feeding fish, in order to improve overall economic efficiency of farming. Turtle will have to pay attention to holes, the features easy to escape, so the walls of the base of a wall to about 50 cm deep underground.
2 turtles feed and feeding
Turtle feeding wider, rice, wheat, peas, fish, shrimp, insects, snails, etc fine to eat pork, which is a favorite food to eat fish, fine pork, corn. Captivity, the turtles grow to meet the nutritional needs of a variety, to avoid feed a single, stunted growth and produce anorexia should be used in a variety of feed, animal feed such as fish, snails, mussels and plants, etc. feed in rice, wheat, corn and so on. To get the turtle to fully digest the feed, the feed before feeding should be subject to the corn, peas and other crushed, soaked 2 hours, and other large pieces of food also must first chopped before feeding. Should also be noted that the growth in different periods of the turtle should vote according to their growth characteristics of feed containing different nutrients.
Turtle's life and weather closely, feeding the beginning of April each year; 6 a feeding activity reached a peak in August, the fastest weight gain; to October the temperature gradually decreased to eat after the start of its decline, when the temperature dropped below 10 degrees Celsius , stop feeding into hibernation. Therefore, feeding should be based on growth characteristics of the turtle to carry out the general requirements to do the following:

1) time. Low temperatures in spring and fall, sooner or later, the turtle is not active, only in the noon feeding, it should be 8 to 9 am in the morning of feed fed. To the autumnal equinox is a turtle from the Guyu feeding season, a time filled summer, turtles generally inactive at noon, and 17 more in the afternoon feeding a 19-time activities, it is feeding a 17 to 16 in the afternoon, when appropriate. Timing can make turtle feeding time, get more nutrition, and also to ensure that feed fresh.
(2) position. Positioned along the pond shore sub-set a fixed feed point, feeding point of potable water station to close, easy to swallow water turtle bite. Positioning of feed fed to enable the turtle habit, easy to find their food, while allowing observation of turtles feeding activities and check the situation.
(3) qualitative. Feeding the feed should be kept fresh, after feeding, to promptly remove leftover residue of food, feed, to prevent rotting smelly, affect the turtle's appetite and water pollution.
(4) quantitatively. Feed ration as temperature, water quality, the turtle's appetite and activity may be in order when the appetite and activity may be, to a little rest when the meal is appropriate. Generally every 1 - 2 days feeding 1.
3. Hatchlings feeding
Newly hatched hatchling body is weak, stomach function and digestion is also weak, it should not be stocked in the breeding pool immediately, but should be well-fed and care for some alone time, to improve the survival rate of hatchlings.
Hatchlings feeding and care principles are: 1. To improve sanitation, prevent turtles sick. (2) degree of control appropriate temperature and astringent, to facilitate its normal growth. 3. Hatchlings develop gradually adapt to the environment, self-feeding. Specifically: the newly hatched hatchling first on a small glass box, let it crawl three to five hours until the hatchlings after convergence of the umbilical cord dry off, with 0.6% saline immersion moment for disinfection, then placed in glass boxes or tubs in the indoor feeding. Avoid artificial strong pull off the umbilical cord hatchling, juvenile turtles that would cause casualties. Hatchling rearing tank 1 a day changing the water 2 times, strict control of water temperature at 25 to 30 degrees Celsius, hot weather to keep the box needs to spray several times to adjust the temperature and increase oxygen in the water, the hatchlings to the normal growth under appropriate conditions. 1 one of the newly hatched juvenile turtles 2 days without feeding, 2 days after starting to feed a small amount of grain feed, after feeding a small amount of boiled eggs and comminuted fish, frog meat, sweet potato, pumpkin and other mixed feed. After 7 days of feeding, the hatchlings have relatively strong physique can be transferred to outdoor rearing pond keeping.
4 turtle feeding precautions
(1) shall turtles, turtle into the turtle and the pro-feeding sub-pool, to avoid large turtle swallowed a small turtle phenomenon, but also facilitate the identification of feed ration and feeding management, easy to observe and control the growth of the turtle.
(2) due to the mild and timid turtle, four weeks should be kept quiet and kept the pool, so as not to affect the turtle feeding, sunning, mating, spawning and other normal activities.
(3) regular replacement of keeping the pool water, keeping water clean, do a good job keeping the pool of health, to prevent the turtles to disease.
(4) pond four weeks and the sand on the open space between the walls to maintain a certain degree of humidity in the summer season, should take some cooling measures, such as watering, planting small shrubs.
(5) hibernation, check the growth of the turtle, the infirm feed Cadogan, fed turtles eating more feed, so that a large number of turtle product storage of nutrients, long strong body through the winter.
(6), when some young turtles do not know how to eat, this time, you can grab it Zuo Zhao, pull it out, then seize it Youzhao, two with mild to pull, it will be stuck head, and then clip it to light about the direction of the head, mouth, etc. It is when the shrimp (food) to go into it know what to eat, as you put the bite on two of the food will.
5. Hibernating Management
Turtles are cold-blooded animal, life influenced by environmental temperature. November to next March, when the temperature is below 10 ℃, the turtle lying in the bottom of mud or loose soil Woyu covered with straw, do not eat does not move, for hibernation, when its new array of metabolic very slow and weak. Until early April, when temperatures rose to above 15 ℃, the turtle began to resume activity and feeding so large in hibernation without feeding diets, and need not change the water, the main work of this period first heat, as in the pool four weeks and the space between the pool and the wall is covered with straw; second is to prevent the tortoise against predators.

The habits of the turtle

Group of turtles and tortoises are the "shells" for the center evolved from reptiles. Turtle was first seen in the early Triassic period, when that is fully developed carapace. Early today, the turtle may not be as general, contraction of the head and limbs into the shell. Simply put, the turtle is aquatic animals, tortoises, compared with terrestrial animals. Turtle has survived for thousands of years on Earth, and the Department of dinosaurs the same period the animals. Turtle belongs to the department's three major water turtle turtle turtle line another name for beetles, tortoises, turtles and mountain mud turtle, turtles and other flowers in the animal taxonomy under Reptilia, turtles head, turtle Branch, turtle subfamily, turtles head is the most common animals. Almost all of the distribution of turtles all over the country, but higher yield of the Yangtze River provinces; parts of Guangxi also has produced, especially in the Southeast, southern Guangxi and other places in larger quantities; abroad mainly in Japan, Brazil and Korea. Price: 5 to 10,000 yuan a.

Tortoiseshell a little flat, but can not be fixed back shell and activities, a 13 carapace length 10 cm, width 16 cm, there are three vertical uplift. Side of the head and neck with yellow linear stripes, slightly flattened limbs, fingers and toes are webbed with the whole, in addition to fifth gold hind legs, the ends of fingers and toes Jie claw. Turtles generally live in rivers, lakes, swamps, reservoirs and streams, sometimes also ashore activities. In the natural environment, the turtle with worms, snails, shrimp and small fish such as food, but also eat leaves and stems of plants. Turtle is a cold-blooded animal, in the winter, or when the temperature at a lower long-term case, the turtle goes into hibernation, a variety of different types of turtles, the temperature began to hibernate is not the same, but usually in the 10 16 ℃. This time will be long-term reduction in the turtle shell, almost no activity, while it decreased respiratory rate, body temperature decreased, blood circulation and metabolism to slow down, the consumption of nutrients is also reduced. This state and is similar to sleep, but this is a months-long deep sleep, even showing a slight paralysis. In addition, the turtle also has the following characteristics: low reproductive rate and slow growth, a 500 grams of turtle feeding after one year only about 100 grams of weight gain. But the turtle's anti-hunger ability, even if fasting is not easily starve to death a few months, also strong resistance to disease, and high survival rate. So the tortoise is easier to animals in captivity, is more welcomed by the people's pets.

Green turtles primarily use three types of habitat

　　
　　Green turtles primarily use three types of habitat: oceanic beaches (for nesting), convergence zones in the open ocean, and benthic feeding grounds in coastal areas. Adult females migrate from foraging areas to mainland or island nesting beaches and may travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers each way. After emerging from the nest, hatchlings swim to offshore areas, where they are believed to live for several years, feeding close to the surface on a variety of pelagic plants and animals. Once the juveniles reach a certain age/size range, they leave the pelagic habitat and travel to nearshore foraging grounds. Once they move to these nearshore benthic habitats, adult green turtles are almost exclusively herbivores, feeding on sea grasses and algae.
Green turtles are generally found in fairly shallow waters (except when migrating) inside reefs, bays, and inlets. The turtles are attracted to lagoons and shoals with an abundance of marine grass and algae. Open beaches with a sloping platform and minimal disturbance are required for nesting. Green turtles apparently have a strong nesting site fidelity and often make long distance migrations between feeding grounds and nesting beaches. Hatchlings have been observed to seek refuge and food in Sargassum rafts.

Life and enjoy

　　
　　
　　When I started running, I had no idea what I was doing...I still don't. But when I started running, I would go as fast as I could for as long as I could (usually about a block) and then I would walk with my heart bursting out of my chest for a bit. Then when I no longer felt like I was dying, I would do it over, and over again. It was torturous and ridiculous.
In order to motivate myself I would imagine that I was an antelope leaping through the tall grasses, running away from a tiger. Never mind that antelope and tigers live on completely different continents, it worked for me and I stuck to it. So there I would go, the crazed antelope sprinting one block at a time and wondering what there was to love about running and how did some people make it look so easy?
Who knows how long I would have continued like this, but luckily family intervened and once I told them of my strategy and they were able to catch their breath from laughing at me, they explained the concept of building up my resistance slowly..... ahhh. Who would have thunk it?!
So then I started jogging slowly and found I was able to run for longer, slower periods of time without stopping and without feeling like I was about to become a cardiac patient. Before I knew it, I was running a mile, a very slow mile, but a mile none the less.
So that is why my new mantra is "slow and steady". But the truth is that I am not very steady either, so I'm sticking with slow and sweaty, both things I can do well.
As for the antelope, who knows? Maybe I'll resurrect the image if I ever decide to try to speed up. But for now, I'm sticking with the tortoise.