Pictures of the family

My husband was finally able to get pictures of all of the tortoises minus Maizer who we have many pictures of on this blog already. Enjoy!
The Russian Tortoises, Bucky B and Lucy


The Sulcata Meepster

Here is Mr. Badat mugging for the camera!!!






The Red-foot tortoise Teeters.

My baby girl Ticky.

And finally our new little baby Mattie.

Please welcome the new addition to the family

She is a cherry-head red-foot tortoise. We have named her Mattie and she is about the size of an english muffin. Mostly all she does right now is sleep and eat, just like most babies.Here are some pictures of her.

Turbo Tortoise

My husband is a gearhead and we have a variety of car parts hanging about the apartment. He thought it would be amusing for his message board if he took a picture of Maizer with his turbo for his car with a tag line something like "everyone wants a turbo". I thought the picture was cute so I thought I would share.

Who said tortoises aren't smart?

Well whoever said it, the information obviously didn't get to Miz Maizer. Here she is looking for a good book to read.

I wanna be a stuffed animal too!

Well Ms. Maizer has found my stuffed animals..now she wants to be one of them. What will she think of next????

Sorry for the lapse in postings

The tortoises because of the change in weather from Summer to Fall have been doing what tortoises do when it gets cooler....sleep. Nothing new to report from them. But I am sure Daisy Mae will be up and about as soon as she adjusts to this new temperature.

Driving Ms. Daisy

Well as a joke, Todd and a friend of his who both drive and race Dodge Neon SRT-4's on a 1/4 mile dragway close by decided to take a picture of Miz. Maizer driving the car. Here she is looking like she owns the road!

Glad she doesn't get out more....she may learn how to drive this thing yet!

Interesting Turtle and Tortoise Facts

Thank you to the Animal Planet website www.animal.discovery.com.

Veterinary & Aquatic Services Department, Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc.

Some interesting facts about turtles and tortoises:

Turtles have been on the earth for more than 200 million years. They evolved before mammals, birds, crocodiles, snakes, and even lizards.

The earliest turtles had teeth and could not retract their heads, but other than this, modern turtles are very similar to their original ancestors.
Several species of turtles can live to be over a hundred years of age including the American Box Turtle.

One documented case of longevity involves an adult Indian Ocean Giant Tortoise that when captured as an adult was estimated to be fifty years old. It then lived another 152 years in captivity.

Turtles live on every continent except Antarctica

Turtles will live in almost any climate warm enough to allow them to complete their breeding cycle

While most turtles do not tolerate the cold well, the Blanding's turtle has been observed swimming under the ice in the Great Lakes region

Turtles range in size from the 4-inch Bog Turtle to the 1500-pound Leathery Turtle
North America contains a large variety of turtle species, but Europe contains only two species of turtle and three species of tortoise

The top domed part of a turtle's shell is called the carapace and the bottom underlying part is called the plastron

The shell of a turtle is made up of 60 different bones all connected together

The bony portion of the shell is covered with plates (scutes) that are derivatives of skin and offer additional strength and protection

Most land tortoises have high domed carapaces that offer protection from the snapping jaws of terrestrial predators. Aquatic turtles tend to have flatter more aerodynamically shaped shells. An exception to the dome-shaped tortoise shell is the Pancake Tortoise of East Africa that will wedge itself between narrow rocks when threatened and then inflates itself with air making extraction nearly impossible

Most turtle species have five toes on each limb with a few exceptions including the American Box Turtle of the carolina species that only has four toes, and in some cases, only three

Turtles have good eyesight and an excellent sense of smell. Hearing and sense of touch are both good and even the shell contains nerve endings

Some aquatic turtles can absorb oxygen through the skin on their neck and cloacal areas allowing them to remain submerged underwater for extended periods of time and enabling them to hibernate underwater

Turtles are one of the oldest and most primitive groups of reptiles and have outlived many other species. One can only wonder if their unique shell is responsible for their success