thewhimsyturtle:

Happy Leap Day!

To celebrate my first ever Leap Day, I got a ribbit-y concert from a wooden frog Mommy got at a Christmas market a few months ago. I loved his ribbit-ribbit so much that I did the tortie equivalent of a standing ovation: Poo!

(That face you see me making at the end of the video? That’s my poo face!)

aww we want to keep celebrating you first leap year 24 hours later! Nom it Kirby! And lets keep it real.. did you make a poo after this video was taken? 

we hope your humom is feeling better!! giver her exta hugs from us. 

“Don’t worry little fella, in about a hundred years or so you will be that big too!” Picture: Toby Zerna

This gorgeous, 94-year-old, Galapagos tortoise is mom to 4-year-old NJ and 2  hatchlings a little under a year old. These 4 are the first successful Galapagos Tortoise births in Austrailia. 

Their keeper, Jordan Michelmore, recently moved from big cat care to being the keeper in charge of this tortoise family (and several over Galapagos tortoises) at the Western Plains Zoo. 

They have, as we tortie lovers would expect, taught Ms. Machelmore a lesson about the true nature of tortoises. They aren’t the dull ‘rocks with legs’ so many assume. 

“They really do have so much personality,” she said. “They’re very curious — some of them really want to know what’s going on.

“They just seem to want to be around people, so they might follow you around when you’re doing some cleaning or something like that.”

(Read More at: The Daily Telegraph, Via Perthnow.com.au) 

turtleconservancy:

It seems this hatchling Flat-tailed Tortoise (Pyxis planicauda) has picked up a hitchhiker! 

Well sometimes the tortoise taxi is ok. When you’re both small and sorta slow team work can be fortuitous 🙂 

andtototoo:

Got to tortoise sit this lil lady
thebeachbumm‘s pride n joy

Basking in your own glory! 

Happy Belated Hatch Date to these ~100 Loggerhead Sea turtles, who hatched and made their way to the ocean last Friday night. The incredible event was seen live by viewers of the Florida Keys streaming “Turtle Cam” and, thankfully, recorded for the rest of us to see.

Bon Voyage, little ones!

Read more about the cool camera being used to protect the hatchlings below and click the link and check out on the Turtle Cam’s website. 

(Source: Fla-Keys.com TurtleCam)

Friday, July 25, about 100, 3-inch-long loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings made their way from the nest to the ocean’s edge just before 9 p.m. (ET)

Using infrared lighting, a live-streaming, high-definition “turtle webcam” positioned on a beach in the Florida Keys recorded the hatch.

The camera uses infrared lighting so hatchlings won’t be confused by artificial light and will go to sea – guided by moonlight reflecting on the water — instead of pushing further onto land.

The webcam is part of ongoing efforts in the Florida Keys to raise awareness of sea turtles and the need to protect them.

Loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles nest on beaches in the Florida Keys and other parts of Florida, or inhabit Florida and Keys waters. All five species are considered either threatened or endangered.

From mid-April through October each year, these turtles crawl ashore at night to dig their nests and lay eggs. A female turtle typically lays about 100 eggs and covers them with sand before returning to the water, leaving the nest alone.

Approximately two months later, the hatchlings struggle free of the nest and rush toward the sea, guided by moonlight reflecting off open water.

Any artificial light, including flashlights and flash cameras, can disturb and disorient the turtles, interrupting the natural process. Laws prohibit people from touching or disturbing hatchlings, nests and nesting turtles.