thewhimsyturtle:

International Turtle and Tortoise Week, Day 3
(Days 1 and 2)

A few years ago, I made a colorful new eraser turtle friend.  His shell was so purple I couldn’t resist booping it over and over!  💛💜🐢👀

Sometimes we hear about people painting real turtles’ shells bright colors like purple.  🚫  Please do not be one of those people!! 🚫 Putting anything on a turtle or tortoise’s shell interferes with UVB light absorption.  We turtles and tortoises need a lot of UVB for vitamin D to maintain healthy bones.  (Like how humans need vitamin D for healthy bones, but we need a lot more for our big shells!)  Paint or anything else on our shells ultimately weakens all our bones and makes us very sick!  (Not to mention paint chemicals can be toxic!)  😢

🚫  Relatedly, please do not ever drill or mark up a turtle or tortoise’s shell!  We can feel pain through our shells!  (For example, I am super ticklish around the back end of my shell.  If anything touches the back of my shell, I immediately jump like a rabbit and run away as fast as my leggies can go!)  😢

🌟  To sum up:  Leave turtle and tortoise shells the way they naturally are!  If you want to paint or scratch up a shell, stick to a non-living turtle like my eraser friend!

As we celebrate Earth Day AND International Turtle and Tortoise Week, our friend Kirby has some very important info about turtle and tortoise shells!

One of the greatest myths about turtles and tortoises is that they have no feeling in their shell.  THAT IS FALSE! We not only have many nerve endings in our shell, we have pores through which we absorb important vitamins from the sun! Our shells and spine are fused together! They are one! we can’t take our shells off. Silly humans!  Listen to Kirby! Be gentle and keep us chemical free! 

It makes perfect sense that #EarthDay overlaps with International Turtle and Tortoise week! One part of caring for our earth is caring for its most precious creatures, Obviously We turtles and torts are one of them!