Reader Divy Figueroa and her husband Ivan Alfonso, both of whom run an exotic-animal vet operation in Florida, also have their own menagerie. And today they are proud to announce the birth of two rare tortoises among the dozens that they keep at home. Photos and text (by Divy) are below, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Forsten’s tortoise, better known as the Sulawesi tortoise (Indotestudo forstenii), is native to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Adults can reach between 10-12 inches. Ivan was lucky to see one in situ when he visited there several years ago, but, due to deforestation and mining, they are severely declining in numbers.
This baby hatched on January 30 of this year. He is the second baby hatched on our premises. Although the first was found in the pen with the parents, this one was incubated.
I placed him next to our first-born who was found in August of 2022, so you can see the difference in size. [JAC: a difference of about a year and a half]
Here’s a picture of an adult male (ours) for reference.
The last is a lagniappe I’m sure you’ll appreciate 😻 (JAC: It’s Jango, one of my favorite kitties!):
Here’s a newborn Heosemys spinosa, whose common name is the spiny turtle. They can be found all through Southeast Asia, though ours come from Sumatra. They are land dwellers, but like to be in shallow water. This is our first hatchling.
Notice how when fresh out of the egg, they retain the egg shape, but only for a while. They flatten out, and with their sharp ends, they resemble a ninja star. They lose this trait as they grow. Here is the baby in different stages of expansion, and an adult female for reference. This baby also hatched this January 30.
What a fascinating profession. I can just imagine the excitement of seeing that egg hatch and watching the wee ones develop. Interesting.
How neat! Where do the spiny turtles’ spines on the sides come from? Are they flattened down while in the egg, then gradually come up? Or are they added? I know those sound like ignorant questions, but I’ve never seen something like that and need to be educated! Jango must have quite a few interesting beings to smell and check out in your house!
The sides are just folded in while forming in the egg, but once they hatch, they slowly flatten out. This baby flattened out within a matter of hours. It was cool to see it play it out in real time.
I never knew I’d learn new things about tortoises or turtles before this website!
Awesome! I love turtles and have forgiven the pizza-sized snapping turtle that almost took my finger off when I was a teenager. It was my fault for trying to retrieve my fishing worm from its mouth. (Duh.) That turtle’s snap was as fast as lightning and as powerful as a whack with a sledgehammer. After not seeing him for 40 years, the first thing that the friend who was with me when I was bitten wanted to do was to see the scar on my finger. One doesn’t readily forget being bitten by a snapping turtle.
Beautiful photos of tortoises. Who doesn’t love turtles and tortoises?
Thank you for sharing, Jerry.
Coincidentally, I watched an archived PBS documentary yesterday on the increasingly negative impact of an expanding raven population on tortoise populations in the American Southwest.
I love ravens for their intelligence, but their intelligence also allows them to follow the expansion of human populations into formerly inhospitable desert areas that host tortoises.
Given the opportunities provided by dumpsters at freeway service stations, and by the discards of sloppy tourists at rest areas, ravens have also learned that baby tortoises are excellent sources of protein.
And an increasing percentage of ravens are learning to harvest adult tortoises of reproductive age as well. As a result, tortoise populations (and other vulnerable desert populations) are plummeting.
The well-made documentary (“Tortoise in Peril”) aired on PBS in 2018, but I think it was produced in 2015. I was able to access it with a PBS “Passport” subscription.
I also just found it on YouTube and Vimeo. The YouTube link may have ads, and I can’t provide a link to Vimeo because of “privacy settings.”
The documentary is primarily the product of Tim Branning (“Topic Productions”), who was director, writer, editor, and photographer. (He died in November 2023.)
(And, apparently, there are also problems with providing links to YouTube.)
Even though the link isn’t working, I’m going to try to find that on YouTube. Thanks for mentioning it.
When I first moved here (Tucson) in 1989 I once encountered a very large desert tortoise that was, in fact, so large (and strong) that I couldn’t hold him back from walking away from me. He was huge! I was thrilled to have met him, felt so blessed, and, yes, their numbers are dwindling. I’ve certainly never been lucky enough to see one so large again. That tortoise (and the monsoons) had much to do with the beginning of my long lasting love affair with the Sonoran Desert.
I trust you’ll find and see the documentary. You may notice that there is no mention of crows, though crows are known to congregate, whereas ravens tend to be solitary. I wonder if all the congregating birds in the documentary really are ravens…
Fascinating – and beautiful photos, thanks!
Incredible. I didn’t know that they are the shape of the egg and then expand. Cool. Love the little guy with his eye peering out into the world. You do great work.
Oh these are so great. Awesome photos and love that you showed (and explained) their hatching/growing process. Really special! What a winner this set is. Love it!