Sea Turtle Pictures
Pictures of sea turtles
Sea turtle playing in the beach
Picture: Sea turtles
Image of sea turtle
Photo of a sea turtle - swimming
Sea turtle image - this one looks like a bird in the sea?
Blue sea turtle
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']]}Sea Turtle Pictures
Sea Turtle Pictures
Pictures of sea turtles
Sea turtle playing in the beach
Picture: Sea turtles
Image of sea turtle
Photo of a sea turtle - swimming
Sea turtle image - this one looks like a bird in the sea?
Blue sea turtle
The Box Tortoise and Hibernation
The Box Tortoise is one of the hibernating tortoises. It is a common tortoise in USA and Europe, and unlike other turtles and tortoises, it is adapted for the cold weather in those areas. If you have a box tortoise as a pet, you will have to prepare him or her for the long winter that follows.
As soon as the days start to be shorter, the turtle will begin to be less active, and it will become slow. Soon, she will enter in hibernation, the latent state in which some animals sleep. The temperature of the body and the metabolism are reduced, and this is the way the tortoise gets over the winter.
However, why would a healthy reptile that has enough food need to hibernate? Well, the world simply does not have enough resources to understand hibernation, but it is clearly that this determines the health of the animal. The healthy tortoises deposit reserves of fat in the anterior period before hibernation. If they are not allowed to hibernate, the tortoise will become obese. It is considered that hibernation is necessary for the thyroid gland. There are also proves that hibernation helps the immune system. Hibernation is probably necessary in case you want your turtle to reach the maximum life.
In their natural environment, many tortoises hibernate from October to the end of February, or even at the beginning of April. The tortoises dig into the ground, isolating from the temperature modifications.
In captivity, the tortoises might not hibernate at all. As long as they have food and heat, they might not need it. Encouraging the tortoise to hibernate means to create an environment as close as possible to the real one, and also the reduction of temperature and light.
The box turtle that wants to hibernate will not have appetite anymore. If the environment and the lifestyle allows, she will begin to dig a hideout where she will spend the winter.
For a box tortoise, it is important to know a few things: 1. Did she hibernated before? Did she eat well? Was she consulted by a veterinarian?
The box tortoises and the ones that were kept at improper temperatures are not suited for hibernation. If you were able to record the weight of your pet, or if you don’t have a clear history of the box tortoise, it is better to leave hibernation for the next year.
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The Egyptian Tortoise
The African Spurred Tortoise
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']]}Characteristics of the Sulcata Tortoise
The Sulcata tortoise is a species coming from North Africa, but which lives in the South East of Europe, and in the Middle Orient. It is frequently met in the Mediterranean Basin. It prefers the semi-desert areas, with dunes of sand. However, it also likes the forests, and it can reach altitudes of 1000 meters.
The length of the carapace is of 20-25 centimeters, but some can reach 3.5 centimeters. The surface of the shell is smooth and rounded, and the grey color has black dots. The carapace has a yellow green color. For males, it is concave, and for the young exemplars and the adult females, the carapace is flatter. The smell is the most important sense, but the Sulcata tortoise also sees perfectly, and it can distinguish colors and shapes. The Sulcata tortoise needs to spend the first hours of the day in the sun, with the goal of increasing the body temperature, and to reactivate the metabolism.
During the reproductive period, which takes place at the end of May, the female lays 2-8 eggs in humid soil. She digs the holes with the posterior members. She is pretty fast, being able to dig in one quarter of hour. She uses the force of members and the sharp claws for that, and then she covers the hole with sand, to protect them from predators and cold. After 2-3 months, the eggs hatch, and the little tortoises start their fight for survival. They are an easy prey for birds, and their carapace is soft, so they are a wanted prey for all kinds of predators.
The small turtles reach sexual maturity around the age of 14, and they can survive in captivity for 100 years. Their food is mainly composed of dry leaf, but also insects and worms. In conditions of captivity, the tortoise eats salad, citric fruits, bread and milk. However, they always need leaf for fibers and calcium. This type of tortoise is a vulnerable species and it is threatened by extinction.
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In the world of terrestrial animal life, protecting the tortoise is mandatory. The decline of this species represents a barometer of the health of the entire ecosystem. Despite the legislation that protects the tortoises, those are still exploited for meat and eggs. Moreover, the habitats of tortoises are destroyed by the expansion of urban areas, and hundreds of exemplars die every year because of deforestation. With the current dying rate, the majority of tortoises will disappear in about 20 years. The future of the tortoise is unsafe if we can’t evaluate the dimensions of the disaster.
The tortoise is proverbial by its longevity, and only a few people know that it never gets old. The tortoises don’t die of age, they die because of diseases, and so many times, they end up dying of hunger, because at a venerable age, they simply don’t want to look for food anymore.
Researches show that the internal organs of the tortoise, even for the old exemplars have the same characteristics as the ones of a young one. In the Zoo of Calcutta, an exemplar that was supposed to be 250 years old died, but the internal organs looked exactly like the ones of a young one. It is possible to find tortoises that are even older, but this is not easy to prove.
The researchers were not able to find a logical explanation for this phenomenon. It is likely for the secret of longevity to be connected with the eating habits. The tortoises are omnivores usually, so they eat what they find, including vegetables, fruits, animals and insects.
There are more than 320 species of tortoises, spread around all the continents, with the exception or Antarctica. They are heavily protected against the predators, as their carapace is impenetrable. Under this aspect, the most dangerous enemy of the tortoise is the humankind, as they use them for food but also as pets.
One of the most important examples of extinct species is the one of Galapagos Islands. Here, several years ago, tortoises of 1.3 meters length and with a weight of 300 kilograms existed. For tourists, they are a great attraction, but there are even bigger exemplars. Those can only be found in their natural habitat, and they can weight almost one ton.
All the tortoises reproduce with eggs, which are buried by the female in the sand. The female leaves the eggs immediately after, and this is one of the most important reasons for which the tortoises don’t reach maturity in the majority of time. The babies hatch in 1-12 months, depending on the type of tortoise. Before mating, the female is courted by several males, which have to fight, and sometimes they hurt themselves pretty bad. However, nobody dies in this duel.
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The Indian Star Tortoise
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This tortoise has a length of about 28 centimeters, and it weights about 7 kilograms. The carapace is bold, and it has several shields with drawings in the shape of stars, with black and brown rays. The head and members are brown with yellow spots, and they are thicker at the extremities. The tale is also thick, but it is hidden under the shell.
The tortoise has a terrestrial and nocturne lifestyle. During the rainy period, it is always looking for food, and during the dry season, it is active during the morning and in the evening. When the heat is extreme, the tortoise stays under bushes. Being an herbivore species, the food usually is represented of weeds, plants, flowers and fruits.
The species stays in the Monsoon area, as it needs much water. The female lays 5-9 eggs in holes. The incubation period lasts from 50 to 140 days. The life duration is 80 years on average. It can be raised in captivity as a pet, but only in areas with humidity of ore than 90 % and in a temperature of 24-30 degrees. The Indian Star Turtle is a part f the Testudines family. It is a vulnerable species, as the number of exemplars was dramatically reduced because of the illegal commerce made in India with this tortoise. The problem is that this type of commerce can be hardly controlled, and that the governments from those areas don’t allot funds for preserving it. Only the non-governmental organizations are still preoccupied about this species, but it seems like its only hope is to be sent to some other places where they will be taken care of.
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The Pinta Island Tortoise
The Pancake Tortoise
The Greek Tortoise
The Russian Tortoise
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Taking Care of a Baby Tortoise
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