Creature Feature: Leatherback Sea Turtle.

So, what is a leatherback, anyways? We gathered from the news video that it was an endangered sea turtle. How endangered? Are they really that rare? Let's find out!

Leatherback sea turtles are unique sea turtles in the genus Dermochelys. They are found worldwide, including around Japan. There are several subpopulations, but are all the same species as far as we know. Finding one in Japan would be unusual, but not unheard of. It's Japan we're talking about; all manner of odd spawns from those islands.

What's in a name? The main thing that sets a leatherback apart from other sea turtles: its lack of a carapace. Leatherbacks are effectively shell-less turtles. They have protrusions called osteoderms and ridges, but do not have a distinct, bony shell.  Their scales also lack beta keratin, which makes them unique among reptiles, and also lack true teeth.In other words, they're almost more torpedo than turtle. Make that a Pokemon: Tortpedo, Water/Steel, high speed for a turtle.

Leatherbacks are such oddball turtles that they are almost living fossils. The other members of this family evolved during the Late Cretaceous - AKA "that time with all the cool dinosaurs." Leatherbacks are the only extant members of their family; the rest of the carapace-less turtles are now extinct. They are also the largest extant turtles, getting up to 7 feet (roughly 2 meters) long. They are large, aerodynamic relics from the days of the dinosaurs. Enjoy.

Unfortunately, the news was right: Leatherbacks are indeed endangered. A fair amount of adults are caught by fishing. Although banned by CITES, some leatherbacks are indeed caught and traded (with some hopefully going to research projects - sorry, needed to point that out). A few are caught for meat, but generally, leatherbacks are not good turtle soup. The eggs are treated as a delicacy in Asia, however, which hits populations pretty hard. The only time the turtles are really vulnerable is when they're young, but they get hit hard and fast at that stage in life.

Y'know what? Despite being endangered, these turtles are not pandas. We actually have a very good reason to keep leatherback turtles alive. These things eat jellyfish. A lot of jellyfish. If I did not cover the jellyfish invasion in a previous entry, I should have. Our oceans are being overrun with jellyfish. We need sea turtles before the jellyfish take over the world.

NARBC 2012 Coverage.

First off, the turnout was more impressive than last year in some ways, but a letdown in others. The biggest bummer is that there's a frozen rodent shortage going around.  Literally nobody was selling mice. That sucked, to say the least.

So, here were the highlights:

Cold-Blooded Creatures had a display outside the hall.  Among their offerings was the legendary super-tame alligator, Bubba. Disclaimer: Results with alligators are not typical. It's obvious that the people who tamed Bubba had a ton of experience with alligators before handling him. RESULTS NOT TYPICAL; do not try this at home. 

The first thing I saw upon entry into the actual convention hall: So. Many. LEOS! Actually, they had a few fat-tails, too. I'm still intrigued by lizards after seeing so many wild ones in Rome. Leos have a ton of colors, including eye morphs. I will most likely get a lizard in the future, but exactly what kind remains to be seen. Leos are a good starter bet, though.

This woman had a baby leopard tortoise in her hand. People do that at these cons - you can find a few new owners showing off their catches to other collectors. I wouldn't recommend letting people who have been touching unknown reptiles handle your new pet, though. You don't know where those hands have been.

In case I never touched on them before, NERD (New England Reptile Distributors) is one of the biggest ball python breeders in the world. They invented the spider morph and use it frequently in their projects. The 'next big project' involves a new gene called "Lucifer." Someone loooooves them balls.

To put things in perspective: these hatchies (also from NERD) were probably in the 10,000 dollar range. For real.

Retics! I can't get enough of the wacky paint jobs that people give the largest snakes in the world. I know balls are the ideal pet snake in several aspects and have a plethora of colors and patterns, but there's something about retic patterns that keeps making me go "wow." These guys are a different type of albino than my usual, though...

...that's better. :)

Like most geckos, crested geckos can drop their tails to distract a potential predator. Unlike with most geckos, however, the tails do not grow back. The result is a cute little lizard with a very stumpy tail at a discount price. Don't worry- the stumpy tail is not genetic.

This yellow monitor seemed rather stressed in its little plastic display box. Don't worry - wherever it winds up, it'll have more space.

This seller had few more random lizards, including a basilisk - my personal favorite lizard, but not for beginners. I'm a little bit wary of this particular vendor, who has been here every year. The beauty snake I checked out there once looked like it may have been a wild-caught import...but on the flip-side, they always have some really cool, unique stuff.

 This skink was so cute! Another con purchase being shown the world by her new owner, this girl was sooo sweet! She liked being scratched behind the ears to the point where she would cuddle right into your hand for more. Unfortunately, she never showed her blue tongue to the camera.

Aaaand my own personal catch from the convention: a female hypo boa. She was sold for only 40 bucks by people donating money to help save an endangered Siamese crocodile. Boa constrictors are a sort of standard introductory 'big snake' for people who aren't sure if they can handle a Burm, but still want to lean towards larger reptiles. They're also extremely photogenic; if you see a beautiful woman with a large snake, chances are it's a boa or Burmese python. So, yes, I am well aware of how big a boa can get.

P.S. - another bio-artist was sighted. She will get a free plug Monday. ;)

Creature Feature: Eastern Snake-Necked Turtle.

ReptileFest is awesome. For those of you who aren't so into reptiles, ReptileFest is an annual convention in Chicago with snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and a ton of cool merch. It's not as hardcore as a breeder convention, and is a good crash course in reptiles for those of you who are just curious about scaly creatures. We certainly have plenty of people into reptiles, here, including some in-state Burm breeders!

That said, I was bound to find some good blog fodder there. My own photos will be up on this blog tomorrow, but for now, please make due with one of the very few turtles on this blog thus far:



Looking like a snake did it with a turtle, the common snake-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) is probably one of the freakiest  turtles on the planet. It is native to the swamps, lakes and slow-moving rivers of Queensland down to Southern Australia, the land where monsters are born. It eats any animals small enough to fit in its mouth, so mostly fish, insects, and worms.

Starting with the obvious again, that neck is probably the longest, proportionately, amongst turtles. It can stretch longer than the turtle's carapace - which is all of its body, by the way. It has to bend its head sideways to fit it into its shell rather than withdrawing completely.



Aside from its strange appearance, this turtle has at least one odd thing about it: It stinks. No, really. When threatened, snake-necked turtles musk like certain ratsnakes do. If their smell is anything close to what some snakes can produce, it is definitely worthy of the nickname "stinker."

It's really a shame I'm not more of a turtle person. I'm sure there are plenty of weird turtles out there, but I don't look at them enough to pick out the particularly outlandish ones. Fear not, turtle fans; vote on my next poll for a Turtle Week and this problem shall be remedied.

"They Actually Eat That:" Turtle Soup.

If you have ever read/watched a non-Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, you might have heard of a little something called "turtle soup." In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a gryphon and a mock turtle (to be discussed later) sing about the joy that is turtle soup.

But that's just Alice in Wonderland's doing, right? That book has trials about stolen tarts and other crazy things. For all we know, turtle soup might be something Carroll thought up while on drugs. I mean, who would think that a turtle would be appetizing? Right?



Nnnnope! Turtle soup is unfortunately very real, and is enjoyed by almost every continent with access to turtles. Freshwater, saltwater, doesn't matter - if a place has turtles, there is a good chance it has turtle soup. It's usually made with the meat or blood of a turtle. Hell, turtle soup is one of the few foods the U.S. has in common with Europe and China.

That said, turtle soup is illegal in most parts of the United States (which is probably why it's so obscure here). Back before we cared about things like sustainability,  the ideal turtle for soup required a turtle that was around ten pounds in weight. When we say "turtle" in this case, by the way, we are usually talking about either snapping turtles or green sea turtles. Yes, those sea turtles are the exact same kind that you see burying eggs on nature channels. Most of them are endangered, and a lot of other turtle species are vulnerable to over-hunting. Now you know why this soup's illegal in the States.

China is a whole different story. In China, soft-shelled turtles are farmed more or less sustainably. Hard-shelled turtles are avoided in soup for a number of reasons, but can still be made into jelly. Turtle soup is popular in China and Singapore to the degree that China has over 1,500 registered turtle farms. They're probably more economical and ecologically-friendly than pigs and cattle, but don't quote me on it.



As for Europe, they not only have turtle soup, but also...mock turtle soup. Technically, the 'turtle' singing in the Alice story is a mock turtle. Although no good description is given in the book, the artist drew the not-turtle as a bizarre mix between sea turtle and calf. The reason for this? Mock turtle soup utilizes a calf's less-palatable parts, such as the brains, horns, and hooves, in its making:

"Mrs. Fowle's Mock Turtle Soup,:^[3] "Take a large calf's head. Scald off the hair. Boil it until the horn is tender, then cut it into slices about the size of your finger, with as little lean as possible. Have ready three pints of good mutton or veal broth, put in it half a pint of Madeira wine, half a teaspoonful of thyme, pepper, a large onion, and the peel of a lemon chop't very small. A ¼ of a pint of oysters chop't very small, and their liquor; a little salt, the juice of two large onions, some sweet herbs, and the brains chop't. Stand all these together for about an hour, and send it up to the table with the forcemeat balls made small and the yolks of hard eggs." (Wikipedia. citing an old cookbook.)

Yeah. I'd take real turtle soup over that any day.

Creature Feature: Mata mata

Turtles are cute, slow, lovable and most of them would not hurt a fly. Some of them would not mind a vertebrate now and again, but for the most part, they are one of the least objectionable reptiles in the world. It's hard to have a turtle-phobia.


AAAH, REPTILES! Oh, wait...those are actually kinda cute.

Nature just had to make one of the fish-eating turtles as ugly as possible:


Remember, turtles are naturally adorable.

Meet the matamata (Chelus fimbriatus), a turtle native to the Amazon River and some of the surrounding swamps. It is very lazy and very flat; quite easy to mistake for leaves or driftwood from above. Like the three-toed sloth, algae growing on its carapace makes its camouflage even better. It has a 'horn' that allows it to get air while barely moving a muscle. The matamata is probably the real version of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.



Hanging down from its face and neck are fleshy little projections. Nobody really knows what these are for; they could add to the matamata's already superb camouflage, serve as subtle lures or even be sensory adaptations.



As unsuspecting fish draw near, the matamata opens its mouth to create a small vacuum. Like something out of a cartoon, the fish are sucked in. The matamata cannot chew due to its odd mouth, but with a contraption like that, it does not need to.



Mata mata are native to humid environments. Although they are available in the exotic pet trade, they are not a beginner's turtle; not only are they expensive, but they like slightly acidic water with a high tannin content. If all of that just went WAY over your head, you can't have one.