Mata Mata Turtle



Tampa Bay
Turtle & Tortoise
Society, Inc.


Wood Turtle



Monthly Newsletter
February 2020 Issue

Meeting Date: February 8, 2020, starts at 7:00pm.
Guest speaker: Dr. Jeff Goessling on Conservation Ecology of the Gopher Tortoise.

Misc Notes
Please update your email information with Ralph Till at rascal1843@aol.com. We only use this
information for club business and it helps for club members to stay up to date on any last minutes
changes that may occur. It will also help ensure that you receive your electronic copy of our
monthly newsletter.
If you would like to submit an article or pictures to be published in the next upcoming newsletter,
please email it to Kim at sparty@tampabay.rr.com. Please submit by the end of the month to be
published in the next month’s newsletter.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the officers listed below:
Elected & Appointed Officers
President - Ralph Till
727-515-7443 Rascal1843@aol.com
Vice President – Mark Randall
20smoke@mindspring.com

Treasurer/Membership - Ralph Till
727-515-7443 Rascal1843@aol.com
Secretary/Public Relations - Kim Illum
sparty@tampabay.rr.com

Newsletter Editor – Mark & Kim Illum
sparty@tampabay.rr.com
Facebook Coordinator – Ralph, Mark R & Kim
https://www.facebook.com/groups/704741876316303/
New Website under construction:
http://www.tbtts.org/



RALPH'S RAMBLINGS
Hello Everyone,
Already a month has passed in this new year, it seems as if the time just flies by anymore. With that being
said, some of you with tortoises might already start seeing some egg laying action. I know that my
Egyptian group has started to lay eggs.
Three months ago I received a call from a woman who observed a Yellow Belly laying eggs in her dirt
road. Fearing that they might get squished, she asked if I could remove them. So I dug them up and
simply placed them in a container on a shelf in my tortoise room. Well you guessed it, 90 days later I have
some baby Yellow Bellies. In a few weeks I'll add them to the turtle tank at the Park. Some of the current
tank residents are soon to be displaced to the turtle pond next to the classroom.
As you are quite aware, I keep asking for individual members to write a short article on their turtle/tortoise
projects. My intent is that you can share your stories, whether good or bad, so that we can all benefit from
your experiences. This is how we learn what to do or not to do. I've spoken with several individuals over
the last month or so and they have excellent stories (me included) that we all should learn from.
This past Saturday, February 1st, will have been the Fantastic Beasts of Moccasin Lake. Gary Foster and
myself dressed up like idiots and represented the Tampa Bay Turtle & Tortoise Society, Inc. I'll have a full
report at the meeting.
A special thank you to John Coakley for his presentation at our last month's meeting. Not only is he a
friend, but literally an unending source of information about turtles and tortoises.
This month our speaker is Dr. Jeff Goessling. Jeff is a professor at Eckerd College in St Pete and his
presentation is on Conservation Ecology of the Gopher Tortoise. I encourage all of you to attend as Jeff is
an excellent speaker.
So much for now, I'll see everyone on the 8th.
Ralph Till
Rascal1843@aol.com
PS; remember that we start at 7:00








Re-Cap from last month’s meeting
Last month’s guest speaker John Coakley. He has been keeping/breeding turtles and tortoises for
around 60 years. We learned what he use to do in the beginning vs how things have changed as
time went on from husbandry to feeding.








Upcoming Club Speakers
March 14, 2020 – Marc Cantos with The TurtleSource
April 11, 2020 – TBD
May 9, 2020 – TBD
June 13, 2020 – TBD
July 11, 2020 – TBD
August 8, 2020 – TBD
September 12, 2020 – No speaker, this is our annual auction
October 10, 2020 – TBD
November 14, 2020 – No guest speaker, this is our annual election night (current members only)
December 12, 2020 – No guest speaker, our annual Christmas party (current members only)

NOTE: If you would be interested in doing a talk, pls contact Ralph Till at Rascal1843@aol.com for
additional information.

Upcoming Club Events
***VOLUNTEERS NEEDED***** The Repticon Tampa is approaching us quickly. We need some volunteers
would like to sit at our table and pass out info for the club. Ideally it would be great to have 2 people each day.
The shift would be split this way you’ll have time to walk around the show before/after. Saturday hours are
9am-5pm, but would need to start at 8:30 to set up table; Sunday hours are 10am-4pm but would need to stay
past to break table down.

If you are interested in volunteering for a certain time/area, pls contact – Ralph Till at Rascal1843@aol.com
or let him know at the next upcoming meeting.

Upcoming reptile shows
Repticon Orlando – February 15th & 16th 2020
Repticon Tampa – February 22nd & 23rd 2020 – volunteers needed
Repticon Kissimmee – May 23rd & 24th 2020
Repticon Tampa – June 13th & 14th 2020 – volunteers needed
Repticon Orlando – July 25th & 26th 2020
Repticon Sarasota – August 1st & 2nd 2020
Daytona National Reptile Breeders Expo – August 20th – 23rd 2020
Repticon FIRE show – September 5th & 6th 2020
Repticon Kissimmee – October 24th & 25th 2020
Repticon Tampa – November 14th & 15th 2020 – volunteers needed
Repticon Orlando – December 5th & 6th 2020




Hello everyone,
Last month I had mentioned that I was having trouble incubating my tortoise eggs. We briefly talked about
our incubator setups. I would like to share what I have changed with my incubation setup and share the
success that I have had. The original temperature I had my incubator set at was 84 degrees. When Ralph came
over, we measured the actual temperature of the eggs with an infrared thermometer. We found that the eggs
were much cooler than what I had the incubator set at. We raised the temperature to 90 degrees. Another
thing I did was raise the incubator off of the floor with a piece of styrofoam. Fast forward to a few days ago, I
had my first egg start to pip. Sadly, the little hatchling didn’t survive. It hatched out under- developed with a
large yolk sac. One thought that could have caused this was the change in incubator temperature. The next
evening the other Hermann’s egg started to pip and when I woke up the next morning it was all the way out of
the egg. I kept it in the incubator for a few more days until its yolk sac was completely absorbed. Currently, I
have it in a nursery setup and it is doing well. I hope that this is valuable information regarding incubator
temperatures for the novice hobbyist.
Thanks,
Connor Belfiglio



Turtles/Tortoises Videos
Turtle Crossing Guide:

https://www.facebook.com/david.verburg/videos/10156529106300689/UzpfSTE4ODY1NjY2ND
Y0OTc5NDoxMzU3NjQyMTI0NDE3OTAz/\

This sea turtle is pinned between two GIANT rocks:

https://www.facebook.com/thedodosite/videos/2198889207085463/?v=2198889207085463

Sea turtle get to swim again with prosthetic flipper:

https://www.facebook.com/DailyMail/videos/1028710280839528/?v=1028710280839528

Turtles/Tortoises in the News
Gumbo the Turtle Saved From Crawfish Boil at Toons Bar:

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140417/wrigleyville/gumbo-turtle-saved-from-crawfish-
boil-at-toons-bar.amp/#
Smugglers nabbed nearly 6,000 protected turtles from Florida to be sold as pets in China:

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/fl-ne-turtle-smugglers-sentenced-20200116-
4srxwpny3vgnplkmqzksaia4bq-story.html?fbclid=IwAR345GkHWHmIZSEpBlc9en7-
jHvxM07V9i5tT20bDmBs_nrwwyXbUtP6XNY
This playboy tortoise has reproduced so much he may have saved his entire species:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/sci-tech/this-playboy-tortoise-has-reproduced-so-much-he-may-
have-saved-his-entire-species-
1.4763228?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A%20Trending%20Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem
&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR03S40-XT12ezxcQUXzXrhKMJps4o-
7pOMcAO24Scf91m5Dzrt1MPEspFs

Kidz Korner

Turtle/Tortoise Tender Tales (rescue stories)
This rescue story is brought to you from Central MS Turtle Rescue:


5/6/19 5/6/19


5/6/19 11/20/19
One of my favorite parts about winter (aside from things slowing down a tiny bit and us getting a bit of a
break) is seeing the progress that some of our patients from earlier in the year have made. This is one
that blows me away every time I see him. This is Alban. He got hit by a car in early May. As you can see,
the whole right side of him was essentially flattened. His coelomic membrane was shredded, and you
could plainly see organs from the outside of his body. My first instinct was to euthanize him. I just wasn't
convinced he could survive that kind of trauma. We decided to give him a chance, though, and I'm so
glad we did. We wired the heck out of that shell, kept him free of infection, and managed his pain while
he recuperated. He's healed up remarkably well. He did wind up losing one section of his shell, but the
scar tissue has already started hardening up where the shell used to be. He should be ready for release
when it warms up in spring.
Regards,
Christy and Luke Milbourne
Central MS Turtle Rescue
Please visit our website to see more of the rehabs we currently have or if you may need additional information
about re-homing/adopting a future pet, please visit: http://centralmsturtlerescue.weebly.com/
Also like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/centralmsturtlerescue

Classified Section
You may place your animals, items, services that you have for sale in the club’s newsletter. Ads will
run month to month and you must renew it for every month that you would like. Ads are free to up
to date/paid members, or $5.00 per month ($8.00 for 2 months) for non-members.

Adoptions
Looking to re-home out your reptile? Place a free ad for any reptile that you are looking to adopt
out (free ads are for reptiles which does NOT have a re-homing fee).

Advertising Rates
1/8th Page = $8 per issue or $75 per year (savings of $21).
1/4th Page = $11 per issue or $100 per year (savings of $32).
1/2 Page = $16 per issue or $150 per year (savings of $42).
Full Page = $25 per issue or $225 per year (savings of $75).
Pricing includes art/graphics/color, however you send the advertisement will be published in our
electronic newsletter.

Please email over the Classified/Adoptions/Advertisement info by the end of the month to: Kim at
sparty@tampabay.rr.com
All payments for advertisements should be sent directly to:
Moccasin Lake Nature Park
c/o Tampa Bay Turtle & Tortoise Society, Inc.
2750 Park Trail Ln.
Clearwater, FL 33759


Smelt Feed & Pet Supply has gracefully
offered to give us a $15.00 gift certificate
each month for our monthly raffle. Stop by
their store and see what they have:
4116 East 7th Ave. Tampa, FL 33605
www.smeltfeed.com
https://www.facebook.com/SmeltFeed


Other Herp Societies
The Turtle & Tortoise Club of Florida – Orlando Chapter
Meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7pm
Location: Oakland Nature Preserve, 747 Machete Trail, Oakland, FL 34787
Suncoast Herpetological Society Inc.
website: http://www.kingsnake.com/suncoastherpsociety/SHSHome.htm
meets on the 4th Saturday of the month at 6:00pm.
Location: Moccasin Lake Nature Park 2750 Park Trail Ln. Clearwater, FL 33759
Central Florida Herpetological Society
website: Centralfloridaherpsociety.org
meets on the 4th Sunday of every other month at 2:00 PM but you want to be there between 1:00 -
1:30 PM for parking
Location: Orlando Public Library, Downtown Branch, Anderson Room 3rd Floor, 101 East Central
Blvd Orlando, FL 32801
Calusa Herpetological Society
website: calusaherp.org
meets on the first Thursday at 7:00 PM
Location: In the Iona house at the Calusa Nature Center
Jacksonville Herpetological Society
website: jaxherp.tripod.com
meets first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 PM
Location: Museum of Science and History (MOSH), Museum circle, Jacksonville, FL






Membership and Newsletter subscription form
Annual membership fee: $20.00 per year, and the membership includes:
- Electronic Monthly newsletter sent to your email address
- Free Classified’s in newsletter (members only) as well as low cost
advertisement rates.
- Annual Auction, Christmas Party, and Office Elections
- Monthly Meetings in an indoor classroom setting that consists of the
following:
- Different guest speaker each month
- Raffle Prizes
- Info about upcoming events/reptile shows/field trips/etc..

Date/Time: Meets the 2nd Saturday of every month at 7:00pm
Meeting Address: Moccasin Lake Nature Park 2750 Park Trail Ln.
Clearwater, FL 33759
Complete the form below and bring it with you to the next upcoming meeting
or mail it along with payment to:
Moccasin Lake Nature Park
c/o Tampa Bay Turtle & Tortoise Society, Inc.
2750 Park Trail Ln.
Clearwater, FL 33759
Check one:
_______ New Membership _______ Membership Renewal
Name: _________________________________________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zipcode: ___________________________________________________________________
Email: _______________________________________ Phone#: ________________________________

NOTE: We would never sell or trade your information. This information is strictly for club use only.
Answer Key