Life Unscripted with Kevin Shook
Welcome to 'Life Unscripted with Kevin Shook', a heartening podcast where embracing vulnerability is the key to success. Join your host, Kevin, as he dives into the stories of remarkable individuals who have transformed their lives by opening up, facing challenges, and finding strength in their most vulnerable moments. Each episode features inspiring conversations with guests from various walks of life. Kevin's journey of embracing vulnerability has led him to meet amazing people, and now he brings their wisdom, laughter, and insights to you. Tune in and discover how embracing your vulnerabilities can lead to your greatest victories in life, both personally & professionally.
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Life Unscripted with Kevin Shook
Navigating Life's Highways: Turtles, Treats, and True Crime Tales
Ever found yourself searching for that elusive sweet spot of stimulation on a seemingly endless drive? You're not alone. My own quest led me from head-bobbing music to gripping audiobooks, and now to the captivating world of podcasts. Among my latest finds is a gem about wildlife rehabilitation that's as informative as it is engaging. But it's the guilty pleasure of true crime shows that provides an unexpected source of comfort, much like the simple joy of choosing the perfect ice cream treat during a Dairy Queen run. Tune in for a delightful mix of talk about turtles, treats, and true crime in our latest episode.
Our special guests, a shelled sensations known by the names Thelama, Lord Voldetort, and Zoya, guide us through the intricacies of turtle care. From basking preferences to the impact of invasive species, we uncover the truths and misunderstandings surrounding these ancient creatures. We learn the importance of proper habitat, diet, and legal considerations in keeping turtles as pets, all while highlighting the conservation challenges they face. And did I mention how a turtle can actually feel a scratch on its shell? Prepare to have your perception of these reptiles transformed.
Bringing our episode to a close, we share a casual yet insightful conversation that roams from out-of-the-box date ideas to embracing the unexpected. Ever thought about bringing a therapy turtle to a cafe? Or what if a giant tortoise was your next-door neighbor? We ponder these amusing scenarios and more, expressing gratitude for the luxury of having a local exotic animal care expert right here in Richmond. What started as a simple discussion evolves into a pledge to spread the word of our guest's impactful work, proving that sometimes, the most enlightening moments come from the most unexpected topics.
Life Inscripted with Kevin Shook to enhance focus oh, it's like a little supplement gummy. Yeah, just one yeah, well, three is a serving three you can see, it tells you oh no, maybe it does say proprietary blend serving size three gummies. Chew three gummies daily, wow ding, ding, ding, ding, dong you'd be like the turtle running around with the couch on your back I'll start with one.
Speaker 1:I've been trying to be better, so I've been drinking the little v8 energy drinks. They're like little mini cans, um, and you can get carbonated ones and you can get like hella spiked caffeine or just like moderate energy drink one. So I usually drink the hella spiked one when I'm driving. Two really spiked like very, very caffeinated how long a drive hour and a half how many days a week?
Speaker 2:three hey horrible I mean I worked an hour a day so do you work, do you listen to podcasts or what?
Speaker 1:I never used to. I was always like a music person and then yeah, and then I started on audiobooks and now I'm on podcasts and like that kind of drive. You gotta gotta have something what's your favorite podcast? This one obviously oh, we're recording.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, what do you listen to?
Speaker 1:so I had one of my uh nurses at aca actually um got me on one gonna be terrible. Not remember what it's officially called, um, but it's for wildlife rehabilitators. So they do like how to release baby geese, like to get them to go into the wild and have other parents take them, um, or like squirrel rehab 101 and that kind of thing, um, so I do do that one a lot. That's been really helpful and then I kind of bounce around, um, I don't really have any set ones that I just like listen to all the time.
Speaker 1:It's usually just someone will recommend this and I'll go try that and listen to a couple there and then go listen to a couple on another one.
Speaker 2:That's wild and there's a podcast for like everything. Everything what scares me is okay, so maybe you're not the average lady, but how many of them fall asleep? They relax to true crime, murder stuff, podcast it's fascinating.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know. It's not the same as like a horror movie, it's just like informative but you're still following along.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's still a story that's in your mind and now I'm gonna have nightmares like I just ate ice cream. You ever get nightmares when you do.
Speaker 1:Actually, I also eat a lot of ice cream. Okay, my favorite okay, kind of depends. But if we're going for like store-bought favorite, I I'm always a vanilla chocolate chip kind of girl, but like, if I want to go fancy, there's one, um, I think Grater's makes it and caramel that's like black raspberry with chocolate chunks in it. It's amazing. My friend got it for me once, um. But if I'm kind of splurging, dairy queen's chocolate brownie, extreme blizzard I love me some diabetes.
Speaker 1:I love all that I'm trying to order mediums and smalls instead of larges.
Speaker 2:Now, yeah, you'd be like a turtle and just run around everywhere. I've gave it away so many times of what animal we brought today we brought a couple animals.
Speaker 1:Maybe it's one of the other turtles that's running around.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:I'm excited we'll see you later um.
Speaker 2:Shall we start we should, um, but do you ever go for the halo top, uh, ice cream or any of that, the rebel? It's like it's supposed to be the healthier version, but I never eat just a serving I've never heard of it.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of the person where if I'm eating ice cream, I'm eating ice cream and I should just enjoy it.
Speaker 2:I had that. I had a same analogy the other day. I went to the bar and ordered a salad and an NA beverage, but it was actually kind of cool because it was midday kind of in Rushville Fishmoon Brewery, I think is what it's called.
Speaker 1:I've heard of that.
Speaker 2:But Rushville is like he's picking up all the plants and furniture and stuff.
Speaker 1:There's no camera there.
Speaker 2:No, he's sweating it, but he has two children and like two dogs, so he's running around picking up crazy. Right, he just got to follow the turtle. It's slow.
Speaker 1:He got some of the greens. Now he's trying to beckon her away from whatever she's getting into trouble.
Speaker 2:He's sweating too. Actually, there is that 360 camera. We'll see some of this action.
Speaker 1:Just do the super speed up motion where they're just like bouncing around here eat the lettuce.
Speaker 2:This is epic. Well, shall I get out our first opinion? Yeah, get out these new friends.
Speaker 1:All right, this can't be seen, so we'll start with this lovely friend so what we have here is a red-eared slider.
Speaker 1:Um and this is a very common type of turtle that you'll see in indiana and really across the country and even across the world, because while they're native to indiana, I mean that they belong here. We're supposed to have red-eared sliders everywhere um, they're actually very highly invasive in other parts of the country and other parts of the world. One of the big troubles is especially in the 70s not as much nowadays, but you could buy them as pets at the Five and Dime store.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:And you could buy them and they were about this big. And then the USDA and the FDA said wait a minute, all these children are getting salmonella because the turtles are like this big. And what do kids do with everything it goes in their mouth? Oh my gosh. So turtles can carry salmonella. All reptiles can. It's normal for them. So it's not like they're going to get sick from salmonella, just don't put them in your mouth but don't stick the turtle in your mouth. Wash your hands after eating the turtle.
Speaker 2:Maybe don't eat some gummies right after handling turtles, so people used to hunt and eat turtles, right um, not as much these guys. People do still eat them um how does that just cook this almanac out or something?
Speaker 1:yeah, it'll kill the bacteria that's what I'm like.
Speaker 1:You can actually get toxins from the bacteria, not even just from the bacteria growing itself, but nowadays the big problem is eating sea turtles. Actually, Every species of sea turtle that exists is endangered primarily from overhunting and habitat loss and a lot of other issues. These guys do not have that problem. In fact, they have the opposite problem. They're really good at adapting, so they can live pretty much anywhere. So these people were getting them as pets and then they got bigger or the people got bored and they didn't realize that this thing can easily live 50 years. So then they dumped them in their nearby pond and because they can kind of survive anywhere, they thrived. And now they're kind of survive anywhere they thrived, and now they're kind of taking over the country and even they're all over the planet.
Speaker 2:So they're just everywhere.
Speaker 1:They're just everywhere, but they're supposed to be here. She's, of course, a shy one. What's her name? This is a pair of them.
Speaker 2:And I don't remember which one she is.
Speaker 1:I'd have to ask Joyce when she gets back. I do wish she would come out, because it is really cute to watch her eat worms maybe if you put the other one up there they'll be like, oh hey no, they're not really friends oh really but you can see um this little bit that I'm picking off of her shell here, uh, so she's shedding her scoots right now.
Speaker 1:So just a piece like this um, and that's their equivalent, so the shell itself. Everyone thinks of turtles as similar to um, like a hermit crab, where there's a turtle inside a shell. The turtle isn't inside the shell, the turtle is the shell. So there are grooves kind of going along here. You can see actually this ridge when you hit the camera. This ridge going down um shows you where her spine is. So her spinal column is embedded in her shell, um, and then the spinal column is embedded in her shell, and then the ribs are also embedded in the shell. So when she hides you can see she's not actually inside it. All she's doing is tucking her face in so that if something were to try and bite on her she can hide.
Speaker 2:So she's not bothered though, right? No?
Speaker 1:Just don't put your fingers too close.
Speaker 2:Is that why your fingers are like back here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, back here.
Speaker 2:How far can she reach?
Speaker 1:So for your typical sliders, like, most of what you're going to see in a pond is not a snapping turtle. If you're holding them kind of behind the forelimbs, you're fine, you're not going to get bitten. Snapping turtles have even longer necks, right. So if you hold a snapping turtle like this turtle, like this, you're going to get bitten.
Speaker 1:You actually have to hold them by the end of the shell like this if it's a snapping turtle, this is the only way that they're not going to be able to reach around and bite you, because they can reach around all the way to the side of their shell here, um. So if you're helping one cross the road, it's very awkward because the balance isn't good and she's trying to kick me right now. Um, but that's the safest way to handle them, or just kind of shoo them along with an object. So she's.
Speaker 2:She's disgruntled and her worm is escaping.
Speaker 1:If we leave her here long enough, she'll probably come out and go wandering. Oh yes, this is a very common, common native.
Speaker 2:Well, she's nervous it's her first podcast.
Speaker 1:It is. It's her very first podcast ever. If she sticks her head out, we can see that she's called a red-eared slider because she's got little red marks really right by either ear so they live?
Speaker 2:how long?
Speaker 1:in the wild we're going to more commonly see like 20 to 40 in captivity.
Speaker 1:They can easily live 50 or even more if they get proper care. But the other problem is turtles even somebody little like this red-eared slider here require very, very intricate care and a lot of people don't know that. They go to the store. They see them in their little pond, they think it's cute. They bring it home for their pet, require very, very intricate care and a lot of people don't know that. They go to the store. They see them in their little pond, they think it's cute. They bring it home for their pet or for their children as a pet. But actually these guys have very specific lighting requirements, temperature requirements, diet requirements. They are going to produce way more waste than something like a fish. So typically they need a very, very large water source, at least 10 gallons per inch.
Speaker 2:So she's the one that's inside the when you walk into the ACA, she's in those really really big like full of water.
Speaker 1:We had a stare down one day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, because I was like, and she was literally. Well, when people walk up, to the cage.
Speaker 1:they assume that you're going to feed them, so they all will come and inquire at you.
Speaker 2:So it's a total letdown, Like come with food next time.
Speaker 1:Exactly. If you're going to come interact with me, you better bring food.
Speaker 2:What do they eat? Worms.
Speaker 1:They can't so in the wild. These guys are going to eat mostly bugs, crustaceans and maybe like small fish and things that they can get a hold of.
Speaker 1:They will eat some plant material as well, but especially when they're babies they really need the protein to grow, so they're going to focus on that component of their diet. But one of the natures of turtles is that they are omnivores, meaning they eat plants and meat. So she would eat pretty much anything she could get a hold of, but most of her preference are going to be insects and crustaceans, gotcha much anything she could get a hold of, but most of her preference are going to be insects and crustaceans, gotcha little fish and things.
Speaker 1:I want you to see those pretty red ears. Come on, they also do a really silly dance. Um, so there's a couple different ways to tell that she's a girl. One of the ways when she sticks her foot out she listens to true crime podcast yeah, and she falls asleep to them. It's not just about listening to them that's the worst part but you'll see that her front nails aren't super crazy.
Speaker 1:They look pretty normal. The boys have really really long nails. Like, just got my nails did like this long nails because their preferred mating ritual if they want to show interest in a female is, they swim up to the female and and they get right in her face and they do this.
Speaker 2:I did that before and it was the last first date type situation.
Speaker 1:Well, they have to do it back to you. That's how they show you that. Oh, it's like a yeah yeah. So they come up like right in the female's face and do a little wiggle finger dance. So that's one way you can tell them apart. But it's also shell shape and placement of the vent on the tail and a couple of things like that.
Speaker 2:But if she would come, out and say hi, she's getting curious.
Speaker 1:She says excuse me, I wish you wouldn't poke my butt. You might be able to see the red.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can see both of them, both sides, because she's looking right at me.
Speaker 1:She's beautiful, the camera's silly she's beautiful camera, silly, she's very commonly mistaken for other native species like painted turtles, yellow-bellied sliders, etc.
Speaker 2:But that's going to be the key marker she's a red slider, red eared, red eared slider there you go.
Speaker 1:She says look at how pretty my red ears are. Wow, they do come in a lot of different color patterns, everything from kind of a solid black to a lot more yellow, even than she's showing.
Speaker 1:Um, they look a lot prettier when they're wet, because you don't see all the scoots oh, yeah, um they're all sleek and shiny so she's a forever resident she's a forever resident, so she as I mentioned, people used to get them as pets all the time and dump them into lakes and water rays, and that's why they're now invasive and taking over really everywhere, I think, except, uh, antarctica, like one other continent. They're everywhere, um, but people get them as pets and realize that they are really hard to care for. And if they don't dump them which fortunately in this case, um, her parents were splitting up and nobody could take her um, so they brought her to us and so she and her sister sister are permanent residents with us, um the sister.
Speaker 2:She don't really like that.
Speaker 1:Well, she doesn't really like that although one of them is laying eggs, so somebody's happy do they uh live in the same clothes? Yeah, um, so we have a. We have a separate big tank that has a different one, just for spacing, because you don't want to cram too many in together, but they are pretty gregarious species.
Speaker 1:They'll bask on a log all in a pile, sometimes on top of each other, because they all want to get the most sunshine, and they do really well together. The only trouble in captivity is that, as I mentioned, they produce a lot of waste. So you ideally want a filter for the water that's rated for three times the size of the tank you have for one turtle. So it takes a lot of filtration to clear out the amount of waste that they produce. As much as we love them, they are poop factories.
Speaker 2:That's wild. Join the club, girl. Look at that, she's cute. Yeah, she's digging it.
Speaker 1:But yes, they do have sensation in their shell too, so when I give her scratches she can feel them, and most of the time they learn to like it. But she's definitely in a new place, yeah.
Speaker 2:A little wary Should we get out our next friend. Yeah, let's see.
Speaker 1:Our next friend is going to be a bit more social. This is Lord Voldetort. Lord what Lord Voldetort?
Speaker 2:Okay, lord, what lord voldetort.
Speaker 1:Okay, so he is an eastern box turtle. He might eat a worm for us because they are his favorite things. Oh yeah, oh um. He is an eastern box turtle.
Speaker 1:They're also a native species um and he too, was a surrendered pet, um, the person that owned him actually went to prison, um, and he was kept by nature center for a while and then they couldn't keep him anymore. So now he's been with us for the past five years. So he is adult size. He's about at least 10 years old, but no idea how long the initial owner had had him. There we go. Good job, buddy. So, as you can see, they also will eat worms. They are a species of turtle as well. So, um, they're omnivores. They're gonna eat worms and plants, and you'll even find them scavenging on like a deer carcass they get protein where they can take it um and anywhere and everywhere they can.
Speaker 1:So they are really adapted to just kind of get by with everything and anything he can sit on there Can he. He might go travel, that's all right. He's used to programs.
Speaker 2:So he's not a nibbler, oh no. He's not a nibbler, all right. Oh my gosh, oh worm down here you get the worm and I'll make sure he doesn't run off here.
Speaker 1:Oh God, they're very slippery Okay. Oh we're very excited. We're very excited. He doesn't have the best name, that's okay.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, buddy, my bad. That was my bad, it was a bad throw, good catch. So, yes, these guys are also a native species and they are a species of concern in many states, meaning their populations are declining quite rapidly. Unfortunately, most of their problem is habitat loss, but also people taking them from the wild and selling them as pets, either within the country or even to other countries. It is, in Indiana, illegal to take them out of the wild because they are protected. They're a species of concern, meaning their populations are declining. And he might not be much of a drinker either. He usually drinks when we put him in a bath.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:All right, gets a little swim time. But yes, these guys, as I mentioned, are called box turtles because, unlike our little red-eared slider friend, if you pick him up and look on the bottom, you'll see he's got a seam, a hinge on his shell, um, and he's a really sweet soul. So it's hard to make him upset. But if, when you can upset him, he can actually I forgot to do there no comment. Uh, he can actually um, completely encompass himself in his shell until he's like a sealed little rock oh, really like a roly-poly.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Look at you, stretched out.
Speaker 1:He's got places to be. He says I know where the worms are. This lady's been giving them to me. Come on, buddy. But they do have a great personality. They're really great with kids' programs too.
Speaker 2:Oh I bet.
Speaker 1:But just like our slider friend, they don't make the best pets because they need even more specific requirements. Can I be?
Speaker 2:did he just make a noise?
Speaker 1:oh yeah, they hiss. They hiss when they're mad, and I'm trying to show you that he closes up in his shell, but he says, no, I want to come out and socialize. So this is my first podcast yeah, see, well, I know the girl over there was very scared and I thought you should know you should hide. He's like, excuse me, I just need to go get the worms.
Speaker 2:He's wild.
Speaker 1:You can't go off the table, though We'll have to, so do you get?
Speaker 2:many. You got him. Yeah, walk that way. So do you get many people come in and seek care for the turtles they have, do you?
Speaker 1:Not as many as you should, unfortunately, we do see them pretty regularly. Most of the time they're going to have sliders or a variation. It seems like they're a pretty common pet they are a pretty common pet and unfortunately they are very uncommonly taken care of okay, so that's it um, and it's a lot of just lack of knowledge, of either misinformation online or lack of seeking information online.
Speaker 1:Um, and you know, when you buy them from the pet store, often they're just in a big tank with like 10 other turtles. So people think that that's what you do with them and they really struggle in those kinds of situations. And these guys, if you have one as a pet that you acquired legally from another state, you have to have a permit even to keep them Really Because they are protected. So these guys you can't really have much as pets at all in this state. Other states are a bit more lax. He wants to go take a tumble. He's an adventure turtle. He's got places to be. We can also put him in turtle prison if we need to.
Speaker 1:But yes, he is a native species. So, unlike our red-eared slider who likes to live in waterways, this guy is actually a land turtle. So most of the time you're going to find these guys like in the middle of the woods where there's leaf litter and a lot of things like that around to hide in and burrow in and bugs to eat. Their mating strategy is kind of silly in that the only way they can find another one to reproduce with is by physically seeing it. So imagine trying to find this little camouflaged thing in a bunch of leaf litter, and then you have to find another one. So their strategy is just population density, is having as many as they possibly can so that you might happen to encounter someone of the opposite sex that you can breed with in the right season which is also why pulling them out of the wild is so detrimental.
Speaker 2:They need a turtle tender.
Speaker 1:They do.
Speaker 2:They need their own dating app.
Speaker 1:It would make their lives a lot.
Speaker 2:Wow, he's just chilling. He's having a great time.
Speaker 1:He's actually very annoyed now that he can't adventure. So he is a turtle and that is also a turtle. Yeah, and our new friend is also a turtle. However, our new friend is a tortoise.
Speaker 2:Tortoise, because it's like 400 pounds bigger.
Speaker 1:Not the size. So all tortoises are turtles, but not all turtles are tortoises.
Speaker 1:So tell me the difference before I go getting so turtle is just the um common name for chelonian, which are the things with shells. So anything that you would look at and be like that looks turtle, like they're chelonians and that's called turtles. However, more specifically, they're then broken down to turtles below turtles and tortoises below turtles and tortoises are going to be strictly herbivores. So these guys are going to eat bugs and plants and scavenge on a carcass and eat a strawberry, happily. Um, our extra friend, who's a tortoise, only eats plant material.
Speaker 2:Oh cool, so she doesn't really care that's good, because she could eat us if she really wanted to.
Speaker 1:I mean if she took a chunk of your leg, it would be a chunk.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They're also a bit different from their anatomy, so think of a turtle being like a sea turtle, with big fins and flippers. He had, or she had, webbed toes as well, because it meant more for swimming the box turtles are a little bit weird because they want to pretend to be tortoises, but they're actually turtles. But the tortoises true tortoises have like the big kind of elephant feet because they walk around all the time. Um, they don't live in the water at all. They will drink water, take a bath sometimes, um, but they're strictly land animals and they're also generally a lot bigger. So it's not a rule. Um, but the largest things we have are tortoises, not turtles that's a wee bit bigger, just a little bit I mean, you put them side by side, you can't even tell
Speaker 1:yes, go get it. So this is zoya. Zoya is an african spurred tortoise, or a sulcata tortoise, or spurred thigh sometimes they call it too um. So she is obviously not a native species. This is not something you're going to see in your backyard, unless you have some strange pets. But she, as you can see, is quite large. She doesn't actually even fit on the camera screen, it looks like, but she was dumped in a park. Unfortunately, the person that saw her and found her realized that this is not a normal turtle to find in Indiana and brought her in, and ACA took her in from there. So she is estimated to be at least 20 years old. She did grow since she's been in ACA's care and these guys can live with proper care well over 100 years old. They've been measured at 150 even and potentially more, but we don't have great records from that long ago. She might even eat the peel. You can offer it to her.
Speaker 2:Oh really.
Speaker 1:It's safe for her to eat it. Does she eat the peel too? We'll see what she likes. She's interested, or maybe she's just looking for more banana.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, there you go, so yes, these guys, she don't waste.
Speaker 1:No, nothing Waste, not want, not. As I mentioned, these guys are tortoises, so they eat only plant material. Fruit is a special treat. This is not kind of an all the time. She eats only fruit. Most of her diet is going to be greens, like grass and hay. We had her out front. She was devouring the clover.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, she was taking care of it On the sidewalk.
Speaker 1:She was devouring the clover and the little patches on the sidewalk. She does a great job at being the lawnmower. However, as you can also see, she is very large and, as we experienced and hopefully we can get a video of in the lobby area. They are very, very strong and have very strong opinions about what they want to do and where they want to go, and when they decide they're going somewhere. There's not a whole lot we can do to change their minds, even if there are physical barriers in the way.
Speaker 1:Like couches Like entire couches, bicycle stands, vehicles.
Speaker 2:I liked that Pizza King delivery guy.
Speaker 1:It was definitely a double take and he started to walk away again and then he had to stop, and then he had to walk away again and come back again. Double take and he started to walk away again and then he had to stop, and then he had to walk away again and come back again. So, yeah, definitely not something you normally see walking down the streets in indiana and banana peel hanging out of her mouth, classy lady right here um, I think she might even actually be a boy why do you say that?
Speaker 1:uh, so the shell shape that we were talking about, um, when you pick her up she's got a very concave curvature to the bottom of her shell. It's called the plastron, and that little curvature is the same thing that Voldator here had. That's, we're talking about mating a lot, honestly, but that's for mating as well, so they can fit on top of each other like little puzzle pieces. And then the tuck of the tail as well, and then the two, the gular scutesutes. So this, the only plates in the shell that stick out underneath her neck. Those are used for flipping other tortoises. So when they're having competitions over mates they'll go and flip each other upside down using that big piece that's sticking out under her neck or his. But yeah, they are very, very powerful and, as I mentioned, with the ready-to-sliders, people buying them as little tiny babies. Obviously she's quite large right now she's about 80 pounds.
Speaker 1:She didn't start that way. She started out as not much bigger than a plum, and so the trouble is people will go to the store and see them as not much bigger than a plum, think they're going to turn into something like Voldetort here. You know, man, that's doable, handleable, and then they turn into this. So usually about. You know, halfway to this they start saying what did I get myself into? And you know I wasn't intending to have a sentient bulldozer running loose in my house.
Speaker 1:And then they start to realize that it's not actually the best pet. They can make good pets for the right people in the right situations, but you have to have a huge fenced-in enclosure for them. That fence should be buried deep in the ground, because they burrow and they dig. That's normal healthy turtle tortoise behaviors for them and they will destroy anything in their path if they decide they want to go somewhere and there's something in the way. The thing's not going to be in the way very long and they also have very strict temperature and humidity requirements, diet requirements to make sure they can get to this size and be healthy, and they really require a lot of subtleties and care and, as I mentioned, they can live well over a hundred. So if you are even considering getting a tortoise like this, you have to ideally look for someone at least 20 years younger than you and make sure they are fully willing to commit to taking this turtle when you die, because it is going to outlive us probably everybody in this room so how many years?
Speaker 1:um in well captive 150 captivity. That doesn't go so well, which is what I see a lot in practice. Maybe not even 10, because they are so commonly kept in improper husbandry setups because people don't know. So that's one of the main reasons we recommend routine wellness exams. So even if they look healthy to you, get them in. Not only do we look at them and make sure we don't see any signs of illness that might not be obvious to somebody else, but one of our big jobs is to talk about husbandry and talk about how to care for them properly, to set them up for success long term. She's also scratching up your table here. I hope that's okay. Some worm goods, you know, some mashed strawberry and a little tortoise scratches.
Speaker 1:What do you think? We got some greens here too after that. Outside too, they do have sensation in their shell, um, so they can feel. Uh, it is a part of their body, so that is kind of their backbone and ribs spread out, and then that surface layer, like what the red-eared slider was shedding, is kind of like a nail on top. So it's keratin on top. But they do have feelings. So they do generally like shell rubs and shell scratches and you know, when you're cleaning them with a scrub brush they feel that and they'll do the little butt wiggle that shows that they're happy with it. They like, usually, neck scratches as well.
Speaker 1:She's just one track mind of where did the strawberry come from? They are adorable and they have a great personality and they quite frankly make very poor pets for the vast majority of people. So these are just a few of the many different kinds of animals we see here at Animal Care Alliance. We do treat cats and dogs and general wildlife, but also pets as well, and I'm Dr Matt. I'm the main one seeing exotics and I'm our full-time veterinarian here at Animal Care Alliance and I'm happy to see we saw birds last week reptiles this week.
Speaker 1:What Some more surprises?
Speaker 2:I know it's such a treat for you to come up here. I mean, I love animals. This is just wild, because I've never experienced that before.
Speaker 1:Well, it's great enrichment for them too. So you know, Voldatort's an education ambassador, that's his role is to teach people about box turtles. And then Zoya obviously was thrilled to go wander around the streets in Richmond.
Speaker 2:No, she made all kinds of friends, yeah.
Speaker 1:Some very confused transporters in the car too. Poor pizza.
Speaker 2:It's like he wanted to take a picture and he's like he just kept walking.
Speaker 1:Okay, no, I got to, and then like started to walk away in the end and then just like try to take a picture when he thought we weren't looking, Because initially it was the. Oh, there's a crowd of people. What is that?
Speaker 2:I know I'm trying to think of like a funny place to take her. Yeah, and just like have coffee on the patio somewhere, have dinner.
Speaker 1:Well then the other guy that was like, is that normal? Does that live here Like dude? I think you'd know if we had 80-foot tortoises.
Speaker 2:I think we could totally. We could take it down to like the barbecue on the patio and that's my therapy turtle.
Speaker 1:And no, especially like the ones that let dogs in.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You'd be like what do you mean? You know?
Speaker 2:they wouldn't care.
Speaker 1:Spot.
Speaker 2:I need a really big salad Extra strawberries, she told me.
Speaker 2:Hold the blue cheese. She doesn't like blue cheese. Well, thanks for coming today. This Hold the blue cheese. She doesn't like blue cheese. Well, thanks for coming today. This is great. I can't wait. I mean, I didn't think it would get better than Ozzy, yeah, but I'm really excited that you're here. Richmond's lucky to have you here, as being able to care for these exotics, you know, because for the longest time they'd have to go to Cincinnati or Indy. So it's really cool you're here and I'll keep spreading the word.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you, and I mean nothing else.
Speaker 2:We're having a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Life Inscripted with Kevin Shipp.
