Reptile Photography - Blog Posts
Art and nature go hand-in-hand more often than people think. Previous artist in residence, Jan Kolenda, came out to touch up our tortoise statue. This statue highlights some important tortoise features such as their leathery skin that is adapted to crawling across land, their dome shaped shells, and the scutes that make up their shell.
This Monday, the SNC was able to unclog our gator pond thanks to help from our resident Reptile Expert Will Nace and City of Coral Springs’ Parks and Rec Department. This joint effort was all for the good of Wally, our lovely gator.
Check out our resident Yellow-Footed Tortoise, Carlos! Yellow-Footed Tortoises are native to the rainforests of South America.
This Wildlife Wednesday we are featuring our resident Red Rat Snake. This guy in particular has a permanent stay at the Nature Center due to a degenerative nerve disease that causes him to twitch.
Rat Snakes are non-venomous, constrictor snakes. They also happen to be very skilled climbers, to the point where they have been known to scale brick walls! This helps them catch prey like lizards, small mammals, and hatchlings.
Rat Snakes are popular in the pet trade and have been bred in many different colors and patterns.
It is Turtle Tuesday at the SNC with our Loggerhead Musk Turtle, Molly. Molly is a resident freshwater turtle that is used for many of our educational programs.
Loggerhead Musk Turtles (Sternotherus minor) are mostly carnivorous, but have also been known to munch on plants. Their jaws are strong enough to crack the shells of small snails, crayfish, insects, and mollusks.
They are found throughout the Southeast United States in a variety of clear, freshwater wetland areas.
Fun Fact: When threatened, musk turtles will release a foul smelling musk and bite with their powerful jaws.
This African Spur Thigh Tortoise is named Bubba and he is a permanent resident at the Sawgrass Nature Center. He was previously kept as a pet, but his owners did not realize that he would get this large. And since he is an exotic species to Florida, he is non-releasable.
The African Spur-Thigh is a native species of tortoise to Northern Africa, specifically along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. They dig burrows in the ground to spend the hottest parts of the day in. This is known as aestivation.
Fun fact: The African Spur Thigh Tortoise is the third largest tortoise in the world. Surpassed only by the Galapagos Tortoise and the Aldabra Giant Tortoise.