These are land turtles and include, from left: Lily the Puffkin, Slowpoke from Applause, Sandy the turtle from Aurora and Peekaboo the Beanie Baby.
These are sea turtles and include, clockwise from top left: Green Sea Turtle Cuddlekin from Wild Republic, Loggerhead Turtle Cuddlekin from Wild Republic, Tina the Turtle from Douglas, Speedy the Beanie Baby, Dakin Wyland Sea Turtle and Shelldon made by Bearington. Several of these turtles can be found in our Gift Shop.
Turtles belong to the order T
edtudines. There are 12 families of turtles living in the world. There are 7 families found in the United States and Canada. They are found in a variety of environments from oceans and ponds to deserts and forests.
These are animals that have a hard shell covering their body. This is actually an expansion of their ribs. Their bony shells have two parts: the carapace (upper) and the plastron (lower). The shield-like parts are called scutes. Often the turtles that spend most of their time in water have smaller shells. Turtles are the only reptiles that have no teeth, but their horny beak can still inflict a painful bite.
Because turtles are cold-blooded, they like to sun themselves to raise their temperature and speed up their metabolism.
All turtles lay eggs. Their clutches range from a few to several hundred. The incubation period can range from 6 weeks to many months.
