The Fate of the Tortoise Impacted with Stone After a 15 Month Battle

[00:00:00]Hey, good morning.

[00:00:01]>> Good morning.

[00:00:02]>> Oh, bad news. She didn't make it through the night.

[00:00:04]>> Biggins, the tortoise that's been impacted with stone, unfortunately, has passed away. I know she had a lot of you rooting for her. We were rooting for her. I hope what I'm saying is making sense, but I'm all over the place right now. I really am. I got a I got a lot of emotions myself.

[00:00:20]>> Hey, what's up?

[00:00:21]>> Uh, I got some bad news for you.

[00:00:23]>> Hey, good morning.

[00:00:24]>> Good morning.

[00:00:25]>> Oh, bad news. She didn't make it through the night. No, no, man. Ah, sorry, guys.

[00:00:30]>> That was terrible.

[00:00:32]>> Yeah, we lost her sometime overnight.

[00:00:34]You know, just wanted to call you because I know we were supposed to be you in a couple hours.

[00:00:38]>> Well, I guess it kind of tracks with the progression that you saw. It's super unfortunate. What's your guys plan? Is there anything we can do to help?

[00:00:46]>> We were going to make a quality of life call just like you had said.

[00:00:49]>> I don't I don't know how to thank you guys. And um >> don't need to. I mean, we're happy to be there to to help out.

[00:00:56]>> Yeah. No, I think she made the calling life. I mean, she made a decision. She was telling us that I mean, Jul did everything. I mean, you guys did CT scan. I mean, you truly did everything.

[00:01:04]I just It sucks.

[00:01:05]>> It's just crazy, man. She She like she just seemed to be so good for so long and then it was just like boom. She fought she fought hard and I guess she just didn't have it in her.

[00:01:15]>> Yeah. I mean, super disappointing. Just know what we can do. I mean, certainly my condolences. Our condolences. We're just talking about you. I'm planning to figure out that the afternoon. So, >> she was a tough tortoise. Not for lack of effort, guys. You guys truly did everything to try to save her.

[00:01:30]>> Well, you too. That's why I wanted you to know, you know, you uh you were monumental in uh trying to get her to pull through, too. And I know we all thought she was going to at some point.

[00:01:38]>> Listen, we get some success stories and this is one that we don't.

[00:01:42]>> Hey, appreciate it, guys.

[00:01:43]>> All right.

[00:01:43]>> All right. See you later.

[00:01:47]>> Biggins, the tortoise that's been impacted with stone, unfortunately, has passed away. It's very difficult day for us. It's been a long journey with her and we really thought she was going to pull through at one point. I got up this morning to check on her. I came out here. It was a beautiful morning and she just was no longer with us. We had a vet appointment scheduled today to take her to see Dr. Applegate who was one of the monumental veterinarians in her rehabilitation and hopeful recovery and survival. She made the call herself. She didn't want anybody poking and proddding at her anymore. She's been through enough. And I I I know I said it in a recent video that I wanted to prepare you guys because of how much we cherish you and value you as viewers and supporters of everything we get to do here. But it's still shocking.

[00:02:35]I don't know. Let's Let's hang out with some radiated tortoises.

[00:02:40]They're so beautiful.

[00:02:42]They're so beautiful. And Biggins was every bit as beautiful as these guys were. She just uh she just couldn't do it anymore. Dr. Applegate said something to me when we scheduled this appointment just the other day. He said, "We can't support her forever. At some point, she has to take a bite out of this herself." To get any of you caught up to speed that may not recall her journey or story or even new viewers out there, Biggins is a 5-year-old, well, now six-year-old Madagascan radiated tortoise, a critically endangered species. And she was raised from a hatchling by another keeper out west.

[00:03:20]Unfortunately, she grew up way too fast.

[00:03:22]She reached Ow, that one just bit me.

[00:03:24]Unfortunately, she reached adult size in only 5 years, and that's not healthy for these animals. These animals should take 20 years at least to reach full reproductive size and maturity. She was lacking something that entire time, most likely calcium, because she grew so fast. So, she began looking for an added source of calcium, and she lived in an outdoor enclosure with a lot of limestone. Now, it's normal for tortoises to eat a little bit of rocks or pebbles or gravel here and there.

[00:03:50]Totally normal. But she just started ingesting it heavily because she was missing something and that formed a terrible blockage in her transverse colon. It's believed that it walled off.

[00:04:00]Basically, it became part of the wall of the colon. And even though she was able to defecate and urinate over time, she just succumbed to it. We did so much X-rays, blood work, CT scans. She had a feeding tube for a while that she actually pulled out on her own and she was showing us that she wanted to live.

[00:04:20]She started standing up after being able to only drag herself for the longest time. She had a really heavy feeding response and she even started to show some personality when I would come out to her. Our hope was to get her outside and let her be a radiated tortoise with the rest of the radiateds that live here at GST. And then we noticed recently, very recently, that she started acting up again. She uh completely stopped eating. She started dragging her feet.

[00:04:45]She wouldn't even recognize water when we would spray her down. Radiated tortoises are very reactive to water.

[00:04:50]They stand tall. They drink from it.

[00:04:52]They look forward to it. And she just really wanted no part of anything. So, of course, I got on the phone immediately with Dr. Lambert and Dr. Applegate because both of them are Biggins vetinarians. We discussed what was going on and we needed to discuss further her quality of life because Biggins was showing us that she wanted to live. And then all of a sudden it seemed that that went away. Just before we were about to bring her in, she uh took her last breath. It's sad. I I I've said it before. They can't all be happy endings like Rockalina. Rockalina's story is so unbelievable and still shocking to everybody that hears it or sees it. Uh and I I got to be honest with you, I really did think Biggins was going to pull through there. She really uh was becoming responsive. And I thought we were close to getting out of the woods. I really really did. And I know Casey did, too. and so did both vetinarians.

[00:05:43]Biggin's story is a huge reminder of what we do here. It's not all rainbows and butterflies. A lot of animals come to us in compromised situations because there's still a lot of outdated information out there that persists. And there's also an impatience that goes into keeping these animals because they take so long to mature. The people that are keeping them to breed them, which I'm not saying there's anything wrong with, they want to get the animal to breeding size as quickly as possible.

[00:06:06]And you'll even see that with wild head starting programs where they're trying to get the turtles as big as possible as quickly as possible so that they can be a less vulnerable size to predators and then release them into nature. Getting young turtles to a less vulnerable size for predators so that they can be safely released into a population to repatriate that decimated population. I'm all for.

[00:06:27]But it shouldn't happen overnight. It shouldn't happen in a year. If a box turtle or radiated tortoise is supposed to fully mature between 15 and 20 years somewhere in that bracket, why should it be half grown or full grown in a year or 5 years? You have to think about what's happening to that animal internally. You even have to think about what's going on up here, their social capabilities. What do they really understand yet? These animals, although they have a lot of instinct, of course, and that's what drives them from day one and why they're able to survive on their own after they hatch, they still go through changes.

[00:06:57]They develop over time, both mentally and physically. And we now know that these animals actually do have emotions.

[00:07:02]It's it's unfortunate. It it it really it it's a this one's a tough pill to swallow because I I really wish she I hope what I'm saying is making sense, but I'm all over the place right now. I really am. I got a I got a lot of emotions myself.

[00:07:18]We fought for over a year. Over a year with Biggins. I mean, talk about resilience and and just strength. This animal was so strong. She had to be sedated at times for us to do feeding tubes because she was just so strong.

[00:07:32]She'd break your finger when she pulled her legs in. And once she started showing that responsive behavior and and stronger behavior, you know, being a rescue in addition to everything else we do here with these animals obviously comes with some negativity, negative situations. We take on the brunt of these animals that come to us in these compromised situations. And of course, you're probably thinking right now, well, you signed up for it, man.

[00:07:58]You know, you're going into it like that. Yeah, I am, and I'll never quit.

[00:08:01]It's not making me quit, but it's some of the situations really are are frustrating. You know, there's uh radiated tortoises are critically endangered species. I want to see more of them be out there, not less of them.

[00:08:14]What's uh kind of um moving is when I came out here today after after I found her and we made all the phone calls, uh I came back out here and I noticed two of the females in here were actually digging nests and laying their eggs. So, we're of course going to get those eggs and put them into incubation. And uh I'm definitely going to name one or more of them after Biggins is uh the timing was very uh crazy. I know she had a lot of you rooting for her. We were rooting for her. But um in in a way I'm I'm happy that we didn't have to poke and prod her anymore and she made the call on her own and she passed under blue skies, birds chirping and nature and um that's how I'd want to go. So, [music] >> hun.

[00:09:24]>> What?

[00:09:26]>> There's a strange man in our yard.

[00:09:29]>> Why? I saw him back over there by the by the box turtle pen.

[00:09:37]Somebody here.

[00:09:39][laughter] >> Hey, dude. What's up, man?

[00:09:42]>> I know. What's up, >> surprise?

[00:09:44]>> How are you? [laughter] >> Oh, not much. I'm still limber. I'm like trying to be uh trying to hide from you.

[00:09:49]No, I'm I'm here on my yearly uh visit to my wife's family.

[00:09:53]>> You guys have been wondering where Kenan Harkin is. I found him.

[00:09:55]>> Yeah, he's I'm at Garden State Tortoise.

[00:09:57]I'm now their employee. Uh [laughter] Things have gone really bad.

[00:10:00]>> Yeah, we can't pay you.

[00:10:02]>> No, that's okay. No [laughter] problem, dude. I've been kind of laying low. Uh I know you've been you've been sad. I'm just trying to cheer you up. I know you just lost this animal and the saga >> of uh everything that's been happening with that that radiata. And even last year when I was here, we you know, we thought that animal would turn around.

[00:10:18]So >> yeah, you you that's again shows you guys just how long we've been trying to save her. You were here. We were we were using, you know, trying to get fluids into her. It's it's one of those things, man, where you know, you can try and try uh and you just don't know the history of of that animal like what has been going on for years and years and years and you were able to prolong the animal's life and we all get attached to him and your your viewers follow that story, you know, back back in, you know, my videos, you know, people follow along with Slinky and now Slinkie is really really old and can't walk the right way and one day he'll be gone or, you know, sadly I had the worst possible winter I could have ever had in Florida and I had it was like of winter of death. You know, we lost Bill, the croc monitor. I had the >> Expansa that couldn't submerge. And it was just a nightmare for me. And if there's anyone that understands loss like that, it's me. And you know, one of the things I I wanted to say, you know, we just got serious, but one of the things I wanted to say, bro, is to you guys, like why I love coming here and why I interact with Chris a lot. You don't see me interacting with a ton of other, I guess, animal tubers or whatever. You're as transparent as I am.

[00:11:22]You You put it all out there. You and Casey put everything out there. You you welcome people into your lives. You show everyone the successes and the failures.

[00:11:30]And that's what I always tried to do on my channel is show people my successes and my failures. So we're not trying to sugarcoat stuff. There are a lot of animals under our care and sometimes bad stuff's going to happen. So I didn't want you to be down, man. And I'm up here. So I came down to hang out with you, dude. You know, so stoked.

[00:11:44]>> There you go. All right. Good. I'm glad.

[00:11:46]>> I'm glad you said that, too. Social media is a highlight reel, right?

[00:11:49]>> Totally.

[00:11:49]>> You know, that's what it seems. And we don't want to always hit you with bad news. And of course, it's not bad news all the time. Happy to say it's mostly positive. This is just one of those times where it's not, but it's the truth. It's the, you know, >> where have you been?

[00:12:01]>> Yeah. Good. You know, um, where have I been? What did I do on my summer vacation? Well, guys, the reality is, and you know, I I stopped posting on my channel. All I can say legally is that I've stopped posting on my channel. I've had to. You're not getting rid of me.

[00:12:15]Not good. So, you know, whether it's on that channel or another channel or whatever, like one day I'll post again once things get straightened out.

[00:12:24]>> So, is it safe to say Ken and Harkin is not going anywhere?

[00:12:26]>> No, I'm not going anywhere. Just taking a little RNR.

[00:12:28]>> I don't need any more bad news.

[00:12:29]>> Yeah. No, no, no. I love you, man.

[00:12:30]You're great. No, man. No more bad news.

[00:12:32]I just want to say to the folks that have been out there asking where I've been, I'm healthy. I'm fine. My family's fine. The animals are fine. The camp is fine. We're all great. We just There's just some uh housekeeping. Once that's figured out, whatever happens, I'll be back.

[00:12:46]>> That simple.

[00:12:47]>> Hey, chipmunks. I'm like a dog.

[00:12:49]>> Squirrel. What are we doing? We're going to do something fun, right?

[00:12:52]>> Do you want to do something really cool?

[00:12:53]>> I'd love to.

[00:12:54]>> Okay, sweet. Right here.

[00:12:55]>> All right. What do we got? Where are we?

[00:12:56]>> So, this is the desert box turtle p.

[00:12:58]>> No stuff. No way. [laughter] >> Awesome. Idiots, you know.

[00:13:05]>> Okay, >> I haven't lost it, dude. I'm still here.

[00:13:07]>> I wanted to laugh today. So, this is >> Okay, that's why I'm here, buddy.

[00:13:10]>> Desert box turtle pen. Okay. The reason this is such a big deal is, have you ever seen a desert or ornate box turtle nest?

[00:13:16]>> I have never seen one. It's also a big deal cuz you're in New Jersey.

[00:13:19]>> Yeah. Well, we get them nesting.

[00:13:21]>> We do what we do here. Cool.

[00:13:22]>> Do you know how they nest?

[00:13:23]>> I do not.

[00:13:25]>> This is epic. So, most turtles >> and tortoises with the exception of just a couple species. They look for the area. They scratch around. They sniff.

[00:13:32]They make a mess. Sometimes they drive you nuts. And then they eventually pick a spot. They turn around, pivot, and do everything with their back legs above ground except for the pocket that they're putting in the ground, right?

[00:13:42]That they put the eggs in, right? Not the desert box turtle.

[00:13:45]>> What does it do?

[00:13:45]>> They go completely underground first.

[00:13:48]They create a hollow with a with a hole up top >> and you have to dig and you'll find a little baby >> and then they actually nest inside that hollow further down.

[00:13:59]>> That makes sense.

[00:14:00]>> That's exactly right.

[00:14:02]>> Adaptation to a very harsh environment, right? cuz it's so freaking hot where they come from.

[00:14:06]>> That's amazing.

[00:14:06]>> I've only ever seen it happen twice >> years ago. Couldn't capture it on film.

[00:14:10]Got this one on film. You got it last night.

[00:14:12]>> Oh, you got it?

[00:14:13]>> Yeah, I did. See, this is the cool stuff about what you do. This is real documentation of a species. I don't know who else has video of this. Who else would care to have video of this? But us nerds love it. And now scientists have some visual proof.

[00:14:27]>> Look at this. It's just so >> No way. It's like, >> wow. It created a form. So, box turtles will make forms to hide and sleep in, but this form looks like a cubby hole.

[00:14:38]>> Yeah.

[00:14:39]>> Almost like a gopher, like a a pocket.

[00:14:41]And >> it's like it's like a it's like a bird nest. You know what I mean? Like like the way it's shaped and everything.

[00:14:46]>> You remember those birds in Africa? The weaver's bird or something.

[00:14:48]>> The golden weavers.

[00:14:49]>> The golden they make that that pocket.

[00:14:51]That's essentially what it's done in the soil. That's fantastic. So, this animal would have to do this uh it would be kpuscular if it's a desert box turtle.

[00:15:00]So, it would have to do this quickly.

[00:15:01]then it would have to lay its eggs. So now instead of just being about maybe two or three inches beneath the surface, it's probably five, six. We're gonna find out right now, you know. So I I left these.

[00:15:11]>> That's really >> She was doing this late at night obviously when it was much cooler because right now >> that makes sense, too. She's probably doing it at night in the desert >> right now. It's blistering hot here from Florida, but it's 102° today.

[00:15:23]>> I tried to come to the north for a little reprieve. Didn't get it.

[00:15:28]>> No. Yeah.

[00:15:28]>> So, so I believe this is right here.

[00:15:31]>> All right. Do your deal, man. This is really cool.

[00:15:34]>> And you know these these cold frames we use too.

[00:15:36]>> I love this stuff. And I think these would do well for me in Florida.

[00:15:40]>> Yeah. We just got to when it gets hot.

[00:15:41]>> Careful to open them, right?

[00:15:42]>> Yeah. You got to vent them when it gets Oh, wow. This is going to be deep. So, right now where I'm at already, this is like where you would find a Mexican or eastern box nest. It would be right here.

[00:15:51]>> Any even some of your painted turtle or you know sliders, but this is going to go down deeper.

[00:15:56]>> Oh boy. I'm afraid I don't want to break one.

[00:15:58]>> Yeah, I hear you. What was her orientation? Cuz it could be to the left or right or >> her head was this way.

[00:16:03]>> All right. So, it could be further back.

[00:16:04]I don't know.

[00:16:04]>> Yeah, maybe. It's definitely loose here.

[00:16:07]>> Oh, I hope she actually laid. But anyway, um just the fact you got that on film >> Yeah.

[00:16:12]>> is incredible.

[00:16:13]>> So, Oh, there it is. Look at that.

[00:16:14]>> You got it.

[00:16:15]>> My My fingers are quick.

[00:16:16]>> Yeah.

[00:16:16]>> Oh my god. Look at this.

[00:16:17]>> Look how deep down it is.

[00:16:20]>> Oh man, >> it keeps going. You should >> The greenhouse is actually in the way here. Look at that. Oh, there it is, guys. Check it out, Case.

[00:16:29]>> Look at that. That is awesome.

[00:16:31]>> So, that's all right. So, check it out.

[00:16:33]Here's the surface. This is where it starts.

[00:16:35]>> So, that's like >> almost eight 8 in, I'd say. Yeah.

[00:16:38]>> Yeah. It's like 8 in down.

[00:16:40]>> That's great.

[00:16:41]>> But then think about what those little guys got to do to get out.

[00:16:44]>> Yeah. And then they got to hatch at the right time. They're not going to hatch in the middle of the day. I'll bet you what would happen, similar to box turtles, is as they they hatch, they start to climb up, but they can feel the heat and they'll know, hey, let's get out of here at night when it's not blazing hot. So then they would emerge from their nest at night and therefore would also be safer because there wouldn't be as many predators about.

[00:17:07]>> Okay, put your hand out.

[00:17:09]>> No way.

[00:17:09]>> There's one.

[00:17:10]>> Oh my god, I'm getting bit ON THE FOOT BY A green head. But I don't care because I'm holding desert box turtle egg. But this green head is really it's like he's feasting on you. Feasting you here. Go ahead. Get that fly. I can't I can't let you stay like that.

[00:17:25]>> Got you, you little rat. [laughter] >> All right, there's more.

[00:17:29]>> Check it out.

[00:17:29]>> There's more.

[00:17:30]>> I wonder how many do the desert box turtles lay.

[00:17:32]>> I think it it can be like three or four, maybe.

[00:17:35]>> That's pretty good for a box turtle.

[00:17:36]>> They're so small, you know.

[00:17:37]>> Yeah.

[00:17:38]>> Two.

[00:17:39]>> Cool. Hold on. I think I see one more.

[00:17:41]>> Oh, I do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:17:43]>> It's amazing how >> three. Oh, look at this. Look at this.

[00:17:48]They're fertile already.

[00:17:49]>> Oh, no way.

[00:17:50]>> You guys see that white spot?

[00:17:51]>> They banded. That's >> Yeah, they're starting to band or chuck.

[00:17:53]Whatever. That's so crazy. So, we get rotated. Yeah.

[00:17:57]>> Wow. All right. What else? Is that everybody?

[00:18:00]>> That's so cool.

[00:18:01]>> I think that's it.

[00:18:02]>> Three eggs.

[00:18:03]>> That's great. That's a huge I'm going to let this lid down.

[00:18:07]>> Let me cover it up.

[00:18:08]>> That's a huge score, man.

[00:18:10]>> Sweet.

[00:18:11]>> Yeah. I'm glad to be here on this day.

[00:18:13]You know, the the one good thing about when you're when you're operating a a facility like this is yes, some animals leave us, but you always have the opportunity to do good by having new life. So, one animal leaves.

[00:18:27]>> Yeah.

[00:18:28]>> We have the potential for three more.

[00:18:29]>> It's perfect.

[00:18:30]>> There you go. [laughter] That's so rad.

[00:18:32]>> Wow.

[00:18:32]>> Uh that's awesome, man.

[00:18:35]>> Killer.

[00:18:35]>> It's one of the hardest nests I've ever had to dig up.

[00:18:37]>> Yeah. What's going on? You all right, dude? It was like it was so far down and I was hanging over the greenhouse. I'm having a day.

[00:18:43]>> It's hot. It's No, it's hot. It's It's beyond hot. And not to mention, there's a haze. You know, it's the haze that's actually from Canadian wildfires and we're about 400 miles from the Canadian border. So, there's a quite large.

[00:18:55]>> Yeah. And it it smells like a campfire out here.

[00:18:57]>> Yeah. But what's this, man?

[00:18:58]>> This is the newest aquacape. Greg had the idea to do this. Greg Witstock, again, thank you very much. We love that, Greg.

[00:19:05]>> Yeah. He wanted to do this for Chief Brody, our alligator snapper. cheap road he's been a headache.

[00:19:10]>> Yeah. You you told me uh last time I was here that there's been issues with with the way the animals just not happy or not doing well.

[00:19:17]>> Yeah. So, you know, we tried him in the main aquacape, the big one, but it's too shallow and it gets too hot here. The water gets too warm. So, we then moved him back to the pond that I had originally built for him, but he actually really loves it in there. So, when they built this one, he just kept trying to get out of it and going back to the other one. So, I consulted with a couple different people that just know the species really well, and they're like, "Look, that's where he wants to be." So he went back there. He's doing fantastic. We just want to do a little bit more like professional setup to the pond to keep it a little bit more flowing for him. But he's doing absolutely phenomenal. And this opened up the opportunity for us to give our Sicilian pond turtles a home.

[00:19:48]>> No way.

[00:19:49]>> Cuz they've been a big problem for Casey.

[00:19:51]>> So Mormies, >> they are emies.

[00:19:53]>> Oh.

[00:19:53]>> So or Mis. They are one of the European pond turtles, but they're a full species. So they're not misericularis.

[00:19:58]>> They're mis they're >> tras. I've never ever seen these. These guys are fast. Eh, >> they're fast. They're gorgeous and they hate people.

[00:20:08]>> Perfect.

[00:20:09]>> I see you, buddy.

[00:20:10]>> Nice.

[00:20:10]>> Oh, no. No. No.

[00:20:11]>> Come on, man.

[00:20:12]>> I got him. I got >> Oh, thank God. If you lost that turtle.

[00:20:14]>> I got I got him.

[00:20:16]>> Look at that.

[00:20:18]>> Isn't that stunning?

[00:20:19]>> Oh, snap.

[00:20:22]>> Oh my god. Look at this, guys. They just They don't really So, we do have a subspecies of orbicularis, too. They're in the main aquascape, and that's the Franco Italian European pond turtle. So, these are the Sicilian. They're the Franco Italian. Those guys are super personable. They're a bit bigger. They come right up to you for food. The girls love interacting with them. These guys, they see me from across the property and they're like, "Not him. Not today."

[00:20:46]>> Weird, huh?

[00:20:47]>> Yeah.

[00:20:48]>> Uh, but where are they from?

[00:20:49]>> Only the island of Sicily.

[00:20:51]>> Interesting.

[00:20:51]>> And people are now reproducing them, which is fantastic. We have some babies in the barn that are growing up. These guys have been doing really good, but they're not the best swimmers, so there has to be a lot of stuff in the pond >> to climb up out of.

[00:21:01]>> Yeah. They they really they they make some silly mistakes, you know.

[00:21:05]>> Yeah. Uh similar to spotted turtles.

[00:21:08]Okay. Because I've had spotted turtles drown. I had to do turtle CPR, >> which you know, you move the head in and pull the legs out and invert the animal and you can get a turtle breathing again sometimes. These are gorgeous. I'd love to get some uh avicular though.

[00:21:22]>> Sure.

[00:21:22]>> How could I grab some of those?

[00:21:23]>> I will give you some.

[00:21:24]>> Get out of here. We got to if you ever need a turtle or two, I I know a guy >> like you've said to me, I am not looking to die with the most turtles. I will definitely [laughter] get >> Well, I I have beautiful ponds that could facilitate them and I think uh they would do very well year round by us, which is what I've always been looking for. I just like to make life easy.

[00:21:43]>> This is beautiful animal.

[00:21:46]>> Yes. So that's that was what was interesting. You said these are emis like >> Yeah. There's so so Emicularis is the European punter, >> right? You've got a variety of different subspecies. You know, you've got orbvicularis orvicularis. Orbvicularis gallowitalica.

[00:22:00]>> Right. You guys sound like super nerds right now. Isn't that great?

[00:22:03]>> Stick around. It gets worse.

[00:22:04]>> Why they're here?

[00:22:05]>> These are full species. These are MS Trinapas.

[00:22:07]>> Oh, okay.

[00:22:07]>> Oh, yeah. They eat pellets. They eat uh chicken, fish, uh shrimp.

[00:22:12]>> Do they eat turkeys?

[00:22:14]>> Come here. Let's find out.

[00:22:15]>> Is that your turkey?

[00:22:16]>> No.

[00:22:17]>> That's a wild turkey.

[00:22:18]>> Wild turkey.

[00:22:18]>> Crazy. How you doing? Don't mind us.

[00:22:21]Just do your thing, little dinosaur.

[00:22:23]>> Here. Here's somebody for you to check out.

[00:22:25]>> Okay.

[00:22:25]>> Oh my god.

[00:22:28]No way. Can I just Oh my god. Look at you. Come to daddy. Oh, guys. Is that sick? That is gorgeous. I'm color blind and I can see that. [laughter] That's just like >> So, what color is he to you?

[00:22:45]>> Well, he's yellow and then the front is like gray bluish.

[00:22:49]>> It's blue. Yeah.

[00:22:50]>> Okay, cool. When you someone asks me what color something is, I get hot and >> freaked him out. Like, dude, he's a uniform green.

[00:22:57]>> See, that's what you can do to me. Not cool, dude.

[00:22:59]>> I know. Sorry.

[00:23:01]>> Anyway, this turtle's red.

[00:23:03]>> This is awesome. Female, huh?

[00:23:05]>> Male.

[00:23:05]>> Male.

[00:23:06]>> Males don't get concave.

[00:23:08]>> Oh, then wait. I might have more males cuz look at this. Tail's tiny.

[00:23:11]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you might have more males. So, hold on.

[00:23:16]>> I don't know what I don't know.

[00:23:17]>> Hold that turtle. Hang on.

[00:23:18]>> Hold that turtle.

[00:23:21]I I Listen, I'm not too proud to admit.

[00:23:24]I don't know. Here we go.

[00:23:28]>> No way. That's amazing. I might have more males than I thought cuz the males are going to be more colorful. Remember I said there was some females that look pretty colorful.

[00:23:35]>> Yes. That's why I wanted to show you this. So, this is an adolescent male. I think I have a fly on my face.

[00:23:39]>> Yeah. Well, I'll just slap him. If I see it, I'm going to the color blind.

[00:23:42]>> Yeah, exactly.

[00:23:43]>> Adolescent male. Not showing the color yet.

[00:23:45]>> Okay.

[00:23:46]>> But he's got the red eyes and it's he's 100%.

[00:23:48]>> But look at these tails, guys. Wouldn't you consider those tails smaller than most box girls? But the no concavity.

[00:23:54]>> No concavity on the male. That's a female. Obviously, no concavity. She doesn't want to come out.

[00:23:58]>> Come out. Yeah. To to so we can look at her tail.

[00:24:00]>> Let's see if I can find.

[00:24:01]>> So that that's just interesting because the vent I guess it is far enough back.

[00:24:05]But usually you would see just a little bit more of a thicker robuster tail on box turtles. But okay, there you go. I'm excited. I'm going to go home and look under the skirt of every turtle I have in that enclosure.

[00:24:17]>> There you go. That's a female.

[00:24:18]>> Okay. Wow.

[00:24:19]>> It's actually the mother of the one that hatched here.

[00:24:22]>> You have You have some hatchings. That's cool. Will their heads start to develop their coloration?

[00:24:27]>> See how it's coming in on his eyelids?

[00:24:28]So, when the TSA first had us take these in, he was like all brown head, just a little bit of the red starting to show on his limbs. And as he's maturing now, he's starting to get like he's going to look like that guy.

[00:24:39]>> It's so funny. We as we were kids, I'm sure you read all the the reptile literature's the oh the the reptile the reptile offspring are exact replicas of the adults and that is so not true.

[00:24:51]>> No, it's not >> so not true. And there's like a turtle um >> puberty. [snorts] Yeah.

[00:24:55]>> Yeah. Reptiles go through a streaky voices and everything.

[00:24:58]>> Yeah, exactly. They start sprouting Well, they don't sprout hair in weird places. [laughter] >> Thank you for teaching me about Mexican box turtle puberty. Uh >> thanks for making me laugh today.

[00:25:08]>> Okay. I appreciate that. That's what I was here for.

[00:25:11]>> Uh thanks, buddy. It's always a pleasure to see you in case and come to uh the fair garden state.

[00:25:17]>> Yeah.

[00:25:18]>> And get bit by flies. Yeah. Sorry about that.

[00:25:20]>> Freaking flies. It's all right. Anyway, I love you guys. Thanks for being here for me and uh [snorts] thanks for teaching me.