The keeping of turtles, terrapins, and tortoises is growing at an incredible rate across the country. Reptile keepers are discovering that turtles and tortoises offer interesting and complex behaviors and ease of captive production when they are established in their collections.

The increase in keeping aquatic turtles has been attributed by many to the growing interest in garden ponds. As people build water areas into their yards, many are searching out new and exciting plants and wildlife to stock these ponds. The old ideas of adding a few koi and a handful of comet goldfish seem to be fading. Map turtles, painted turtles, sliders, and a myriad of other turtles from countries throughout the Americas are now becoming readily available. Once the scourge of ponds, these species are now being sought out as a welcome addition to the family garden pool.

In addition, more and more people are purchasing tortoises for their yards and providing them with elaborate enclosures, proper wintering quarters, and rich, diverse diets. The relationships that people are building with their chelonian charges can rival that of a "man and his dog". Keepers are understanding more of the requirements and taking advantage of the new bank of knowledge provided by the multitude of new turtle and tortoise care books.

© 2003 by Russ Gurley

As the keeping of turtles and tortoises by reptile keepers and breeders expands, more and more captive-hatched turtles and tortoises are appearing at expos and shows across the country. Some species, only sporadically bred in captivity, are now appearing with frequency at private breeding facilities. Likewise, species neglected due to their inexpensive cost and "low financial return" are now being established in breeding programs.

For many years the variety of species of turtles and tortoises available has been limited. Now, as interest grows, hobbyists are searching for their niche in this fascinating area of herpetoculture. For the first time ever, there are turtle and tortoise breeders starting to specialize - large tortoises, albinos, softshell species, Asian species, alligator snappers, etc. The focus of these individuals tells us that new and exciting markets relating to chelonians are opening up. As more and more keepers search out personalized projects, the variety of captive-hatched babies will hopefully astound us all.

Turtles and tortoises are disappearing from habitats around the world. Like their aquatic cousins, the amphibians, they seem to be falling rapidly to the pressures, pollution, and environmental destruction around them. The plight of the Asian turtles, which are being devoured at an alarming rate, is well-documented and now common knowledge to most reptile keepers. Unfortunately, this decline in Asia is only a small part of the overall decline across the world in chelonian fauna. The tortoises of Madagascar are severely threatened. The turtles and tortoises of Southeast Asia and even many of the aquatic turtles of Central and South America are seen in ever decreasing numbers in the field.

Fortunately, new conservation organizations such as the Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group (www.ttpg.org), the Asian Turtle Consortium (www.asianturtle.org), The Turtle Survival Alliance (www.turtlesurvival.org), and others have arisen and those clubs and societies already in existence are seeing exciting new growth in membership and attendance at meetings.

© 2003 by Russ Gurley

The future of turtles and tortoises in the wild is precarious and unknown. Hopefully, with careful and intelligent propagation of captive stock and with cooperation from private hobbyists and concerned institutions and societies, we will see production of threatened and unusual species in programs that are just now being implemented. The future is truly exciting.