Turtlesinger, Inc.


is a Federal 501(c)3 Public Charity - New Jersey Charities Registration # CH2998200
Mission Statement: To educate and entertain the public about turtles with original songs and/or live turtles.



March 26, 2022



Strolling Spike



Once he left his enclosure, Spike took right off as if to say “Hey…I like this place!” Snapping turtles are water turtles but are quite comfortable spending hours out of the water. Spike is a friendly snapping turtle. He never tries to bite anything except his food (but boy is he good at that)! Spike turns 17 on July 1st, when (pandemic permitting) we hope to be able to celebrate his birthday with all the kids at Camp Cape May.


From Spike, our youngest turtle, to a photo of our oldest turtle getting his turn to enjoy the great outdoors that day, SCROLL DOWN…



March 19, 2022



The Rock





Rocky has a lot of nicknames—we sometimes call him The Rockster or The Rock Star, etc. Rocky is a three-toed box turtle, sort of a cousin to the eastern box turtles found here. Three-toed box turtles are the state reptile of Missouri.


Rocky could now be 70 years old! We marvel at our turtles as we watch ourselves grow older and appear older, while they grow older but basically do NOT appear older!


Rocky is standing tall not just because he’s happy to be out and about, but because he is small and trying to see as much as he can by lifting his head and neck up high.


To watch Rocky move about, SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



Box Turtle on the Move



Box Turtles on the Move is actually one of my Turtlesinger songs!


Here Rocky excitedly moves along, exploring this new territory.


Excited is a good word to describe turtles who come out of hibernation in the spring, since they are often looking not only for food, but for mates!


To see another Turtlesinger turtle Rocky ALWAYS looks for, SCROLL DOWN…



March 19, 2022



Gracie Girl



Gracie, our travancore tortoise and our only girl turtle, always gets lots of attention from our other turtles (with the possible exception of Spike, our snapping turtle).


Gracie turned 33 years old this year on February 25th!


Gracie very likely gets much more attention from our boy turtles than she would like!


Tortoises are turtles that live on land and only go into the water to drink or bathe (not swim).


Want to see how tortoises like Gracie smell things? SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



What Does She Smell?



Gracie spent her first minutes being outdoors by smelling her surroundings. We love this video because you can see Gracie smelling the air very clearly as she moves her neck muscles. This moves the air through her nostrils and into her mouth to smell.


Turtles have a very good sense of smell, and it would make sense to stop and smell a new area. They can rely more on scent than sight to locate food. Gracie does often tend to be more cautious than our male turtles with regard to movement and eating.


For another Turtlesinger tortoise who takes a great interest in Gracie, SCROLL DOWN…



March 19, 2022



Big Black Bart



Here’s Big Black Bart taking his turn outside!


Bart is a South American red-footed tortoise. He turns 35 years old this year!


Bart’s current weight is 30 pounds (compared to Spike's weight of 23 pounds, Gracie's weight of 9 pounds, and Rocky's weight of 0.9 pounds.


Bart is remarkable for his friendly, outgoing nature.


He is ALWAYS interested in Gracie!


To watch Bart on the move, SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



Bart on the Move



Tortoises like Big Black Bart are native to South America and are also known as rainforest tortoises.


Bart certainly loves high heat and humidity: just like in a rainforest! He also loves soaking in water.


Also, like all male tortoises, Bart can make sounds and we hear them quite often from him in our turtle room.


To see one of the ways a turtle (or tortoise) greets another turtle, SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



Bart Says “Hello”



Here you can see Bart using a sideways movement of his head toward Gracie. The fact that she does not return a similar head movement indicates to Bart that she is not a male tortoise.


Unfortunately for Gracie, Bart can also takes this as a sign that Gracie is interested in him (whether she really is or not)!


We have learned to supervise any visits between Bart and Gracie.


To watch Gracie on the move and see how tortoises climb, SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



Never Give Up



Here you can watch Gracie decide to climb an embankment. Watch how she patiently uses all of her limbs to find purchase and gradually climb (video 2X faster). I watched a very large snapping turtle climb a 12-foot chain link fence! The top of this particular fence was covered with coils of barbed wire. The snapping turtle simply ducked under the coils when it reached the top, and dropped over the other side of the fence, making it look easy: turtles can be excellent diggers, climbers, and escape artists!


To continue this warm weather turtle outing and watch Bart and Rocky on the move, SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



Wait For It…



Watch the right side of the screen for Rocky’s head! Here Rocky does not do what he characteristically does when he follows Bart, which is to bite Bart’s legs and toes! Rocky seems very possessive of Gracie, even though she does not feel the same about him. Nevertheless, he lets Bart know that another male is not welcome. We are grateful Bart does not respond aggressively toward Rocky! It’s like Bart doesn’t know he’s big and Rocky doesn’t know he’s small, but Rocky is definitely the alpha male of our turtles.


Finally, for a video of our big boy turtles, SCROLL DOWN…



March 26, 2022



Moving in Circles



We've watched Spike grow from a quarter-sized hatchling to match Bart’s size, even though Spike is only 16 and Bart is 35. When Spike was small, he followed Bart everywhere and used his own turtle identification gestures, waving his claw in Bart’s face. We think he thought Bart was another snapping turtle! Spike seems to have realized Bart is not a fellow snapping turtle. Now BART is the one following Spike!


It’s always exciting to see all our turtles revel in warm weather for the first time in the year, and thanks for sharing the experience with us!





Contact Us:



turtlesinger@hotmail.com | Phone: (609) 205-9248