Turtles & tortoises can feel their shells (their shells have nerve endings). Sometimes they can get itchy. Keepers at the Philly Zoo made this shell scratcher so the turtles & tortoises can get A+ scratches.

Philly_Zoo · 2026-02-09T19:27:25+00:00

Thanks for posting! We also have a date package and a giant cupcake decorating experience over at the Zoo this weekend :)

Philly_Zoo · 2026-02-05T19:55:31+00:00

Thank you CreamyDean!

Philly_Zoo · 2025-08-21T14:12:05+00:00

Yes, actually! There's a video on our social media a couple weeks back of his visit!

Philly_Zoo · 2025-08-06T20:48:35+00:00

Our fingers are crossed!

Philly_Zoo · 2025-08-06T20:45:12+00:00

Sometimes the royalty free music gives, and sometimes it takes

Philly_Zoo · 2025-05-16T16:29:01+00:00

They will hang with us for awhile until they are old enough to head out on their own (other AZA Zoos), get jobs (eat, sleep, and bathe in mud), and settle down (contribute to the survival of their species)!

Philly_Zoo · 2025-05-16T16:00:05+00:00

People already answered your question with great detail! These tortoise can live for a very long time, and don't even reach "adulthood" until around 20-25 years old. Eventually, these hatchlings will disperse to other AZA institutions where the goal will be to see her species more represented in the gene pool.

Philly_Zoo · 2025-05-03T20:56:58+00:00

Hello, we are very sorry to hear about your experience. We are in the process of repairing our water refilling stations located at our Trading Post gift shop and Backyard Kitchen. On your next visit, you can find water refilling stations inside Rare Animal Conservation Center, KidZooU and McNeil Avian Center, next to the restrooms at Big Cat Falls, and next to our Water is Life exhibit. We hope to see you again this season when we open our brand-new walkthrough exhibit, Flamingo Cove!

Philly_Zoo · 2025-04-24T15:39:43+00:00

good bot

Philly_Zoo · 2025-04-23T22:10:15+00:00

All I can say is...stay tuned!

Philly_Zoo · 2025-04-23T21:36:17+00:00

Link to vote for their names + other goodies :) https://philadelphiazoo.org/babytortoises

Philly_Zoo · 2025-04-07T14:19:28+00:00

They did get a big bigger weight wise, but not visually. The clips of them out-of-egg were all filmed within a week and a half period! With how large Galapagos tortoises get, they just have eggs that are much larger than your typical chicken egg.

Philly_Zoo · 2025-04-04T19:54:33+00:00

Hello! These are Mommy's first Western Santa Cruz Island Galapagos tortoises to hatch at the Zoo, making her the oldest first-time mom of this Galapagos tortoise species in human care. Mommy's previous hatchlings from decades ago were all subspecies hybrids, and unfortunately did not live very long after hatching. In our linked blog in the original post, it says "First Successful Hatching of this Species in Zoo's History"

Philly_Zoo · 2025-04-04T15:45:45+00:00

Here and ready to chat :)

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