We now have an official biologist on staff. Samantha graduated Saturday morning from USF with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. Congratulations Samantha!
With school now out of the way, you can be sure we will all soon be seeing a better, more efficient Martins World Exotics.
It’s egg-laying season for the majority of our turtles and tortoises and there are eggs to be dug up everywhere! Today alone we got Cuora flavomarginatas, spotted turtles, redfoot tortoises, Nicaraguan wood turtles, and albino red-eared sliders.
Digging eggs is a morning and evening ritual every day of the week now for the next several months. Which means for us: massive hangnails, dirty/broken fingernails, and lacerations on the finger tips. Why do we have these problems? It is very important that we hand dig the eggs as using a shovel puts the eggs at risk for being broken. It’s tough work but it pays off when you see a cute little face with an egg-tooth looking out at you on hatch day 
There are many plants that could prove lethal to your turtle or tortoise so the following list consists of just a *few* of the more common ones:
- Chrysanthemums (“mums”)
- Daffodils
- Euphorbia
- Privet
- Crocus
- Cyclamen
- Delphinium
- Foxglove
- Hydrangea
- Jasmine
- Lilly of the valley
- Lobelia
- Lupine
- Mistletoe
- Potato leaves
- Rhubarb leaves
- Rhododendron
- Wisteria
- Yew
It is imperative that you do not use any toxic garden chemicals such as weed killers, pesticides, mouse/rat/slug poison, etc.
We always recommend Redfoot tortoises for beginners. They are very hardy and easy to take care of. Some other tortoises you might consider are Russian and Hermanns tortoises as they stay small (4-6″ and 8″ respectively).
Tags: tortoise
During egg-laying season it is very important to be sure that your female tortoise/turtle is receiving adequate amounts of calcium to ensure proper egg formation. We do this by placing multiple cuttlebones in their feeding area. We do this every 2 weeks during egg-laying season and once a month in the off season. It is also a good way to ensure that both males and females have calcium available to them at all times to support their bones. Cuttlebones can be found at your local pet store, most grocery stores, and can also be ordered online at http://www.reptilesupply.com.
People have long been told not to feed their reptiles iceberg lettuce because it does not contain enough of the essential nutrients necessary to keep your animal healthy and because it is “mostly water”. Both varieties of lettuce contain the same nutrients however romaine lettuce contains almost 3 times the amount found in iceberg. Iceberg can be fed to your reptile but should not replace romaine or other greens in their diet.
Here’s a list of shows that we will be attending in the next 3 months. Grab your friends, family, pets, etc and come on out!
Repticon Orlando: May 9-10, 2009 (for more info, visit: http://www.repticon.com/orlando.html)
Repticon Tampa: June 27-28, 2009 (for more info, visit: http://www.repticon.com/tampa.html)
Orlando F.I.R.Expo: July 11-12, 2009 (for more info, visit: http://www.worldherpexpo.com)
Tags: F.I.R.Expo, Repticon, reptile shows
Sorry for the delay folks! It always takes a bit of time to unwind from a show and get back to the computer
The show went very well! Day 2 brought familiar faces…people who always come by just to say hi and update us on how their new family member that they got from us is doing. It never gets old.
One of the coolest things about this particular show is that USARK was there getting signatures to stop HR669 from passing. They collected over 1,000 signatures!!! Before the show they had already collected 16,000. For those who have not heard, HR669 did not pass on April 23rd. The bill is not dead, but we have stalled them and at least our voice has been heard!
All in all, we are glad that we were able to attend the show. As always, it was a blast
The first day of the show has come and gone! Samantha helped out at ReptileSupply.com’s booth so it was a first for Martins World Exotics as the duo was broken up for the day 
Many customers came up to the booth for information on different species of turtles and their care so we got to do a lot of educating today which is very important to us. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!
Tags: Repticon
Howdy folks! Short notice but have no fear, Martins World Exotics will be attending this weekend’s Repticon show in Manatee. For more info, go to: http://www.repticon.com . We hope to meet some of you there
Tags: Repticon