Dancing Turtle Rescue and Education Program, Inc.

02/10/2025

Oops, it looks like we interrupted River's shower. Sorry about that, friend. River is a female painted turtle who is medically non-releasable because a dog chewed off the front of her shell, leaving her without protection for her head and legs. After some paperwork is done, we hope River will be joining our educational team so she can show everyone why it's important to keep dogs away from turtles. We're just happy River was rescued in time and we will try to give her a good life with us. Now we should probably let River get back to her shower.

02/08/2025

Hey! That's not a turtle! Nope. That's Jelly. Or Bean. We can't really tell them apart. Jelly and Bean are crested geckos who joined our reptile and amphibian menagerie last fall. They are captive bred, but crested geckos are native to New Caledonia, a group of islands in the Pacific near Australia. Crested geckos were once believed to be extinct in the wild, but were rediscovered in 1994. Now their biggest conservation challenge is the little fire ant, an invasive ant species from South America with a powerful sting that can overcome even the much larger geckos. Jelly and Bean don't have to worry about little fire ants, just annoying humans who turn on the lights. Crested geckos are nocturnal and spend their days sleeping among the leaves, making them very difficult to photograph unless a human sneaks up on them with a flash camera at midnight.

02/06/2025

Ever wonder what our ambassador turtles do in the winter when it's too cold to go out for programs? Maple, our northern map turtle, has been spending her days basking under the lights. She's really trying to even out her tan before spring.

02/05/2025

It's Wetlands Wednesday! Did you know that wetlands are biodiversity hotspots? Freshwater wetlands host almost all amphibians, half of the fish species, and over one third of vertebrates - like turtles! In fact, wetlands support 40% of known plant and animal species, including many endangered and threatened species. Some species are only found in certain wetland habitats and nowhere else. If the wetland disappears, so do they.

02/04/2025

Ah, friendship. Vicki (left) and Jessica (right) are enjoying a bask under the "artificial sun" created by lights in their shared tank. Both painted turtles are long-term patients who are not releasable due to permanent disability and will either join our ambassador team or be placed with another organization. There is quite a bit of work for the humans to do to ensure nonreleasable native turtles find good homes with proper educational permits in place. Meanwhile, they receive the same good care as all our wildlife patients.

09/06/2024

Reminder! We will be at the Fairy and Magickal Creatures Festival in Elizabethtown, NY, tomorrow, Saturday, September 7th. Please stop by and meet the magickal turtles!

09/04/2024

Hi friends! It's me, Big Mama, back on the socials with all the good turtle news. The humans have been releasing healed turtles back to their homes. This snapping turtle, Uncle Sam, came in on the Fourth of July. (Uncle Sam is kind of creative. I'm surprised he didn't get named July or Fourth or something lazy.) One of our friends at North Country Wild Care rescued him and was there to release Sam, too. It was his first encounter with a snapping turtle and he did a great job! We are glad Uncle Sam healed quickly and is already back where he belongs. Good luck out there, friend!

09/02/2024

Hi friends! Big Mama here. The humans tell me today is Labor Day and many of you have the day off. Good, that means you will be looking at your socials and you won't miss this VERY IMPORTANT POST. What's that, human? That sounded a bit threatening? Fine, I apologize for using a threatening tone to get your attention. And happy Labor Day, I guess. Anyway, this IS a very important post. Last week I said we had a special hatch at Jen's house. This tiny baby, who is smaller than a quarter (Was putting the turtle on spare change really necessary? Oh, scale, sure.) hatched from an egg that was found in water, either from a disturbed nest or washed out by rain. Most eggs do not develop if they are submerged but this one did. What kind of turtle is it, you ask? This grumpy face belongs to a musk turtle! Common musk turtles, or stinkpots as they are sometimes called, are among New York's smallest turtles. Welcome to the world little stinker!

08/31/2024

One week away! We are excited to be at the Fairy and Magickal Creatures Festival in Elizabethtown, NY, on Saturday, September 7th. The festival is behind the Adirondack History Museum on Court Street and our booth is right behind the museum by the fairy garden. Our turtle ambassadors will be there along with a surprise guest or two. While you're enjoying the festival, be sure to stop by and meet some truly magickal creatures!

Thank you to Solstice LLC, the festival organizers, for sponsoring our booth.

08/30/2024

Hello! It's Big Mama here with Hector, who is looking very handsome. He said he would rather the humans fill his food dish instead of taking pictures, but it's hard to look annoyed when you have a beak instead of lips that move. The humans assured me Hector was fed right after the picture.

08/29/2024

Hi there! It's me, Big Mama, and I'm back reporting on what's been going on that's distracted the humans from giving me good gossip, I mean, news. The educational ambassadors and the humans spent their day with a bunch of horses! Don't worry, no turtles where stepped on. We were invited by Dancing Horses, LLC to set up our booth during a special event day. Frankie and Jimmi lounged in the pool and Hector got to walk around in the pen saying hello to all the kids. Both the turtles and the humans said it was great fun and they are looking forward to going to the Fairy and Magickal Creatures Festival in less than two weeks. Hector arrived after last year's festival so he was especially excited to learn he got to meet the fairy folk. Careful, Hector, I think the humans were eyeing up costumes for turtles.

08/27/2024

Hi friends! It is I, Big Mama, and I'm here after weeks of being IGNORED in Turtle Hall just because of storms and power outages and babies hatching. Okay, so maybe baby turtles were worth being ignored. They are so cute! There are painted turtles and snapping turtles. I also heard there is a turtle species at Jen's house that we've never hatched in an incubator before. I will try to get pictures. The humans have also been working together and with other wildlife rehabbers on some tough injuries that didn't all have happy endings, so I guess I can forgive being ignored. As long as I get fed and the wifi stays on, I'm good. But let's not tell the humans that.

08/03/2024

Hi from your friend Big Mama! I hope you find yourself a nice pond deck to lounge on this weekend like Patti did!

08/02/2024

Hey there! It's Big Mama here with Tanya, who I had to look really close to find. I guess you take your duties as the resident eastern mud turtle very seriously, Tanya. You are representing your kind well. What's that? Mud turtles are endangered in New York because humans keep messing with all the good mud? That's sad. Well, the humans here will make sure you have plenty of mud to keep you happy.

08/01/2024

Hey friends! It's me, Big Mama, lounging on the basking platform with Delilah, while the ambassador turtles have to spend the day in a tent talking to people. I guess it pays to be bitey, right? Anyway, if you are in the Lake George, NY, area, stop by the Roaring Brook Ranch Resort and visit with my friends. They need to do some work! I'm just going to sit here and tan my legs. What's that, Delilah? You don't see any sign of the lunch lady and you are afraid we are going to have to wait to eat? I hadn't thought of that. Oh well, at least we have some peace and quiet around here while we wait.

07/31/2024

Hello friends! It is I, Big Mama, with big news! Well, very little news. Anyway, the first baby turtles to hatch in our incubators have made their way into the world. These painted turtle hatchlings emerged from their eggs weighing 4 grams each, except that last one who weighed 5 grams. There are four babies in total and they are all doing well. Baby turtles hatch knowing how to turtle, so they are already swimming around. Their mom didn't survive her injuries after she was hit by a car, so these babies will be kept safe for awhile so they have a better chance of surviving once they get back to mom's habitat. They have the important job of replacing her to make sure the population stays stable. That's a lot to put on a bunch of tiny babies, I know, but we are losing too many turtles from the world every year.

07/30/2024

We will be set up at Roaring Brook Ranch Resort in Lake George, NY, on Thursday, August 1st. Visit our tent and meet our educational and rescue ambassadors and learn about turtles in the Adirondacks and beyond.

07/29/2024