The 2012 Annual NYTTS Turtle and Tortoise Show



The 38th Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show was held on Saturday, June 2, 2011, at the Village Community School in Greenwich Village, New York City. The forecast threatened rain and may have kept some members away, but the day was perfect, and we had a great Show.

Best In Show was awarded to Matt Hybell (right with daughter Solange) for a breeding pair of Asian Brown tortoises and their young. See story of Matt’s hatchling tortoises.

NYTTS thanks Patrick Baker (left). This is Patrick’s his second year as Show Judge. Pat worked with Dr. Bill McCord’s extensive turtle collection for many years. He was a speaker at the 2002 NYTTS Seminar, and he went on to receive his Ph.D. for work on overwintering hatchling turtles in northern environments.

Judging

Awarding of ribbons is based not only on the quality of the animal (configuration and form, uniqueness, and rarity of species) but also upon ownership responsibility (length of ownership, general health and physical condition, and apparent quality of husbandry). Significant credit is also given when animals have been successfully bred in captivity. When it becomes apparent more than one animal in a person’s collection has benefited from high quality of husbandry, the group (a breeding pair and offspring, or long-term captives in good health) is recognized accordingly. These are designated as a “breeding group” or “husbandry group” below.

All photos by Anita Salzberg


Turtle Names

     The common names of turtles and tortoises vary widely by country and region. To maintain consistency, John Iverson’s scheme of common names (A Revised Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World) has been followed. Therefore, a number of familiar names many of us use informally may have been partly altered or replaced. See the following informal common names and the equivalent Iverson common names below:

Burmese brown tortoise (Manouria emys) = Asian brown tortoise
Chinese box turtle (Cuora flavomarginata) = Yellow-margined box turtle
Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca) = Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise
Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) = Central Asian tortoise


First Place — Blue Ribbon Winners

Matt Hybel, Best In Show — Breeding group (pair + 13 juveniles): Asian brown tortoises (Manouria emys emys)
Brian and Alexandra Blecher — Husbandry group: 6 red-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria)
Matt Hybel — 2 aligator snapping turtles (Macroclemys temminckii)
Michael Li — 2 Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans)
Frank Schneider — Husbandry group: 2 Asian brown tortoises (Manouria emys emys), 2 leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis), 3 Central Asian tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii), 1 Home’s hinge-back tortoisce (Kinixys homeana), 2 pancake tortoises (Malocochersus tornieri), 1 big-headed turtle (Platysternum megacephalum), 1 mata-mata (Chelus fimbriatus), 1 spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata), and 1 eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)
Bob Seaver — 2 yellow-margined box turtles (Cuora flavomarginata)
Thomas E. Shoesmith — 1 Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis)
Barbara Torres — 1 yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulata)
Erico Villanueva — 1 marginated tortoise (Testudo marginata)
Randye Wolf — 1 yellow-margined box turtle (Cuora flavomarginata)




Second Place — Red Ribbon Winners

Lisa and Kelsey Cartelli — Husbandry group: 3 Central Asian tortoises (Testudo horsfieldii), 1 Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca)
Kathy Chow — 1 Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni)
Sheri Greenspan — Husbandry group: 1 Central Asian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) and 1 Reeve’s turtle (Mauremys reevesii)
Joy Joseph — 1 leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis)
Milton Joseph — 2 red-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria)
Kay Martin — Husbandry group: 1 red-cheeked mud turtle (Kinosternon scorpioides cruentatum), 1 red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), and 3 red-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria), 2 yellow-margined box turtles (Cuora flavomarginata), and 2 red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Diane Petrillo — 1 red-footed/yellow-footed tortoise cross (Chelonoidis carbonaria × Chelonoidis denticulata)
Sara Ramos — Husbandry group: 3 yellow-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis denticulata)
Michael Sherwin — Husbandry group: 1 red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), 1 Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata), and 1 yellow-margined box turtle (Cuora flavomarginata)
Barbara Torres — 2 red-footed tortoises (Chelonoidis carbonaria)



Third Place — White Ribbon Winners

Josephine Arnold — 2 red-eared sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Judith Barber — 1 western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii)
Matt Hybel — 2 giant Asian pond turtles (Heosemys grandis)
Matt Hybel — 1 mata mata (Chelus fimbriatus)
John McQuillan & Lesley Brunelle — 1 red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Joyce Reilly — 1 red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Lee R. Tucker — 1 red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)




NYTTS welcomed interns from the Wetlands Institute’s Terrapin Conservation Project.

Picture from left to right are Alison Ball (The College of New Jersey), Lauren Apakian (Temple University), Jennifer Jankowiak (SUNY Binghamton).

For more information on the project’s activities, see terrapinconservation.org.




NYTTS gratefully acknowledges Unco Industries, Inc., That Pet Place, and ZooMed Laboratories, Inc. for their donations of gift certificates and assorted turtle and tortoise care supplies, which were raffled off at the 2012 Annual Show.


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