Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show 2025 Winners

The 2025 Annual NYTTS Turtle and Tortoise Show
The 47th Annual Turtle and Tortoise Show was held on Saturday, June 28, 2025,
at the The Beczak Environmental Center in Yonkers, NY.

Show Judge Anthony Pierlioni awards Best in Show trophy
to Frank Schneider for his two Leopard Tortoise hatchlings.
Photo by Bill Cermak

NYTTS is pleased to once again welcome Anthony Pierlioni as judge for our show this year! Anthony has years of experience working in management for general practice, specialty, and emergency veterinary hospitals. He has written several books and articles on veterinary leadership and endangered turtles and has traveled the country lecturing on these topics. Anthony is the Vice President of theTurtleRoom, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides in-situ conservation, ex-situ preservation, and educational programs in an effort to save turtles internationally.

The Medals Click each image to enlarge; click again to shrink.

Michael Sherwin was surprised when Matt Hybel brought his beloved Common Snapping Turtle “Snappy,” whom Michael can no longer care for.

Judging — Awarding of medals 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.

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
Flat-tailed tortoise (Pyxis planicauda() = Flat-shelled spider tortoise
Greek Tortoise (Testudo graeca) = Spur-thighed Tortoise
Russian Tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii) = Central Asian Tortoise
Sulcata Tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata) = African Spurred Tortoise

First Place — Gold Medal Winners
Photo by Kathy Rumpler

Jake (Edison, NJ), Sara Ramos, Bruce Cohen, Anthony Pierlioni,
Matt Hybel, Rose Sherwin, Michael Sherwin

Bruce Cohen
Gulf Coast Box Turtle (Terapene carolina major)

Bruce Cohen
Texas Tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri)

Matt Hybel
Asian Brown Tortoise (Manoria emys)

Jake (Edison, NJ)
African Spur-thigh Tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata)

Michael Sherwin
Asian Leaf Turtle (Cyclemys dentata)

Michael Sherwin
Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Sara Ramos
Yellow-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus)

Second Place — Silver Medal Winners
Photo by Bill Cermak

Anthony Pierlione, Gary Dee, Frank Schneider,
and Rose Sherwin (for Michael Sharwnin)

Gary and Semantha Dee
Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius)

Frank Schneider
Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina

Frank Schneider
Home’s Hinge-back Tortoise (Kinixys homeana)

Michael Sherwin
Central Asian Tortoise (Agrionemys horsfieldii)

Michael Sherwin
Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata

Third Place — Bronze Medal Winners
Photo by Bill Cermak

Bruce Cohen, Anthony Pierlioni, and Sara Ramos

Bruce Cohen
African Spur-thigh Tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata)

Bruce Cohen
Yellow-margined Box Turtle (Cuora flavomarginata)

Michael Sherwin (not pictured)
Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Sara Ramos
Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)

A slide show of photos taken at the Show
Photos are by Bill Cermak and Kathy Rumpler (credited by BC and KR in the captions).

Show Judge Anthony Pierlioni created this video for his YouTube channel JusTURTLES.