{"id":6989,"date":"2026-07-24T14:58:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T19:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/?p=6989"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:59:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T19:59:49","slug":"shell-we-tell-you-about-our-baby-blandings-turtles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/shell-we-tell-you-about-our-baby-blandings-turtles\/","title":{"rendered":"Shell We Tell You About Our “Baby” Blanding’s Turtles?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/i><\/div>
<\/i><\/div><\/div><\/div>

When most people hear the phrase “baby turtle,” they probably picture a hatchling small enough to fit in the palm of their hand. Around the Wildlife Epidemiology Laboratory, though, our “babies” are a little different. They may be over six years old now, but they’ll probably always be our baby Blanding’s turtles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every day starts with a visit to our shelled roommates, and no two days are exactly the same. While caring for wildlife often sounds glamorous, the reality is built on consistency, patience, observation, and a whole lot of turtle appreciation. Feeding, cleaning, monitoring behavior, checking water dishes, and making sure each turtle is thriving may sound routine, but these daily moments have allowed us to get to know every single turtle as an individual. And trust us\u2026they all have personalities as unique as the bright yellow smiles painted across their throats.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the funniest parts about working with our resident Blanding’s turtles is how quickly they convince you that reptiles absolutely have opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some turtles wake up every morning convinced they’ve been starving for weeks. The moment they spot someone walking into the room, they’re already waiting to the front of their tank, stretching their necks as far as they can, practically demanding breakfast. They’d happily accept second breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner, dessert, and probably one more snack before lights out if we let them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are the picky eaters.<\/span><\/p>\n

These turtles inspect every meal like seasoned food critics. They’ll stare at their food, poke it once, turn away dramatically, and then casually reconsider five minutes later once they decide it’s finally acceptable. Sometimes I am convinced that they’ll carefully pick out only their favorite pieces first, leaving the rest behind as if they’re making a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, every group has its extroverts and introverts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our extroverts are the first to greet us every day. They follow us around with their eyes while we do our daily room reset, inventory, and cleaning. They investigate every movement, and seem endlessly curious about whatever we’re doing. They’re always front and center whenever it’s feeding time, tank cleaning day, or really any time a person enters the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our introverts, on the other hand, have turned hiding into an art form.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every morning becomes a miniature game of turtle hide-and-seek. Is today’s hiding spot buried under layers and layers? Pushed into the corner of the enclosure? There are days when you spend several moments scanning every inch of the enclosure before suddenly spotting two curious eyes peeking back at you from somewhere you already looked three times. They always win that game.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s easy to forget that these charismatic turtles are more than just entertaining lab companions. Every one of them represents years of conservation work and hope for the future of a species that faces significant challenges across its native range.<\/span><\/p>\n

These turtles originally entered the program as part of a conservation strategy known as headstarting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the wild, Blanding’s turtle nests face incredible odds. Eggs and hatchlings are vulnerable to a wide variety of predators, and only a tiny fraction naturally survive long enough to become adults. Headstarting helps tip those odds back in the turtles’ favor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of leaving hatchlings to face those dangerous first years alone, wildlife professionals carefully collect eggs from at-risk populations, incubate them, and raise the hatchlings in protected environments. During this time, they receive proper nutrition, veterinary care, and safe housing, allowing them to grow far beyond the size at which they’re most vulnerable to predators. Once they’ve reached a size that gives them a much better chance of survival, many are released back into carefully managed wetlands throughout Illinois.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our turtles were part of that journey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although these particular turtles remained in human care, many of their brothers and sisters graduated from the same headstart program and now live in restored wetlands across several Illinois counties. Somewhere out there, turtles that hatched alongside ours are swimming through marshes, basking on logs, searching for food, and hopefully one day contributing to future generations of wild Blanding’s turtles.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s a pretty incredible thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every time we care for our turtles, we’re reminded that they represent much more than the individuals in front of us. They’re ambassadors for an entire conservation effort spanning decades, involving wildlife biologists, veterinarians, students, researchers, land managers, and countless partners all working toward the same goal: giving this remarkable species a brighter future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though our turtles aren’t out roaming Illinois wetlands, they continue contributing to conservation in meaningful ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

By helping us better understand husbandry, nutrition, growth, health, behavior, and veterinary care, they support research that can ultimately benefit wild populations. Every observation (whether it’s documenting normal behavior, monitoring growth, evaluating health, or simply learning what helps them thrive) adds another small piece to a much larger conservation puzzle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes conservation looks like hiking through wetlands searching for turtles with radio telemetry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes it looks like carefully processing animals during field season.<\/span><\/p>\n

And sometimes conservation looks like standing in front of a tank, laughing because one turtle is convinced breakfast should happen for the second time while another has somehow disappeared into their enclosure again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those quiet daily moments matter just as much.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, we’ve celebrated milestones with these turtles that most people would never think about. Watching them continue to grow, recognizing familiar behaviors, noticing subtle personality quirks, and seeing them remain healthy year after year has been incredibly rewarding. It’s amazing how attached you become to animals that spend much of their day basking and laying around, occasionally judging you from across the room.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest lesson they’ve taught us is patience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turtles don’t rush anything. They remind us that conservation isn’t measured in days or weeks\u2026it’s measured in years, decades, and even generations. Blanding’s turtles are exceptionally long-lived animals, often taking well over a decade before reaching reproductive maturity. Every turtle protected today represents an investment in wetlands that may not fully reveal its impact for many years to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s what makes every feeding, every tank cleaning, every health check, and every routine morning worthwhile.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our “babies” may not technically be babies anymore, but don’t tell them that. They’ll still line up at the front of their tanks hoping for an extra snack, hide skillfully just to keep us on our toes, and continue reminding us why we fell in love with turtle conservation in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

They’re a daily reminder that conservation isn’t always about dramatic moments in the field. Sometimes it’s found in the steady rhythm of everyday care, the small victories that happen one healthy turtle at a time, and the knowledge that every little effort helps ensure future generations of Blanding’s turtles have a chance to thrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the day, we suppose you could say we’re all a little shell-shocked by how much personality can fit inside one carapace. Caring for these turtles has truly been turtley awesome, and while they may spend most of their time swimming, basking, begging for snacks, or plotting their next great hiding place, they’re also quietly helping write the next chapter of Blanding’s turtle conservation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1589,"featured_media":6994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1589"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6989"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6996,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6989\/revisions\/6996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.illinois.edu\/wel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}