Reptiles and Amphibians

New Pond Farm
Connecting People to the Land that Enriches and Sustains Us All

Reptiles and Amphibians

In our Wildlife Room, we care for a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians. Please feel free to stop by and visit them in the Indoor Learning Center. The Wildlife Room is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and occasionally on weekends.

For the health and safety of our animals, please do not allow children to use loud voices or bang on the glass cages.

Animal of the Month

Bert

Bert is an African Spurred Tortoise.
Geochelone sulcata

This species comes from the hottest, driest area part of Africa, where they dine on dry grass and plants. To cool off during the hottest part of the day these tortoises are known to dig burrows underground. In the wild, some tunnel systems have been found that extend 10 feet or more underground! They are very good diggers! The name spurred comes from the formations on the tortoises front legs that are used for defense in the case of a predator.

Since Bert comes from such a hot, dry environment, we have to make sure his enclosure here at New Pond Farm is very warm. He is small now, but he will live a very long life and could grow up to be one hundred pounds! As he grows, so will his enclosures.

In the cold weather he lives in a large enclosure in our office where he welcomes your visit. In the warm summer months he will move to a large outdoor pen where he can dig in the dirt and the vitamin D in the sunlight will help his shell grow nicely.

Next time you stop by the farm, come in and say hello to Bert!