Geneva Area Turtle and Tortoise Society's free meeting on May 3

In spring, they say, a young man's fancy turns to thoughts that are romancey. Pet turtles and tortoises react the same way in spring, almost immediately after they awaken from their winter hibernation. Springtime's increasing day length and warmer weather combine to generate in turtles and tortoises a strong sexual urge to merge. The main topic of discussion at the May 3 meeting will be what their owners can do to facilitate their pets' breeding.

Turtle society leaders Suzanne and Peter will describe the preparations they make for the annual mating of their turtles and tortoises. The aquatic turtles mate underwater in their ponds, so that process is rarely seen by the club's members. But the terrestrial tortoises have frequently been observed brazenly mating during club meetings in the garden. Photos of this process (which might be considered pornographic in tortoise communities) are in the 'Photos' section of the club's web site at http://turtles.meetup....

The club leaders' turtles and tortoises can roam all over their fenced-in garden. Attendees at the May 3 meeting can see there the ideal site prepared for the females' nest holes. It consists of a large mound of very loose soil in full sun, because it's the warmth of the sun that causes the eggs to hatch. The soil in the rest of the garden is hard-packed clay, which would be very diffifcult for turtles or tortoises to dig through, so they lay their eggs in the warm mound of loose soil. The mound is never allowed to dry completely, because the eggs need a damp environment to develop.

The females laboriously dig the nest hole with their hind legs. The eggs are dropped in one by one, and rearranged in position with the hind legs. At this time the eggs are soft-shelled and fragile, so the female has to work very carefully. The eggs are then covered with soil, and the surface is smoothed with the hind legs so that potential predators see no clue where edible eggs might be. The entire process can take an hour or more. The female sees none of it, and even walks away without looking back to admire her work.

The eggs can be left in the ground to hatch naturally, but today's unusual extremes of weather make hatching uncertain. Soon after the females abandon their nests, Peter carefully digs up the eggs and places them in the simple incubator he designed. It assures the hatching of virtually all fertile turtle or tortoise eggs. They're marked to show which side should remain up, because a baby inside could have its developing blood vessels burst if the egg is turned over.

This meeting's attendees can examne the incubator, and learn how its temperature and humidity can be regulated to be ideal for hatching each species. If any eggs have been produced by May 3, they'll be displayed in the incubator. Last year one clutch of five tortoise eggs generated one new hatchling on each of five consecutive days. One of the babies hatched out during a turtle society meeting, to the fascination of everyone attending the event.

Suzanne and Peter's tortoise babies are raised indoors in a well-planted terrarium. When they're mature enough to live outdoors, young tortoises are moved to the large 'tortoisarium' Peter constructed in the garden. It's covered with wire mesh to protect the youngsters from crows and other birds that could eat them.

Turtle babies are raised in a 500-liter aquarium, sharing their home with many fish. When they're mature enough, the young turtles are moved to the two water-lily and goldfish ponds in the garden. They grow quickly in the 29,000 liters of water, eating the food nature provides in the ponds.

Breeding turtles and tortoises is not the only subject to be discussed at this meeting. Attendees can ask any question about keeping these fascinating creatures as pets. Herpetology experts and others at this event will give answers based on their own experiences. Full details are on the club's web site at http://turtles.meetup....

Visitors are always welcome at our meetings, so invite any interested friends and neighbors to come along. Let them know that all animal lovers can instantly join the club for free right on the web site. Have them log on to http://turtles.meetup... to learn all about the club and how to navigate the many informative pages of the web site. They can then join by simply clicking on the red link marked 'Sign up.' Everyone's welcome.