Mickey and Gandalf get worm snacks during target training!
If you’ve visited the Zoo, you’ve likely met a lot of our more than 900 animal residents. Some animals are easy to spot, but others are often not as easy to see because of their habitat set up, their personalities or their sleep cycles among other things. We wanted to start a “Meet the Animals” section of our blog to introduce you to some of the residents that you may (or may not have) met yet!
Our Zoo is full of mammals, birds and, of course, lots of reptiles. Some of our slower-moving individuals are among the most interesting – and oldest – residents at our Zoo! We are home to eight box turtles of four different subspecies: the Eastern box turtle, Florida box turtle, Gulf Coast box turtle and ornate box turtle. Keep scrolling as we introduce you to each of these unique animals!
Name: Snoopy
Subspecies: Eastern box turtle
Age: 3 years
Sex: Unknown
Home: Wildlife Detective Training Academy
About Me: Snoopy is the baby of our box turtles! Because this turtle is still young, we are unsure of their sex. “They are very skeptical of new things, but after one good look, Snoopy will come running up to check it out,” said Savannah Luhn, an Animal Ambassador keeper. She also notes that keepers often find Snoopy soaking themselves in their water dish when they walk by the habitat! This box turtle lives inside the Wildlife Detective Training Academy (WDTA), a building in which several of our ambassador reptiles live. The WDTA is not currently open to the public, but its residents can often be seen at Keeper Chats!
Name: Martin
Subspecies: Florida box turtle
Age: 26 years old
Sex: Male
Home: Paws On; Alongside Sea Turtle Beach
About Me: Martin lives with fellow box turtles Doubledoor, Mickey and Gandalf in a ground-level habitat next to Sea Turtle Beach in the Paws On section of the Zoo. All four of these individuals are great at hide and seek. They will not only burrow into pine straw, but also into dirt! “We never quite know where they’ll be,” said Nicole Payne, the Area Supervisor of Herps and Aquatics. Nicole also notes that all of these turtles are target trained, meaning they have been taught through positive reinforcement to “touch” a custom target and be rewarded with a food item. According to keepers, Martin can often be found tucked into unusual places – he’s wedged himself under a palm root and even climbed in between trees so that he is a couple of inches off the ground!
Name: Charlotte
Subspecies: Eastern box turtle
Age: 58 years old
Sex: Female
Home: Behind-the-scenes habitat near Paws On
About Me: Charlotte lives with fellow box turtle Maleficent in a behind-the-scenes habitat near our Paws On section of the Zoo and is cared for by Animal Ambassador keepers. According to keeper Savannah, Charlotte is very gentle and slow-going – until there is food involved! “She is very food motivated and will do just about anything for a superworm or piece of hard-boiled egg, which makes her awesome to train,” said Savannah. Charlotte is trained to voluntarily walk into a kennel and go out into the Zoo for programs and encounters. “She doesn’t shy away from anything!”
Name: Killer
Subspecies: Gulf Coast box turtle
Age: 58 years old
Sex: Male
Home: Wild Florida; Pond across from alligator habitat
About Me: Killer may be the most famous of our box turtles. We highlighted this not-so-ferocious tiny turtle in a blogpost, explaining all about his unique personality, habitat and enrichments! His name is a tribute to his territorial nature (uncommon for his species), but our keepers joke that “he thinks he’s tough stuff!” Because of his personality, Killer lives by himself inside a pond in our Wild Florida loop across from the alligators. “We have attempted to introduce him to a roommate, but he made it very clear that the new guy was not welcomed in his pond,” said Area Supervisor Nicole. This feisty turtle enjoys spending his days swimming all over his habitat and tucking himself into a pile of pine straw in the late afternoon, especially in the winter. “He is a master at hiding and is often tucked under logs, pine needles, palm fronds or somewhere else difficult to spot,” said Nicole. Great survival instincts for a little turtle! Killer is very food motivated and target trains like a champ, both on land and in the water. His favorite foods are earthworms and mice.
Name: Doubledoor
Subspecies: Florida box turtle
Age: Unknown
Sex: Male
Home: Paws On; Alongside Sea Turtle Beach
About Me: Doubledoor lives with fellow box turtles Martin, Mickey and Gandalf in a ground-level habitat next to Sea Turtle Beach in the Paws On section of the Zoo. According to keepers, Doubledoor is the most reserved of the four. “With continued target training and relationship building, however, he is starting to come out of his shell!” said Nicole.
Name: Mickey
Subspecies: Eastern box turtle
Age: Unknown
Sex: Male
Home: Paws On; Alongside Sea Turtle Beach
About Me: Mickey lives with fellow box turtles Martin, Doubledoor and Gandalf in a ground-level habitat next to Sea Turtle Beach in the Paws On section of the Zoo. According to keepers, Mickey is quite the jokester. “He makes us laugh as he will run up to us really quickly, then run away just as fast!” said Nicole.
Name: Maleficent
Subspecies: Florida box turtle
Age: Unknown
Sex: Female
Home: Behind-the-scenes habitat near Paws On
About Me: Maleficent lives with fellow box turtle Charlotte in a behind-the-scenes habitat near our Paws On section of the Zoo and is cared for by Animal Ambassador keepers. “She is ready to go, always,” says keeper Savannah. “If we have food, she will follow us around her habitat until we feed her and then she will continue to follow us around when we go to feed her roommate, Charlotte!”
Name: Gandalf
Subspecies: Ornate box turtle
Age: Unknown
Sex: Male
Home: Paws On; Alongside Sea Turtle Beach
About Me: Gandalf lives with fellow box turtles Martin, Doubledoor and Mickey in a ground-level habitat next to Sea Turtle Beach in the Paws On section of the Zoo. According to keepers, Gandalf makes training his three roommates a challenge. “Since he is so good at targeting, he’ll come running from the opposite side of the habitat to touch the target and somehow still get there before the turtle sitting just a few inches away,” said Nicole. Now that, we need to see in action!
We hope you enjoyed learning all about our eight box turtles, and we encourage you to spot as many as you can on your next visit to the Zoo!
Brevard Zoo is an independent, not-for-profit organization that receives no recurring government funding for our operating costs. Your generous support enables us to continue to serve our community and continue our vital animal wellness, education and conservation programs.