Turtle Tea Guests

Episode 17: Leopard Tortoises – Are they the Worst Pet Tortoise or Sensitive and Misunderstood? – releasing 6/14 Animals have been a lifelong passion of mine, and growing up I kept everything from red-eared sliders, painted turtles, common musk turtles, and Chinese box turtles (Cuora flavomarginata) to iguanas and other reptiles. My journey into tortoise … Read more

Anthony Pierlioni has written five books on turtles and veterinary leadership and speaks interna­tionally on these subjects. A turtle conservationist, Anthony is the Vice President of theTurtleRoom, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports conservation around the world and educates the pub­lic about the plight of turtles. Follow his turtle-related adventures on the jusTURTLES You­Tube chan­nel.

Born in San Jose and raised in Gilroy, California, Steven’s journey began in the 6th grade, after receiving his first Russian tortoise from his science teacher. He has been keeping and breeding tortoises since middle school. In 2019, after years of keeping “a little bit of everything,” Steven made the decision to focus his efforts … Read more

Born and raised in Southern California growing up catching alligator lizards, fence lizards, king snakes, rattlesnakes, etc. I cannot recall a time that I was not keeping reptiles or outside looking for them. Growing up as the youngest of five, I received a lot of support from my parents to grow my passion for reptiles, … Read more

Ralph Till and Turtle Tea host Wendy Montroy Back in the late 50’s and into the 60’s (yes I’m that old) I was fortunate enough to live in farm country in northwestern New Jersey. Each summer was spent crawling thru endless swamps, ponds, streams and rivers looking for any reptile that I could find. While … Read more

My journey with turtles started as a fascination, became a curiosity, morphed into an obsession, and has now matured into a mission. I was about seven years old when I first laid eyes on Star tortoises at my school. I was fascinated by those gentle creatures and would stop by and watch them every day. … Read more

Dirk is the founder of Tortoise Conservation South Africa. He has had a passion for chelonians since he was a little boy. His goal is to establish a sanctuary and conservation area for tortoises in the Western Cape of South Africa. Episodes: Padlopers: Small Tortoises, Big Conservation Challenges and Padlopers: Breeding for the Future of the Parrot-Beaked … Read more

Jason and Tara currently live in the Sonoran desert NW of Phoenix. Jason has been a reptile keeper since he was 4, more than 4 decades ago. Even though they just celebrated their 21st anniversary, Tara didn’t consider herself a reptile keeper until about 10 years ago. They have been focusing on turtles & tortoises for … Read more