# St Louis Zoo - Tour De Tortoise



## SulcataSquirt (Aug 20, 2011)

So this was the ULTIMATE experience! I surprised my tort loving other half with a Tour De Tortoise at our local zoo for our anniversary in May - you get to go behind the scenes and INTO the tortoises enclosure for about an hour for feeding and informational talk. We were literally on display for people at the zoo to watch as they walked past - this was the best experience ever, besides raising our very own of course. Here are a few photos from our experience and I will post more later!! ENJOY!!  





















(This last guy was pretty much blind in both eyes - he became a quick favorite!)

-C


----------



## Torty Mom (Aug 20, 2011)

AWESOME, how fun was that!! I would love to do something like that! Thanks for sharing!!


----------



## FranklinTturtle (Aug 20, 2011)

A special life time memory! Lucky Lucky


----------



## coreyc (Aug 20, 2011)

Wow how great are you what a surprise awesome pics


----------



## african cake queen (Aug 20, 2011)

nice pics. wish i was there too! lindy


----------



## dmarcus (Aug 20, 2011)

Very cool photos...


----------



## Jacqui (Aug 20, 2011)

How awesome that must have been! How much does something like that cost?


----------



## SulcataSquirt (Aug 20, 2011)

Well it was a little expensive.. $50 each.. BUT very well worth it! If someone is willing to let me into their tort farm for a night I will consider that instead next time  aldabraman(greg) I'm all up for setting up camp w the aldabras.. U think they'd eat the tent or mow it over? Haha!!


----------



## DesertGrandma (Aug 20, 2011)

Loved seeing your photos. How amazing that must have been. What a great gift! What a guy!!


----------



## DeanS (Aug 20, 2011)

I bet Greg is drooling right now!


----------



## ALDABRAMAN (Aug 20, 2011)

DeanS said:


> I bet Greg is drooling right now!



For sure, lol, they look great!


----------



## SulcataSquirt (Aug 20, 2011)

ALDABRAMAN said:


> DeanS said:
> 
> 
> > I bet Greg is drooling right now!
> ...



What do u think about camping w ur aldabras? Think they'd eat the tent or mow it over? Haha aldabras are beautiful.


----------



## l0velesly (Aug 20, 2011)

Sounded like a great and fun experience. That's a big bunch of Aldabras!


----------



## tinkerbell1189 (Aug 21, 2011)

What an AMAZING experiance!!! Do they just munch on the carrotts whole? (If there carrotts?)


----------



## Sky2Mina (Aug 21, 2011)

Wohoo, what a great gift! (I wish my partner would be that thoughtful!) Nothing better than giving a great expierience and awesome memories!


----------



## SulcataSquirt (Aug 21, 2011)

tinkerbell1189 said:


> What an AMAZING experiance!!! Do they just munch on the carrotts whole? (If there carrotts?)



Yes they feed them whole (huge) carrots - at least when people are feeding them, otherwise I think they get a whole huge mess variety. It was amazing to feed such big tortoises with a carrot and to actually be face to face with them while they bit off each bite. Just had to be careful when the carrot got too short! 
There was one tortoise as well that the keeper warned us of as soon as we got there that is super sneaky and you always have to know where hes at.. and boy was he right! You'd take your eye off him for a minute and next thing you know he's right behind you trying to much on your pants! Haha it was great.


----------



## Stephanie (Aug 21, 2011)

Those pictures are so neat! I don't think $50 per person is all that bad for such a wonderful experience. The San Diego Zoo charges $40 for just one ticket for the day- it's something like $99 to do their "backstage" pass.
This makes me wish I lived near St. Louis Zoo


----------



## dmmj (Aug 21, 2011)

I will have to see if the LA zoo has something like that,
and FYI I got the first spot reserved for camping in aldaman's yard. 

Nice pics BTW but I would have taken more,and some video too.


----------



## SulcataSquirt (Aug 21, 2011)

dmmj said:


> I will have to see if the LA zoo has something like that,
> and FYI I got the first spot reserved for camping in aldaman's yard.
> 
> Nice pics BTW but I would have taken more,and some video too.



It would be such an experience to camp there! haha I wish I knew of someone that lived closer to me with that many torts, I haven't seen anyone so far very close to St Louis though.
We have quite a bit more pics and I believe I did take some video, didn't want to bore everyone with some many pictures! 



Stephanie said:


> Those pictures are so neat! I don't think $50 per person is all that bad for such a wonderful experience. The San Diego Zoo charges $40 for just one ticket for the day- it's something like $99 to do their "backstage" pass.
> This makes me wish I lived near St. Louis Zoo



That is very true.. since I grew up here and never been to another zoo I always forget we are one of the only free admission zoos. I would LOVE to go to the San Diego Zoo though!


----------



## Stephanie (Aug 21, 2011)

SulcataSquirt said:


> That is very true.. since I grew up here and never been to another zoo I always forget we are one of the only free admission zoos. I would LOVE to go to the San Diego Zoo though!



Free admission?! That is way cool! Do they have donation boxes or something along those lines? Oh man, I'm seriously jealous of you guys hahaha


----------



## ChiKat (Aug 21, 2011)

Wow that's awesome!! I would pay $50 for that!


----------



## SulcataSquirt (Aug 23, 2011)

Stephanie said:


> SulcataSquirt said:
> 
> 
> > That is very true.. since I grew up here and never been to another zoo I always forget we are one of the only free admission zoos. I would LOVE to go to the San Diego Zoo though!
> ...


They make A LOT of money off of donations.. children's zoo, railroad, sea lions shows, snacks, and all the extras. A lot of people make donations for the animals to get discounted rates for certain exhibits and even to get zoo license plates. It's crazy really.


Microtrumpet said:


> I tried to do that for myslef and my finacee and was told no becuase of insurance risks so now I'm jelous


Really?? That's crazy! Which zoo was that??



ChiKat said:


> Wow that's awesome!! I would pay $50 for that!


Yeah it was definitely worth it. I notice your from Illinois, anywhere close to St Louis?


----------

