Spiny Turtle
Reptiles
The 'sun turtle' - a bizarre, spiky juvenile that sadly loses most of its spikes with age. CITES II and wild-imported specimens often arrive near death; a delicate, specialist turtle.
White-lipped Mud Turtle
Reptiles
A strikingly pretty mud-turtle relative - the 'mango-head' morph can flush yellow onto limbs and shell. Friendly and mid-priced, but it cannot brumate and must be kept heated year-round.
Pancake Tortoise
Reptiles
A flat, flexible, rock-crevice tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) that flees instead of hiding - a fast, escape-prone, CITES II conservation concern.
Common Snapping Turtle
Reptiles
The familiar 'small croc' - the most common and cheapest of the four Chelydra subspecies, hardy and pugnacious; a meat/farm turtle more than a pet.
McCord’s Box Turtle
Reptiles
A dazzling, China-endemic box turtle (Cuora mccordi) from Guangxi - extremely rare and CITES II; wild individuals are essentially unobtainable. Education-only.
Angonoka (Ploughshare) Tortoise
Reptiles
One of the world's ten most endangered turtles - fewer than 1,000 left in Madagascar, CITES I, and effectively not tradable. Education-only profile.
Amboina Box Turtle
Reptiles
The most common and cheapest of the seven box turtles (Cuora amboinensis) - shy, very aquatic, and the most beginner-friendly of the box turtles.
Impressed Tortoise
Reptiles
A large, temperamental Southeast Asian forest tortoise (Manouria impressa) - China's Grade II protected, wild-caught and declining; not recommended for keepers.
Annam Turtle
Reptiles
A Vietnamese endemic box-turtle lookalike (Mauremys annamensis) - rare, expensive, and a Vietnam first-class protected species; trade is effectively off-limits.
Komodo Dragon
Reptiles
The world's largest lizard - a 3 m, 90 kg apex predator with venom glands and septic saliva. Protected and NOT a pet; this profile is educational only.
Helmeted Turtle
Reptiles
A common, hardy African side-neck turtle - small, gregarious, a strong carnivore, and a good tropical-community water turtle (no brumation).
Central American Snapping Turtle
Reptiles
The rarest of the four chelydran snapping-turtle subspecies - large, dark, pugnacious, and really a 'meat turtle', not a home pet.
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