So from Chattanooga, Tennessee, I went to Ojai (pronounced oh-hai), southern California. Or specifically, to the Behler Chelonian Conservation Center. I just realized, when I was there, that the center isn’t open to the public 
The Behler Chelonian Conservation Center is home to 22 species of turtles and tortoises — the Egyptian tortoises, Indian star tortoises, spider tortoises, pancake tortoises, huge Burmese blank mountain tortoises and Galapagos tortoises! 
Some tortoises had to be taken into the property at night because it was too cold for them to be out. So at about 5-something, we started taking everybody in. Similarly, every morning, we took them outside for some sun.
I was at the Behler Chelonian Conservation Center for 4 days, and I did mostly food preparation — dandelion greens, kales, strawberries, melons and carrots. I was surprised that the tortoises were so attracted to red-coloured foods!
Don’t these strawberries look mouth-watering?
More pictures taken at the Behler Chelonian Conservation Center here.
Up next: Looking for pond turtles @ Matilija Canyon.
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A big bowl of strawberries. Yum. Yum.
Mmmm those strawberries sure look yummy :p
You had to come to Southern California while I weather is the pits, didn’t you? LOL
I am happy to see you are both having fun and getting some education
Oh yeah, finally I get to know various species of turtles from the photos. Sorry, I have questions to ask =p
How old is that Indian star tortoise? It fits in your palm…
How to differentiate between Indian star tortoise and Burmese star tortoise? They look alike from your photos.
What tortoise is that under the file name Behler_045?
I thought tortoises are cold blooded? How cold is it during night time?
Anyway, it’s kind of sad to see all tortoises here for it means they are mostly endangered right? I wonder if we still could see this lovely creature 20 to 30 years later…
(1) The small Indian star tortoises that fit in my palm are either newly hatched, or are 1 year old. The extremely small ones are newly hatched, and the “bigger” ones are 1 year old. They don’t get very big.
(2) It took me a few days to figure out the differences between an Indian and a Burmese star tortoise. But if you look closely, you will see that the patterns on their carapace are different.
(3) Behler_045 shows an adult radiated tortoise feeding on a piece of cactus. I have already made the necessary changes in the Flickr photos.
(4) Yeah, tortoises (all reptiles) are cold-blooded. And as far as I know, it gets as cold as 50 deg F (10 deg C) at nights.
Those tortoises are lucky to have someone take them inside when it is chilly, and take them out when the weather is good for them. They must be in shock at such nice treatment!
I’m jealous…JEALOUS, I tell you~!
Actually pelf, there is a more definite way to tell the difference between a Burmese Star (G. platynota) and an Indian Star (G. elegans). The Indian Star has a more defined radiating pattern on their plastron compared to the Burmese Star. But yes, you can also tell by the pattern on their carapaces in which for the the Indian Star, each scute may have stripes that do not follow the ridges of the scute while for the Burmese Star, it does. Also good to note is that the top of the head for an Indian Star has smaller scales and is darker in color, while the Burmese Star has larger, more yellow scales and also has this big diamond shaped scale at the top of the head (there is a name for it but I can’t remember). The Burmese Star also has a spike or claw at the tip of its tail which the Indian Star does not have.
Ok…I hope I didn’t just sound like a smart-ass but just thought I’d share some additional info.
I’ve got a PDF citation by Kenneth McCloud of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for Photographic Identification Guide to Star-Patterned Tortoises if you’re interested.
Yes those strawberries look very mouth watering
Those berries and watermelon sure looks yum yum
. Are those really for the turtles? 
sorry for my ignorance. Again, the photos are really good.