Galápagos hawk

Giant tortoises are found only on the Galapagos Islands and prefer to live in dry lowlands. They are found on the islands of Pinzon, Española and Isabela. In general, saddleback tortoises live in arid zones and feed mostly on cactus.

Galápagos Islands

Soupios says he paid around $7,000 to purchase his young male tortoise, Tony. Adult females like the two he owns—Peewee and Maxine—can be worth upward of $20,000, whereas adult males can be worth up to $60,000 because they are less readily available on the market.

The giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands are reputedly the tastiest thing anyone has ever eaten. William Dampier, a 17th-century British pirate who based himself on the Galapagos Islands described them as being “extraordinary large and fat, and so sweet, that no pullet eats more pleasantly”.

Galapagos and Aldabra tortoises are strict vegetarians, feeding on various grasses and cacti. Some types of turtles and tortoises will bite defensively, but these gentle creatures almost never will. However, if a person should misjudge while offering them food, a large tortoise could easily remove a finger.

Roadrunners, snakes, kit foxes and coyotes are a few examples of tortoise predators.

Galapagos tortoises can’t swim but they can float due to an extra layer of blubber.

So why do tortoises poop in the water? There is no definitive scientific answer for why tortoises poop in water. One answer is that warm water relaxes a tortoise’s bowels making it easy to release poop. Another possibility is a “hygiene mechanism” in the wild (poop in running water equals bye-bye poop!)

There is no scientific proof that turtles and tortoises actually like music. On the flip side, there is no proof that they dislike music either. But some turtles and tortoises do grow to respond to certain songs that their owners play often. Some tortoises may like music while others won’t.