A Northern spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides brygooi, native to southwestern Madagascar, hatched Dec. 23 at the Knoxville Zoo. 6 more eggs are currently being incubated at the zoo. Only 12 adult males and 11 adult females live at Knoxville and four other U.S. zoos. Of those, Knoxville has one male and two females. One female was acquired in 1999 and a second in 2005. The zoo’s only male arrived in 2004.

Michael Ogle, the zoo’s lead herp keeper said it can take three to four hours for a female tortoise to dig a hole, make a nest and lay an egg. Zookeepers then remove the eggs to place in incubators. It takes 100 to 150 days for an egg, about half the size of a chicken egg, to hatch. The animals like to eat fresh leaves, particularly yellow poplar, mulberry and Japanese honeysuckle. At the zoo, they also get a diet that includes finely chopped kale, turnips, sweet potatoes carrots and mushrooms.

Northern spider tortoises are part of a species that includes the common
spider tortoise and the Southern spider tortoise. The zoo has both of those subspecies also. Knoxville was the second U.S. park to hatch the common spider tortoise, and since 2004, 44 common spider tortoises have hatched at the zoo. The park is hoping that success carries over to the Southern spider tortoises. They acquired 2 females last year to go with their males and eggs have been produced. These eggs are now being incubated. It has had male Southern spider tortoises but acquired two females last year. They have laid eggs now being incubated.

The zoo has one of the top 10 reptile collections in America. In addition to being the first zoo to breed the Northern spider tortoise, it was the first park to breed Madagascar flat-tail tortoises. It’s one of just two American parks to have bred Cape speckled tortoises, the smallest tortoises native to southern Africa. And it has the world’s most successful breeding program for bog turtles, a species found in parts of East Tennessee.

(Story adapted from article by By AMY MCRARY, photo by D. Senneke)