Master Splinter & Snorkel - Their Story

In 2007 Master Splinter, formerly known as ‘Piggy’ arrived with us already as a sub adult. He lived in our large inside pond with a two other turtle species, forming the full Ninja Turtle gang. Snorkel arrived as a juvenile, she lived in a large aquarium. When large enough she was then introduced to the pond with the other turtles.

After several years Snorkel grew bigger than the others (females grow faster and bigger). It was then decided that the best for her would be to have an outdoor enclosure. As a local species this was fairly easy to create. She soon moved outside where she could take advantage of all things natural. Once she was settled we introduced Master Splinter to the outdoor enclosure.

Snorkel took offence to this and was not interested in sharing her outdoor pond, whilst she chased Master Splinter around we got to work building a second pond so they could have a pond each. Now on paper this worked wonderfully, in reality Snorkel decided that both ponds should belong to her! Poor Master Splinter took refuge often in the underground cave, but finally after a few years of patience and perfecting the art of entering the pond without making a ripple (Long-neck turtles have feelers on their chins that helps them detect the slightest water disturbance) Master Splinter was accepted and the end result of providing an outdoor setup with everything the pair needed was some romantic advances and a pregnant Snorkel.