POST GAZETTE (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 23 September 09 Caring for reptiles brings focus, ambition to Carlynton students (Linda Wilson Fuoco)
Two turtles -- Cleo and Tut -- are bringing science to life for students at Carlynton Junior-Senior High School.
When teacher Dave Cosnek purchased the turtles 12 years ago, they were the size of silver dollars. The shell of Cleo is now 10 inches long -- slightly, but noticeably longer than the shell of Tut, who is male.
They have thrived and have grown, thanks partly to students in eighth-grade physical science classes, who help care for the reptiles.
"The turtles are cute and they are interesting, but it takes a lot of work to care for them," Mr. Cosnek said. He stresses that to students, especially those who express an interest in buying a reptile pet for home. The care and maintenance needs of the turtles is incorporated into the curriculum when his classes reach the reptile section in their textbooks.
Cleo and Tut are hieroglyphic turtles, which explains why students gave them the names of ancient Egyptian royalty. They are aquatic turtles in the slider family. Not native to Pennsylvania, they generally are found in the southern U.S. states, Mr. Cosnek said.
"We learn from them," Mr. Cosnek said, as he watched Tut and Cleo paddling through the water with their webbed feet. "They provide education about reptiles and wildlife conservation. They give students a relation to nature."
Many people think that the size of pet reptiles can be controlled by the size of the tank they are kept in. People think that reptiles will not outgrow their tanks.
That is not true, according to Mr. Cosnek and to spokesmen at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. The shelter often takes in pet turtles, snakes and other reptiles that people are unwilling or unable to keep.
Last year, Mr. Cosnek and student turtle keepers were worried that Tut and Cleo might need a bigger tank. One of the students volunteered the efforts of his father, who works for a glass company.
The student and his father built a 155-gallon tank, which holds 90 gallons of water. Tanks that size sell for $1,000, Mr. Cosnek said, so the donation was appreciated. The family has asked not to be identified.
The bottom of the big tank has an elevated portion on one end with a ramp that Cleo and Tut use to climb out of the water onto a dry area where they can bask under heat lamps.
Mr. Cosnek said they need to spend about 20 percent of their time out of the water so that their shells do not rot or succumb to a soft shell disease that could be fatal.
Their tank has a filter, which keeps water circulating. The filter has to be cleaned at least once a week. Turtle feces are regularly vacuumed out of the water, and old water is replaced with fresh water about every other day. A thermometer must be checked regularly to make sure the water stays in the mid-70 degree range.
In the summer, Mr. Cosnek takes the turtles home, where Cleo and Tut live in an outdoor pond.
"I think they prefer living in the tank at school," Mr. Cosnek said with a chuckle. "They are very interactive. They come to the side of the tank when people come to see them and they follow you when you walk back and forth in front of the tank."
Former students like Shaquille Wilson, a former turtle keeper/helper, often stop by to visit. Though he is now a 10th grade student who takes biology, Shaquille said Cleo and Tut have made him think he might want to study herpetology, which is the study of reptiles and amphibians. At home, he now keeps a leopard gecko as a pet.
Shaquille said his initial interest in reptiles was sparked by watching The Crocodile Hunter, a wildlife documentary television series starring Steve Irwin, who died in 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb.
Mr. Cosnek has been interested in reptiles since he found a red-eared slider turtle in a creek when he was 10 years old. He did his research, learning how to feed and care for it, "and I built an elaborate habitat in our yard."
Caring for reptiles brings focus, ambition to Carlynton students