Weird al’s story

We received Weird Al after his original owner passed away. We are told that, before he was surrendered to Earthlings.NYC, Weird Al lived in a small Tupperware container in a windowless bathroom… for over 20 years. Because of several variables, such as a lack of UV light and a poor diet, Weird Al developed metabolic bone disease while living in his little plastic tub. This bone disease is what led to his signature look. His carapace (back shell) collapsed in on itself because it was too weak to hold, and his plastron (stomach shell) became so soft that it is now smooth, not dissimilar to the bottom of a Tupperware dish. 

However, besides his shell deformity, Weird Al appears otherwise healthy and happy. That being said, we can’t know for sure if his deformity causes him any pain. Weird Al is safe to pick up, but be warned that he has long, sharp nails that he will use to kick your hands, giving you little pokes and scratches. Male Red-Eared Sliders have these long claws to help them attract females in their courtship rituals. Have you ever seen those goofy videos where a turtle is wiggling its fingers in another turtle’s face? Apparently the ladies are into that.

Weird Al also loves being scrubbed with a toothbrush! We will often give his shell a light scrubbing to help Weird Al remove his old scutes (a plate or “scale” of the shell). With the average aquatic turtle, the scutes will shed and fall off themselves, but we have already well established that Weird Al is no mere average turtle. His scutes will get stuck because of his concave shell, and he needed assistance getting cleaned up! Our turtle Team members had to use forceps to assist with more intensive scute removal every 2-3 months.

 Another big difference between Weird Al and the average Red-Eared Slider is that Weird Al shows a lot of skin (scandalous, we know). When compared to a healthy Red-Eared Slider, Weird Al’s carapace should be about twice as long and curved down to protect all his legs. The carapace (which is made of fused ribs, vertebrae, and dermal bones with the scutes of keratin growing on top) usually keeps would-be predators from getting at all his soft and vibrantly patterned flesh. It’s a good thing Weird Al lives in captivity because he has no choice but to flaunt it all. Seeing this much turtle booty is truly a rare sight!

We have lots of unanswered questions about Weird Al. How did he end up with this owner in the first place? The industry of pet turtles is often neglectful, and many of these reptiles will end up in homes that improperly care for them. Even though we know that Weird Al is around 20 years old, we also know that he’s not near the end of his life! Red-Eared Sliders have an average lifespan of 40 years, so Weird Al hopefully has plenty more time to teach people what NOT to do with their turtles. As Red-Eared Sliders get older, their coloring will also get darker. The fact that Weird Al has not yet lost his bright coloration means that he’s not even considered old yet!

Thanks to you, Weird Al gets the chance to live out the rest of his life happily and comfortably (with tons of space) in the Earth Sciences Classroom at the High School for Environmental Studies!

Written by Anna Morin (Earthlings.NYC Citizen Scientist)