Turtle Skeleton Pillows are designed to create a soft and comfortable place for your turtle to rest. Their small size makes them easy to put in and take out from your car, and their low profile makes them easily visible under a bench or table. A Turtle Skeleton pillow can be used to support your turtle’s head, neck and plastron. They can also be used as a barrier for protection when enclosing your turtle in a pet carrier.
The construction of a turtle skeleton starts with a block of wood, the turtle skeleton is then carved out of this block of wood. There are usually three to four evenly spaced slits in the wood that run from front to back. These slits are not used to supply additional food or water; instead they are used for the venting system of the turtle shell. These slits are only two to three millimeters wide, enough space so that air can flow through to and from the turtle shell.
Once your turtle skeleton is complete, it is placed inside of a large acrylic pet carrier. The front of the carrier should be covered with a sheet of netting so that the turtle won’t suffocate while still inside the carrier. The rear of the carrier should also be lined with netting. The sides and rear of the turtle skeleton should have netting or plastic attached. The entire piece of the turtle skeleton should be enclosed in a protective acrylic bag.
One type of turtle skeleton that is very common is the African Cushion Tortoise. This species is the largest amongst all sea turtles today with a weight of up to sixty pounds. In their natural habitat these sea turtles live for between twelve and fifteen years. During their juvenile years they are extremely active and move around quite a bit, mostly swimming and basking in the sun.
The African Cushion Tortoise’s carapace (or plastron) is much larger than its shell. Its total length is approximately one inch across. This allows the turtle to move around quite a bit in its natural habitat. If you were to look at an adult Cushion Tortoise, you would notice that its two soft, slightly curved claws have a series of ridges along the edge of each finger. The ridges help them grip sand and cling to rocks in the ocean. Even though they are small in size, they actually have the strength to walk on sand for long periods of time without wearing out their brittle carapace.
Their eye sockets, neck, and jawbones are held together by an egg-laying sac called a plastron. The pleural cavity is also filled with fluid and the nerves of the turtle are contained within the plastron as well. The plastron is located directly underneath the eye and behind the bottom teeth. These vital organs are necessary for the proper functioning of the eye. If a Cushion Tortoise’s carapace is cracked open, the inside is normally filled with bright red blood cells which assist with circulation.
Due to their unusual size and shape, Cushions Tortoises has a very limited lifespan. They reach adulthood only once, after which they stop producing eggs and begin to die off due to a loss of energy. However, if they were to be preserved in some way, they could live for a minimum of four years – even longer than the expected lifespan of a human! Some specimens have lived up to six decades in captivity.
The fact that they have a deformed tail is probably the most well-known characteristic of a Skeleton Tortoise – it is actually its deformed tail that makes the creature quite infamous. Sometimes the plastron and tail become fused together, creating a sort of “Lizard‘s tail”. This is a pretty common ailment with this kind of turtle, so make sure that you do not handle your specimen directly after picking it out of the sand.
