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How to Make a Box Turtle Cake

By thevlm In Cold Blooded Creatures

Written by: Kyrie Rowell, Herpetology Keeper

September 28th our Piedmont Gallery box turtle, whom herpetology staff affectionately call Barney or Michael (depending on who you ask), turned ten! So naturally we threw him a birthday party. His party had a banner, streamers, a HUGE birthday card for his party guests to sign, AND a cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how do you make a cake for a box turtle?

In the wild, box turtles are opportunistic omnivores – which basically means they will eat anything they can get their beaks around!

Here at the Virginia Living Museum, we feed our turtles a varied diet to reflect what they might eat in the wild. This includes feeding them something called Mazuri reptile gel. Reptile gel is very similar to regular jello, except this “jello” is made from fish and algae…BUT it is very nutritious, and our turtles LOVE it!

So, substituting Mazuri reptile gel for traditional cake batter..this is how you make a cake for a box turtle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, there you have it – How to Make a Cake for a Box Turtle! Our box turtle LOVED his cake! Thank you to everyone who helped make his birthday party possible and thank you to all of his party guests for attending his 10th birthday! If you would like to buy him (or any of our amphibians and reptiles) a present, check out our Amazon Wishlist and be sure to stop by our Piedmont Gallery and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Barney/Michael the next time you visit us here at the Virginia Living Museum!