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tortoisetime.bsky.social
Mariah (MSc) 🐢
@tortoisetime.bsky.social
47 followers 57 following 110 posts
Graduate student currently finishing up my thesis on the immune system of the Mojave Desert tortoise

She/Her
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tortoisetime.bsky.social
I caught my leopard gecko basking in a most decadent manner this morning
A yellow leopard gecko with purple tail and splotches basks on an oval rock in a naturalistic enclosure. She's looking over her shoulder at the camera.
September 17, 2025 at 1:22 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
Now that I've defended, I unfortunately won't have new pictures of tortoises (at least for a while!). In the mean time, here's some old ones I took before making this account!
These are some pictures taken of one of our females post-sampling. We always provided a delicious treat to thank the torts
Yellow dandelions lead from the camera to a dark grey-brown desert tortoise. She has her front legs on the far sides of her body to give her a good angle for eating. In her mouth are multiple dandelions and her pink tongue is just barely visible. A hand feeds a dandelion to a grey-brown desert tortoise. The tortoise looks thoughtful as she bites down on the bright yellow head of the flower. A bed of dandelions is on the ground beneath her, waiting to be eaten.
May 28, 2025 at 3:51 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
I just want to keep studying tortoise immunology....but I fear that's too niche......
A tiny, sandy-colored desert tortoise contemplates a pile of delicious clover.
May 27, 2025 at 1:33 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
It's #tortoisetime!

Water can be very hard to come by in the Mojave, especially in the Western Mojave. Desert tortoises can only reliably drink water during certain times of the year. As a result, these animals can reabsorb water from their urine and tolerate extreme water imbalances. 1/2
Four sandy-colored desert tortoises congregate around two blue water dishes. Three of them are actively drinking and have submerged their faces in water up to their eyes. The fourth gazes at the camera; the moisture around her mouth indicates she was just drinking as well
May 2, 2025 at 8:01 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
I don't have a lot of pictures for #tortoisetime as it's chilly and so everyone was pretty inactive. However! I did catch this sweetie having a nice long nap.

#deserttortoise #tortoise #herpetology #herptiles
A desert tortoise naps on a bed of rocks. He has his head pressed against a particularly large rock, his sleepy face is fully in view for the audience.
April 25, 2025 at 10:43 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
Progress is happening
The title card of a Powerpoint presentation. The title reads "Temperature and season influence cell-based immune function of the Mojave Desert tortoise: challenging convention in ecoimmunology" on the upper left-hand side. On the right is an image of a desert tortoise preparing to take a bite of dandelion. Her eyes are squeezed shut in anticipation.
April 17, 2025 at 7:38 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
These babies are all varying ages, so some are bigger than others, but all fit comfortably in the palm of your hand!
A baby tortoise being held in the palm of a researcher's hand. He is spilling over the edges a little, but still fits quite well.
April 15, 2025 at 5:03 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
Things have been so rough for everyone. Please take some baby tortoises for strength and morale.
Three baby tortoises munch heartily on some lettuce. The tortoises are varying shades of brown and blend in well with the rocks they are standing on. The lettuce stands out in bright yellow and white and is clearly bigger than the babies. Three baby tortoises munch on some lettuce. The one on the audience's right has gorgeous black scutes with tan centers, while the other two are varying shades of brown. The lettuce they are eating is bigger than they are. Two baby tortoises chow down on a perfect piece of green lettuce with gusto. A baby tortoise laying on a bed of rocks. There is a buffet of lettuce all around him, but he seems more interested in having a nap.
April 15, 2025 at 4:57 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
When the moon hits your eye like a big pumpkin pie, that's amore
(Or two male desert tortoises sharing a delicious meal like bros)

#herpetology #tortoises #herps
Two male desert tortoises enjoying a delicious meal of pumpkin. The one on the right has coated his beak in food. Two male desert tortoises enjoy a meal of pumpkin together.
April 15, 2025 at 12:39 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
I've sent the draft of my thesis to my advisor! Cross your fingers for me everybody
A small Mojave Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) prepares to take a bite of calcium-dusted pumpkin
April 15, 2025 at 12:34 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
Cleanliness is not often a concern for desert tortoises. This is especially true when pumpkin is involved.

#tortoisetime #tortoise #herpetology #herps
A male desert tortoise looking longingly into the distance. Pumpkin coats his face and his feet. there's a fair bit of it stuck in his gular horn, presumably for later. The same desert tortoise from the front. He looks to have enacted some kind of pumpkin massacre, with puree truly all over his face. It's a wonder he didn't get any in his eyes.
March 9, 2025 at 3:50 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
It's #tortoisetime! Now that it's March, so most of the tortoises are up and about. They got pumpkin yesterday and had a great time

#tortoise #herpetology #herps
A tortoise eats pureed pumpkin with the fervor of a starving man. His pink tongue is just barely visible in his mouth. The bright orange of the pumpkin stands out against his tan scales. Three tortoises eating pumpkin puree. All three are covered in pumpkin. Three tortoises eating pumpkin puree. All three are covered in pumpkin. Three tortoises eating pumpkin puree. All three are covered in pumpkin.
March 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
#tortoisetime

While a lot of tortoises were up and about yesterday because of the warm weather, some decided to stay asleep! Previous research in this species has shown that there is no set time or cue for them to enter/exit brumation, it's all up to the individual!
A desert tortoise carefully considers leaving her artificial burrow to get some food.
March 2, 2025 at 2:16 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
I was a little busy yesterday so #tortoisetime is a little late! It was very warm yesterday, so a lot of the tortoises were up and active!
A group of three tortoises around a food dish. Two are very interested in something off camera while the one in the middle eats. There's tortoises scattered around the background. A tortoise looking up towards the camera with a very sweet face. A tortoise groggily clambers out of an artificial burrow on some gravel. He looks like he just woke up from a three months nap A small tortoise, Buttercup, looks up at the camera from beside a plate of food. She has big eyes and a small head.
March 1, 2025 at 5:34 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
I've finished organizing my references for chapter 2 of my thesis :')
Screen capture of the page count of a poor Master's students references. Reads: Page 1 of 5 1693 words
February 26, 2025 at 10:53 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
Have some baby tortoises in these trying times

#herpetology #herps #tortoises
A palm-sized tortoise takes a bite of a lettuce leaf bigger than he is. A palm-sized baby tortoise takes a bite from a lettuce leaf bigger than he is. The scutes of his shell are black along the edges with a reddish-tan center. He's very handsome. Two baby tortoises enjoy a feast of lettuce. Despite an abundance of food, they both tear into the same leaf, mere inches apart. Two baby tortoises enjoy a feast of lettuce. There's a fervor to them. They crave the lettuce.
February 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
Firefly DID get up as I was leaving. He has a 6th sense for when treats are about and will wake up in the winter to have some. To really make sure he gets some, he'll lift his head to look up at you and beg, something none of the others do.
It's very effective.
#tortoisetime #herps #toetoise
Two tortoises bathed in an every red glow. One has legs tucked into his shell for safekeeping while he rests and is looking at the camera hopefully. A tortoise stanced up on his front legs. He's enjoying a delicious leaf of lettuce.
February 22, 2025 at 12:02 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
It was cold all this week, so most of the tortoises were fast asleep during feeding! #tortoisetime updates might be a bit more scarce on this Friday!

#herpetology #herps #tortoise
Four tortoises lined up in a neat row under the radiator. They've all angled their butts towards the camera. Two tortoises sharing an artificial burrow on a bed of gravel. They are unaware of the world at large.
February 21, 2025 at 11:47 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
It's Valentine's day and we here at #tortoisetime would be remiss if we did not share a tale of romance. In our captive population Gus has always been obsessed with Buttercup, more than any other female. Here he is watching her eat.
No aggression, no biting, no attempt to eat her food. Just watching
A large desert tortoise, Gus, watched a much smaller female, Buttercup, eat food off of a plate. Gus sits politely just behind Buttercup, with both his back legs splooted out.
February 15, 2025 at 2:17 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
#tortoisetime

Aggression in desert #tortoises is thankfully easy to spot! If you see a male bobbing his head, chances are he's planning to bite or ram or flip whatever is in his vicinity. Piute here (right) quit his bobbing once I got close, because I put aggressive tortoises in timeout.
#herps
Two desert tortoises: One with his rump facing the camera, while the second is looking at the first. The second tortoise looks as though he's been caught doing something he shouldn't.
February 15, 2025 at 1:24 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
It's #tortoisetime! Buttercup and Miss Mallow are here to remind you to stay hydrated.
A small Mojave Desert tortoise next to a water dish about as wide as she is long. The scales around her eyes are missing, making them look much bigger. A Mojave Desert tortoise drinks from a water dish. Her nose is down in the water as she takes a big drink.
February 15, 2025 at 12:39 AM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
My girlfriend and I got into looking at pet pigeon's last night and this inevitably lead to some pigeon fancier websites, which have the most incredible graphics.
It's fun to get insight into communities and hobbies you didn't even know existed before.
Profile of a pigeon with iridescent neck feathers facing left. Looming behind him like an ominous blood moon is a closeup of his eye, bright red with hints of yellow. "SUPERCHAMPION family" is overlaid over the center.
February 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
My beautiful girlfriend @angoulvm.bsky.social made me the cutest banner for bluesky! She's new to the site, but give her a follow, she does art and photography!
February 1, 2025 at 8:58 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
My girlfriend took some very dreamy photos of the tortoises when she visited last.
They look like they should be in a vision.

#herpetology #tortoises
February 1, 2025 at 6:07 PM
tortoisetime.bsky.social
#tortoisetime

Stages of a bite, featuring my favorite of our captive population: Buttercup (she's the littlest)!

#herpetology #tortoises
A little tortoise in front of a plate of pumpkin puree The same tortoise, opening her mouth for a big bite The tortoise opens her mouth wider and leans in for a real big bite Completion of the Big Bite
February 1, 2025 at 3:06 AM