The Pondcast

The Pondcast's hosts talk about what makes a podcast a "reptile podcast" and banter about their favorite non-turtle reptile species. All of our hosts are reptile lovers, so why does our podcast always take a turn toward turtles, primarily? And why do snake lovers get to rule the world as reptile podcasters when turtle and lizard people are considered niche groups within a niche group? We will tough on these items, including important life events that led us to turtles specifically, and those involving other reptiles and amphibians, as well.

Daoist monk, Yun Rou, joins his friend Anthony and the rest of The Pondcast team to talk turtles, philosophy, writing, and anything else that comes to mind. His newest book - Turtle Planet: Conservation, Extinction, and What the Fate of Turtles May Say About the Future of Humanity and our World - released last week.

Born Arthur Rosenfeld in America, Yun Rou (the name means Soft Cloud) was ordained a Daoist monk in China. Host of the hit national public television show "Longevity Tai Chi with Arthur Rosenfeld", he is the author of award-winning titles and teaches tai chi around the world and in South Florida. As did Alan Watts, his non-fiction books use the wisdom of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching to address climate change, the challenges of culture, society, and everyday living, advancing prescriptions as useful as those in Wayne Dyer's "Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life", but with the east-meets-west philosophical flavor of Eckhart Tolle and Henry David Thoreau. His novels, by contrast, bring a New York literary sensibility to the emerging "Silkpunk" genre, blending Chinese history, some science fiction, and fantasy into adventurous, rollicking, thought-provoking reads.

In this episode, Anthony, Kevin and new host Chris sit down for a chat with no guests. Believe it or not, this was not due to our overall lack of likability, but instead was a calculated decision to allow listeners a chance to get to know our hosts a bit better and to introduce exciting new monthly features. We are looking forward to bringing you weekly installments of Minto's Mailbag," where Kevin brings us the best questions of the day from the audience, "Pit and Peak," where the hosts and/or guests can share what is going right and wrong in their turtle related efforts, and the "Best Species" Spotlight, where we each highligh a particular taxa that comes to mind in a certain area. This month, we highlighted the best taxa people have never heard of. We are excited for the new changes to the show and hope you are too.

In this episode, Anthony, Kevin and new host Chris interview their fellow tTR volunteer, Zach Braswell. Zach, theTurtleRoom's own Social Media Educator, joins the show to talk about his upcoming trip to Madagascar to assist the Turtle Survival Alliance at their TCC facility. Many of the animals housed at the TCC are from the extremely large confiscation many of us remember from a few years ago. In addition to the thousands of Radiated Tortoises, there was a fire at the facility last fall and there is still much work to do.

TheTurtleRoom has paid for a portion of Zach's trip expenses, and there are still more expenses to be covered. Should you want to help Zach get to and from Madagascar, you can donate tax-deductible through https://theturtleroom.org/donate. Make sure to let us know you'd like your donation to go towards Zach's trip.

To learn more about the TSA's work in Madagascar Zach is assisting with, visit the project page on their site: https://turtlesurvival.org/copy/projects/madagascar/

Casey Leone, Field Project Manager of theTurtleRoom's Terrapin Conservation Initiative, joins the show to discuss exciting new things happening with the project formerly known as Terrapin Nesting Project: Leeds Point.

Ty Park, proprietor of the upcoming IguanaLand joins to the show to talk about turtles, iguanas, and facility construction. Ty is a wealth of knowledge on lizard breeding and has considerable experience in keeping and breeding other reptiles as well. In this episode, he sits with Anthony, Kevin and Steve to discuss his current efforts to transform his property in Florida into a premier reptile zoo, as well as all of the unforeseen challenges he faces along the way.

theTurtleRoom discusses the upcoming Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group (TTPG) conference with the nicest guy in turtle nerd circles, Michael Thathuvaswamy. Michael is a keeper of turtles and tortoises from the West Coast, who is always willing to help others. He dedicates his time to help the TTPG achieve their important goals around the preservation of chelonian species through captive breeding. The conference takes place every year in the second week of November in Mesa, AZ.

We're getting Krazy for Kinixys with Jeremy Thompson! Jeremy is really turning heads with his Hingeback Tortoise focused work, and we are thrilled to have him on the show to discuss it. Be sure to check out his operation on FaceBook at facebook.com/kinixyscoop/ to learn more about his collection, his initiatives, and the genus that has completely captivated him to the point that he has dedicated his life to them.

In this video, the guys sit down with their friend Ralph Till, President of the Tampa Bay Turtle and Tortoise Society, to discuss how things are going. Ralph is one of the most successful breeders of the Egyptian Tortoise, Testudo kleinmanni, in the world and he has lectured on the subject at several conferences. He is known as one of the most calculated and attentive tortoise keepers around, and his insights and strategies are always worth hearing about.

It's just Anthony and Steve in this one. They discuss what it's like to move with a collection of animals under one's care. They also talk about the "must haves" they've identified in their time keeping and breeding turtles.