Chris Leone, Author at theTurtleRoom

Chris Leone

Chris is the owner and operator of Garden State Tortoise and Hermanni Haven. He is the studbook coordinator for the North American Regional Studbook for Testudo hermanni hermanni and his work with the world's turtles and tortoises spans over two decades. Chris' life centers around keeping and breeding dozens of species with a primary focus on Mediterranean tortoises and turtles of the Northeastern United States, among others. He is an educational resource partner of theTurtleRoom.org and a writer for Reptiles Magazine since early 2011. He is an active member of several turtle and tortoise forums across the globe and his educational/identification videos along with photo galleries have received thousands of views. In previous years, Chris has been a helping hand in turtle dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History, has provided live specimens for several state nature museums and has aided in photography for books and other magazines on the subject in addition to care sheets for reptilechannel.com. His work with local humane societies, fish and wildlife agencies and zoos has helped countless turtles find new homes and his research is ongoing. Visit him and his amazing animals at gardenstatetortoise.com and hermannihaven.com. Also, be sure to catch his articles in upcoming issues of Reptiles Magazine or look for back issues such as "Gems of the Mediterranean" (January 2011), "Smile Big" (October 2012), "An American Classic" (July 2013), "Long Live the Greeks" (April 2014) and "The Engraved Turtle" (July 2014).

Captive Husbandry, Maintenance, and Understanding of the Western Hermann’s Tortoise

August 15, 2015 / Research and Conservation, Husbandry, Videos / Leave a Comment

Chris presents a detailed talk on Western Hermann’s Tortoise care Chris Leone’s presentation, as seen at the Turtle Survival Alliance 2015 Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles in Tucson, AZ, August 6-9. This talk was part of the Captive Husbandry: Collaboration and Conservation session held on Saturday, August 8th, 2015. Abstract: The Western Hermann’s Tortoise (Testudo hermanni hermanni) also known […]

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Western Hermann’s Tortoise North American Regional Studbook, 3rd Edition

June 24, 2015 / theTurtleRoom News, Project Updates / Leave a Comment

Steve and Chris release the studbook’s 3rd Edition. We are proud to announce the release of the 3rd edition of the Western Hermann’s Tortoise North American Regional Studbook. Once again, there are new founder animals and plenty of new offspring listed in the studbook. Within the last year, we took DNA samples from most of the animals in the studbook and had them tested (a

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Steve and Anthony Visit Garden State Tortoise

January 20, 2015 / Outdoor Habitats, Indoor Habitats, Videos / Leave a Comment

theTurtleRoom Visits Chris Leone and His Animals This video gives a behind the scenes look at one of the most successful cold-climate tortoise breeders in the world. Chris has a reputation as providing great customer care and producing some of the healthiest tortoises available in the trade. We weren’t surprised to see his thoughtful enclosure design and healthy tortoises in person, but it provided a

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