Atlas walks around her fairly large pen in Charity Hommel’s living room. Circular windows embedded in the plywood allow the sulcata tortoise to peer out into the living space beyond her own quarters. Also known as an African spurred tortoise, she breathes through her nostrils, which are above her mouth. It sounds mildly high pitched-like when someone inflates a bicycle tire with a pump.
Alaska does not have any native turtles or tortoises in the state. It requires special attention and care in the snowy, northern climates for the cold-blooded pets. Although reptiles are not a very popular pet in Alaska, like dogs are, especially huskies, Hommel hasn’t let the additional care needed to keep the shelled animals healthy stop her. She’s known as the “turtle lady” in Wrangell and seeks the best life for her mostly rescued pets.
She asked, “Are we going to talk about you Atlas?”
At three years old and just 12 pounds, she is still very young. Adults can live up to 150 years old and weigh that much too.
“She’s a herbivore,” Hommel said. “Ooop, she’s gonna be shy. That’s very typical.”
Originally from northern Africa
Her species comes from northern Africa where they roam the southern Sahara Desert and Sahel region – an area known for semi-arid grasslands. Sulcata tortoises are the third largest tortoise in the world – and endangered.
Sulcatas were introduced to the United States in the 1960s but U.S. sulcata babies were born in the 70s. They’re a popular reptile pet in the United States and are known as generational pets – where they can easily outlive their original owner.
Atlas took a bite out of some greens on the floor of her pen. Her chomping noises sound similar to any human with teeth taking a bite out of a crisp vegetable.
It all began when her kids brought home two tortoises about 20 years ago
She is just one of 11 tortoises and turtles Hommel has as pets. They each have their own enclosure on nearby shelving units with several plants around them. Hommel has kept reptiles for about two decades. It all started when her kids brought home two smaller species from a birthday party.
She said they all have their own little personalities.
“I feel like they have that little dog vibe, a little puppy vibe when I let them run around,” Hommel said. “I do let them run around in the living room. They each have their own kind of time where they’re running around and exploring and stretching their legs. If they’re not outside and they’ll follow me around, they’ll go get into things.”
She said she hasn’t had one pass away yet.
Hommel didn’t plan to be Wrangell’s “turtle lady”
“Most of them I’ve rescued or somebody’s you know, given to me,” Hommel said. “Like this little one over here, she is a three-toed box turtle.”
“I don’t keep bugs in my house because my husband won’t let me,” Hommel said. “But bugs are a big part their diet as well in the wild.”
Jules is close to 40 years old now. Typically, box turtles in captivity can live between 50 and 75 years.
“She’s kind of cool because she is called a box turtle where she can hinge. She has a hinge right there and she hinges close to protect herself. The rest of my tortoises do not do that; they don’t hinge themselves closed,” Hommel said. “Are you gonna be shy? What’s going on Jules?”
Hommel didn’t plan to be Wrangell’s “turtle lady”. She just saw a need when people got into situations where they couldn’t take care of them anymore. She said sometimes they need to move or their kids lose interest.
“My home is always open to more tortoises,” she said. “I’ve had more over the years and I’ve rehomed some as well.”
Hommel’s home is very tidy. The living room is virtually spotless. Hommel said that’s important, so her pets can be healthy and not get respiratory infections.
“We don’t really have a veterinarian in Southeast, maybe in some of the other towns, that specialize in reptiles,” she said. “So I have to do a lot of studying myself just to make sure that they’re doing okay.”
One of Hommel’s reptiles lives at her work, at Alaska Marine Lines, in a tank with water. His name is Fred, who’s a red-eared slider turtle. Zuzu, the other red-eared slider, is currently in a huge tank in her basement. Turtles mostly live in water, while tortoises are land-dwelling. Box turtles, like Jules, spend close to 60% of their time on land and 40% in water.
“My home is always open to more tortoises”
Sometimes, Hommel takes her tortoises into her yard where they each have a designated area. They can munch on grasses, dandelions, and chickweed.
“They’re very territorial, so they do have to be kept separate. However, I have about nine different types of little pens,” she said. “I’ll set out the pens into the yard and so they’ll all be out there a bit in their separate pens so they can’t fight with each other. But they all get outside time.”
Several hungry tortoises need a lot of greens. In the wild, they’re known to graze all day. Atlas eats as much as the size of her shell each day, which equates to a whole head of romaine lettuce and a good pile of grass clippings. Hommel has had some luck asking other community members if she could bring Atlas to their yards to do a little tortoise-mowing.
Hommel said that she loves taking care of the tortoises and turtles because she knows they have a good, safe life. They’re also relatively quiet pets, where they slowly walk around their pens and quietly breathe methodically. This helps her chill when she gets home. And who couldn’t use a bit more chill?
