Evolution of the Turtle Room with Steve Enders: For the Love of Turtles

In this episode of the Turtle Tea podcast, host Wendy chats with Steve Enders, founder and executive director of The Turtle Room. Steve shares how a passion for private turtle keeping expanded into field research, species conservation, educational content, and digital data management. Discover how collaboration between private keepers, zoos, and conservation groups can help secure the future of endangered turtles and tortoises. This episode is another special installment in our series, For the Love of Turtles, celebrating the dedication, accomplishments, and real-world impact of our members in turtle and tortoise preservation. 0:07 Turtle Room Origins 2:01 Fieldwork Opens Doors 7:41 Podcasting for Conservation 15:06 Zoo Partnerships and Breeding 22:57 Tracking Turtle Data 31:15 Bridging Turtle Organizations 33:56 Inspiring Young Turtle Lovers 36:19 How Volunteers Can Help **Q: What is the mission of The Turtle Room and how did it begin?** A: Founded in 2011, The Turtle Room brings private keepers together to elevate animal care, share resources, and build large-scale managed assurance programs. **Q: How did The Turtle Room transition into wild field research?** A: Following an invitation to chair a captive management session at the Turtle Survival Alliance conference in 2015, Steve partnered with researcher Eric Munscher to launch a long-term Pennsylvania Wood Turtle survey project that has now spanned over a decade. **Q: Why is data tracking important for turtle and tortoise keepers?** A: Regular weight and growth tracking provides actionable health insights and contributes to naturalistic husbandry knowledge across species. **Q: How can volunteers support turtle conservation without doing fieldwork?** A: Non-profits constantly need skilled support in video editing, social media management, writing, graphic design, and web development to amplify their outreach. **About the Turtle & Tortoise Preservation Group (TTPG)** The mission of the Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group (TTPG) is to ensure survival of the world’s turtles and tortoises through captive breeding. The TTPG supports the private ownership of chelonians and recognizes the substantial role that the private sector has played in the captive breeding and conservation of turtles and tortoises. Website: https://www.ttpg.org Join TTPG or Donate: https://www.ttpg.org/membership Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TTPGGroup Contact our guest, Steve Enders Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theTurtleRoom Website: https://theturtleroom.org/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/theTurtleRoom More about the show Website: https://www.turtletea.org If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and leave a comment below to help more turtle enthusiasts find the show!