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Welcome to my online storefront. I'm Richard, a content developer and editor for Austin's Turtle Page and TurtleForum.com, a premier online community of turtle enthusiasts dedicated to advancing the state of the hobby at home and enjoyment of wild turtles in the field. For the past several years I've drawn on a number of written references and participation in our community to build a knowledge base to inform my own turtle-keeping and share with others. A prime aspect of our mission is to take newcomers to the hobby and rapidly advance them to seasoned hobbyist competence to enhance that state of our hobby, the enjoyment of hobbyists and the quality care of turtles world-wide.
My book, the Captive Care of North American Water Turtles, is the culmination of my participation in this mission, designed to rapidly, concisely and (reasonably completely) inform the new or intermediate hobbyist about (most) everything you'll need or want to know entering the hobby, from whether and where to get a turtle to how to care for it, set up the enclosure, filter and light it, what to keep with it and related topics to help you enter the hobby as smoothly as possible.
To reach the most people possible, I've made the ATP Edition of this book available as a free PDF download or an at-cost paperback hardcopy.
If you read it, please write a review and let us know how you think I (and those who helped me in this project) did!
Also for your enjoyment, I've provided several of my favorite field herping photographs taken over the past several years.
Best wishes,
Richard Lunsford.
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Print: $28.53 Download: FREE A comprehensive guide for the care & enjoyment of North American water turtles, covering indoor & outdoor enclosures, lighting, feeding and more, choosing a species, and related topics including the turtle market, observing wild turtles in the field and accessories for the turtle enthusiast.
This special Austin's Turtle Page edition of this book does NOT contain an ISBN number. There is a separate standard edition marketed elsewhere that does, considered a separate product for those needing a work with an assigned ISBN number.
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Download: FREE Art Print: $4.95 Alexander Springs is a first magnitude spring located in the Ocala National Forest about 6 miles south of Astor Park. It flows from a large cavernous opening in the bottom of the the central section of the pool.
The large pool is over 300 feet North-to-South & ~ 250 feet East-to-West. Much of the pool is fairly shallow, but in the area of the main spring vent there's a large open area of exposed limestone reaching around 25-28 feet deep. The pool discharges to Alexander Springs Creek, which flows about 10 miles to empty into St. Johns River.
On 8-14-07 I scuba dove & snorkeled Alexander Springs and photographed this large Florida Softshell Turtle (Apalone ferox) along the vegetated edge of the pool. I wanted to share the natural beauty of this scene with others.
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Download: FREE Art Print: $4.95 A wild adult female Cumberland Slider photographed basking on a dead tree limb at Swan Lake in Dunbar Cave State Natural Area in Clarksville, Tennessee on June 15, 2003.
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Download: FREE Art Print: $4.95 A large adult wild Common Snapping Turtle basking on an old wooden pole on Little River in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. This 6 megapixel high-quality JPEG photo was taken with a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR with a Canon 100-400 mm IS lens.
As is often the case with wild life shots of wary animals, composition is a challenge. There are some grass strands in the foreground in soft focus, but I think you'll find the main subject quite striking.
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Download: FREE Art Print: $4.95 Basking adult wild female Stinkpot (a.k.a. Common Musk Turtle, Sternotherus odoratus) basking on a fallen tree on Little River in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. These small turtles keep a low profile and are seldom recognized by casual passerby, but with training you can spot them. This 6 megapixel high-quality JPEG was taken with a Canon EOS 10D digital SLR and Canon 100-400 mm IS lens.
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Download: FREE Art Print: $4.95 A wild Stinkpot basking at the water's surface beside the bank of Little River in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. 6 Megapixel high-quality JPEG taken with Canon 10D digital SLR and Canon 100-400 mm IS lens. Please excuse the soft focus branch in the lower right-hand foreground; composition photographing wary wild animals is a challenge.
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Download: FREE Art Print: $4.95 A wild adult Groundhog (Marmota monax)photographed near Little River in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. This groundhog dashed out in front of me and froze, quite a surprise for us both and a rare opportunity for me to grab a well-lit close range telephoto shot of one of our most beautiful native mammals. Locally they're also called 'Whistle Pigs.' 6 Megapixel high-quality JPEG taken with a Canon 10D digital SLR and Canon 100-400 mm IS lens.
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