Turtles and tortoises are not your run-of-the-mill pets, and if you choose to add a chelonian (a turtle or tortoise) to your family, you may want to broaden your vocabulary beyond what you need when talking about more, uh, ordinary pets. The terms here are some of the words used in reference to turtles and tortoises:
Aquatic turtle: A turtle that spends all or the majority of its time in the water
Basking site or basking area: An area for a turtle or tortoise to absorb warmth from sunshine or another heat source
Brackish water: Fresh water that receives some salt water from the ocean during high tides, making it more salty than fresh
Carapace: The top shell covering the back
Carnivore: A meat eater
Carrion: Decaying flesh that may be used for food
Chelonians: All turtles and tortoises
Clutch: A nest of eggs
Estivates: Hibernates in summer
Hatchlings: Baby turtles or tortoises
Herbivore: A plant eater
Keel: A ridge in the carapace, usually from front to rear so that it is over or parallels the spine
Omnivore: Eats both meat and plants
Plastron: The lower shell
Scute: A single surface section of the shell; each shell is made up of many scutes with underlying skeletal bone
Semi-aquatic turtle: A turtle that spends about half of its time in the water and half of its time on land
Semi-terrestrial turtle: A turtle that spends most of its time on land but also goes into the water once in a while
Side-necked turtle: When this type of turtle shelters its head, the neck folds to the side but does not disappear into the shell
Terrarium: An aquarium or cage that contains live plants, a higher humidity, and no swimming water
Terrestrial turtle: A turtle that lives on land but bathes or soaks in water or goes into the water to escape predators
Tortoise: A land-based chelonian that can’t swim and only goes into shallow water to drink or soak; a tortoise never voluntarily enters water over its head
Vent: Equivalent to an anal opening
Vivarium: An aquarium divided into two sections — one for water and one for land
