Watermelon contains a high amount of sugar, so it is really just a seasonal diversion for turtles beyond their regular diet. Photo by Tereza Šolcová, Prague Zoo
In the summer, the Prague Zoo invites you to Melon Wednesdays with the big turtles. Every third day of the week from 1 p.m., visitors can watch Galapagos elephant tortoises and giant tortoises from the Aldabra Atoll enjoying watermelons.
Together with an engaging interpretation, these regular feasts are an unforgettable experience for young and old visitors.
“For the turtles, it’s definitely diversifying their diet. In addition to the sweet flesh, they don’t disdain the green skin either, so this is a completely zero-waste feeding,” explains head reptile breeder Nataša Velenská. During her interpretation, she is surrounded by a group of ten males – two elephant tortoises and eight giant tortoises. But even the females in the side enclosures or in the pavilion don’t come for short – even Velenská distributes watermelons to them after the commented feeding is over. “In total, this works out to 30 kilograms of melons per two tons of live weight every Wednesday.”
Despite the fact that turtles do not have teeth, even the hard skin of a watermelon is not a challenge for them. Chief reptile breeder Nataša Velenská distributes the watermelon fairly during the presentation, and also checks with maternal interest that each turtle only takes a bite that it can swallow. Photo by Tereza Šolcová, Prague Zoo
The area near the Pavilion of large turtles from the region underwent a significant revitalization this year. Visitors will appreciate the new fence, vegetation, and recently laid lawn on which a group of reptiles graze. People will find the exhibition near the bottom station of the cable car.