New Year. New Blog.

I’m so excited to kick off the New Year with brand-new blogs! I have to admit it has been awhile since my last entry. To be honest, since graduating college my life has seemed to go into turbo drive! 2012 was an incredibly busy year for the animals and I: We embarked on a 54 date tour across the United States, geared up for “Today Show” appearances, and filmed three separate projects in Africa. I’m happy to announce though that I plan on documenting much more of 2013! Take a look at some of my favorite highlights in January:

The best part about spending New Years weekend in Seattle? Visiting the Woodland Park Zoo. This zoo is one of a small handful of zoos in North America that feature jaguars. Their exhibit was top-notch: complete with heated caves, lush vegetation, and large pool with underwater viewing.

Mixed-species exhibits make up a good portion of this 92 acre park. These Patas Monkeys share a large African Savanna habitat with giraffes, ostriches, zebras, and gazelles. Heated rocks throughout the exhibit keep the monkeys warm during cooler temperatures.

Here is my best attempt at trying to get a good picture with a Dwarf Crocodile! Reptiles galore can be found in the zoo’s Day House Exhibit.

Even the gorillas were trying to keep warm during our visit! Nina (pictured) loved to flaunt her pink at zoo visitors.

At 45 years old, Nina is the troop’s matriarch and proud grandmother of several offspring. Interestingly, the zoo keeps her on birth control to prevent her from becoming pregnant.

I loved the zoo so much I came back the following evening for Wild Lights! The African Waterhole scene hands-down was my favorite. For more information about the Woodland Park Zoo check out www.zoo.org

A few days later it was off to New York City for The Today Show. What made this trip so memorable was that my sister Micah was able to join me for the first time.

There is a lot of prep that goes into segments for national shows like Today. Picking the right animals is easy. From there I do my research, figure out on-air order, and connect with the animal handlers.

There was quite a crowd outside Studio 1A in Rockefeller Plaza! Several celebrities made appearances that morning including Dr. Oz and Betty White.

Behind-the-scenes, handlers safely unload the animals into the building. During this time I’m able to interact with each animal and figure out their on-air transitions for the segment.

After a few camera teases, its showtime! Click the link to watch the segment in full http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50385682#50385682

After the show we had the afternoon free to do some classic NYC sightseeing. Cruising around New York Harbor near Liberty Island was unforgettable.

I love to travel and feel so incredibly blessed for opportunities like “The Today Show.” I can honestly say though, there is nothing like being home! For the first time in months I went back to the zoo where I spent a good portion of of my childhood: Zoo Boise.

It was a chance to meet up with some old friends; like Mr. Mac the Aldabra Tortoise.

Zoo Boise was the first zoo in the country to develop a conservation fund where a portion of each admission goes straight into funding conservation projects around the globe. They help animals like lemurs in Madagascar.

My favorite animal at the zoo: the Komodo Dragon. We were even lucky enough to see a feeding. Their dragon is clicker trained to go in an enclosure behind-the-scenes where he happily awaits his meals. This allows the keepers access to his exhibit for cleaning and enrichment purposes.

I don’t know a better way to wrap up our visit than this: Interacting with one of the zoo’s two serval kittens. Both were hand-raised and are part of an animal ambassador program. For more information about Zoo Boise visit www.zooboise.org

What a perfect picture to wrap up January! This was taken right outside our animal facilities on the Snake River.

More to come....

- Corbin

Welcome to Roma!

Our destination for the next five days was ROME. I had never been to Europe so you can imagine my excitement as we flew into Italy…to me it looked exactly like an Olive Garden commercial! Vast pastures, trees, and vineyards as far as the eye could see! I made incredible memories in this ancient empire and am so happy to share some of them with you (i.e.: me trying to “fight” a gladiator in front of the Colosseum).

The Colosseum, built in 72AD is the largest amphitheatre ever constructed by the Roman Empire. It could seat over 50,000 Romans and held many events including the famous gladiator fights, executions, animal hunts, and dramas. It can be found right smack dab in the center of ROME.

Here is what fascinated me: You can go inside the Colosseum and see the arena floor which was once covered with wood and 8 inches of sand. With the wood and sand gone you can now see the underground tunnels, walkways, and elevator shafts that once transported wild animals like tigers, bears, and wolves up to the arena floor. Unfortunately thousands of animals were slaughtered during these times. There is a report that over 3,000 were killed during just ONE day of events.

Being the Reptile Guy I had to find a local accredited zoo to visit. Luckily Rome is home to the 4th oldest zoo in Europe. I wouldn’t argue with that statement: The zoo is OLD. Surprisingly, the newest part of the zoo was the Reptile House! It also seemed to be the most popular! You can’t argue with that grin on the crocodile!

The animals found at the zoo are similar to the ones you can find in American Zoos. Giraffes (pictured), monkeys, and elephants can all be found throughout the park. The most surprising animal I saw on display was a single trout in a tank! Who would have thought a fish native to Idaho would be on display in Rome?

My favorite animal was the pygmy hippo! These hippos are found throughout the forested parts of Western Africa. They might look similar to their much bigger cousins, the common Hippo but pygmies are much different. They prefer to live alone and hate confrontation.

Here is probably the most famous meeting point for us in Rome: the Spanish Steps. It doesn’t make sense to me now looking at the picture…I mean why would we designate the most congested area to be our meeting spot? It worked though…If one were to get lost from the group; meet at the steps!

You might be wondering why I have a picture of a mound of dirt with flowers on it. Believe it or not you are taking a look at where Julius Caesar was burned after he was killed in 44bc. It amazes me that his grave site is still adorned with flowers. You can see this at the Roman Forum.

Here I am in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. It is the largest Christian Church in the world (as long as two football fields). I was hoping to get a glimpse of the Pope but it turned out I was in no luck.

They call Rome the city of Eternal Love…and for very good reason! Unfortunately, there is not much love in this picture. It’s actually just a picture of my friend Natasha and me in front of the famous Trevi Fountain. Natasha and I had just met and decided to throw a coin in the fountain…legend has it that one who throws a coin in the Trevi will return to Rome someday. I sure hope that’s true!

Bath Time

Today Henry, Jamarkus, Charley, Pinkie, Aerial, Geoffrey, Jamima, Munch, Gilbert, Spicy, Herman, Pierre, Melon, Sparky, Peatree, Little foot, and Dot all got their first bath!!!

Soaking these young tortoises is a great way to rehydrate them as well as to help them pass waste. If you look closely you will see they stick their WHOLE entire heads under water. I had to keep a close eye on all of them to make sure they weren’t under water for too long.

The babies also receive moisture from the fresh greens and grasses we offer them daily. (Pictured is Pinkie) For more quick updates follow us @ www.twitter.com/corbinmaxey

Henry meets his parents

For the first time in his life, little “Henry”, our first baby Sulcata Tortoise to hatch, had the opportunity to be outside in our tortoise yard. Under close supervision he had the opportunity to meet his parents. These pictures really show you how big these tortoises get!

In the wild, young Sulcatas would never have the opportunity to meet their parents. From day one they are out to fend for themselves. Here, Henry is on top of Tinkerbelle’s shell. Believe it or not he will be that size in less than 6 years!

They can live to be over 100 years old and weigh up to 200 lbs! These grazing machines require large habitats and indoor set-ups in cooler climates. Our goal is to get all 17 babies outdoors this summer in a separate habitat. This way they can get the beneficial vitamin D3 from the sun.

For more updates follow us @ www.twitter.com/corbinmaxey

Welcome to the World!!!

A lot has been happening around here lately. Just a few days ago, Tinkerbelle our African Sulcata Tortoise’s eggs began hatching! She laid 18 of them in mid October and to our astonishment they hatched in less than five months!

We pulled the eggs from her nest due to Idaho’s harsh winters and put all 18 in a plastic container filled with vermiculite. We misted the container once a week and allowed fresh air to seep in. On February 12, 2010 we saw the first signs of hatching!

The babies can take up to 24-72 hours to hatch. They use their egg tooth to break through the leathery shell. The first one to hatch was properly named “Henry.”

Some babies still have their yolk sac attached. The vital sac is where the babies receive their food and nutrients. It generally absorbs in 2-3 days and the young tortoises will then begin feeding.

They eat a diet of finely chopped grasses and dark leafy greens like collards and kale. We then sprinkle vitamins and minerals over the top to insure the little ones get proper growth and development.

Lastly, they are all marked individually by a single colored dot. This enables us to keep track of each tortoise. Unfortunately at this age you cannot tell whether they are male or female. I guess we will have to wait several years before we can decide “who’s who.” For more up-to-date information about our new babies follow us at www.twitter.com/corbinmaxey A special thanks goes out to Melissa Kaplan’s article on “Sulcata Tortoises” http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html