Ozark Exotics

📍 NEXT STOP: BELLEVILLE! 🐢

Ozark Exotics is hitting the road again, and this Sunday we’re headed across the river for the Show Me Reptile Show in Belleville, Illinois!

Come spend the day with us, talk turtles and tortoises, see what we’ve been raising this season, and check out an entire show floor filled with reptiles, exotics, supplies, plants and more. Whether you’re looking for something new or just want to stop by and say hello, we’d love to see you!

📅 Sunday, October 4
⭐ VIP Entry: 9:00 AM
🎟️ General Admission: 10:00 AM
⏰ Show ends: 3:30 PM

📍 Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park
200 S. Belt East
Belleville, IL 62220

Tickets are available at the door, but you can save by purchasing admission online in advance. We’ll put the ticket link in the comments. (Show Me Reptile Show)

Belleville — we’ll see you Sunday! 🐢

Got plans for Sunday? We’d love to spend part of it with you in Belleville! 🐢💚

Join Ozark Exotics at the Show Me Reptile Show on October 4! Bring the family, invite a friend, and come meet some of our beautiful turtles and tortoises up close.

If you’ve been following our animals here, this is your chance to meet some of them in person! Stop by, ask questions, and spend a little time talking turtles with us. We always look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new friends.

📍 Belle-Clair Fairgrounds Park
200 S Belt E
Belleville, IL 62220

📅 Sunday, October 4
🎟️ VIP entry: 9:00 AM
🚪 General admission: 10:00 AM–3:30 PM

💸 Admission costs less online than at the door—grab your tickets through the link in the comments! 👇

Tag someone you’d love to bring along. We hope to see you there!

Making Awesome Things Awesomer with Turtles 🐢

Album Edition. 🎸

Some of the greatest album covers of all time were already pretty awesome.

So we made them even better — with turtles. 🐢

What’s your favorite album of all time? 👇

What a day, Springfield! 🐢❤️

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the Ozark Exotics tables at the Show Me Reptile Show yesterday. Whether you came over to talk turtles, ask questions, catch up with us, or simply say hello, we genuinely appreciate every one of you.

And an extra special thank you to everyone who chose Ozark Exotics for your new turtle or tortoise. Knowing that animals we’ve raised and cared for are heading home with people who are just as excited about them as we are never gets old. Welcome to the Ozark Exotics family — and remember, we’re always here when you have questions along the way. 🐢

We also want to give a big shout-out to the entire Show Me Reptile Show team. A successful expo takes an incredible amount of work behind the scenes, and we appreciate everything you do to bring vendors, keepers, families, and the reptile community together.

Springfield, thank you for making it such a great show. We’ll see you again! 💚

🚨 SPRINGFIELD — TOMORROW’S THE DAY! 🐢

Ozark Exotics is headed to the Show Me Reptile Show in Springfield, Missouri TOMORROW, and we’re bringing an incredible selection of turtles and tortoises along with us!

If you’ve followed us online, come meet us in person! See some of the animals you rarely get a chance to encounter up close, talk turtles and tortoises with us, ask husbandry questions, and spend the day surrounded by fellow reptile enthusiasts.

📅 TOMORROW — SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
📍 Ozark Empire Fairgrounds
3001 N. Grant Ave.
Springfield, MO 65803

🎟️ VIP Entry: 9:00 AM
🚪 General Admission: 10:00 AM – 3:30 PM

These shows are always a great opportunity to put faces to names, catch up with old friends, and meet new ones — so make the trip and come spend part of your Saturday with us!

🐢 Be sure to find the Ozark Exotics tables and say hello!

👇 Who’s coming to see us in Springfield tomorrow?

⭐️ Happy Gotcha Day, Galadriel! ⭐️

Six years ago today — September 22, 2020 — this little Burmese Star tortoise arrived at Ozark Exotics.

She was barely the size of a baseball.

Swipe to today… and that tiny tortoise is now about the size of a basketball. 🐢❤️

But the biggest change isn’t her size.

Over the years, Galadriel has grown into one of the true matriarchs of Ozark Exotics. She’s become quite the prolific momma, producing many beautiful babies — each one carrying a little piece of her into the next generation.

There’s something incredibly rewarding about looking back at that first photo and realizing just how much life has happened between these two pictures. We’ve watched her grow, mature, lay her first eggs, and eventually become the big, beautiful girl we know today.

From a baseball-sized baby to Momma Galadriel.

Happy Gotcha Day, girl. Here’s to many more years — and maybe a few more stars. ⭐️

I wonder who I’ll become. ❤️🐢

I’m a North American wood turtle, and although I may be tiny now, there’s already a lot of turtle packed into this little shell.

We’re known for our intelligence, curiosity, and wonderfully individual personalities—and mine is only beginning to show.

Will I be the one who comes running when breakfast arrives? The one who has to investigate everything? The one who somehow manages to climb whatever you were certain I couldn’t?

Right now, nobody knows.

One day, someone will look back at this picture and say, “I can’t believe you were ever that tiny.”

But today, you’re meeting me right at the beginning.

And I can’t wait to show you who I become. ❤️

Tiny turtle. BIG personality. 🐢💛

Our hatchling North American spotted turtles waste absolutely no time becoming curious, alert little predators. Drop some bloodworms into the water and suddenly everyone has somewhere very important to be. 😂

That bold black shell and those brilliant yellow spots may steal the show, but it’s their personality that really makes this species special. Even at this size, they’re remarkably observant, inquisitive, and quick to learn what’s happening around them.

It’s hard not to fall in love with Clemmys guttata. 💛. Who else loves Spotted Turtles as much as we do???