That Turtle Place

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That Turtle Place We are a public educational sanctuary focused on turtles! Also visit our Turtle & Reptile Zoo right here in Alabama!

We inform visitors about their ecological importance, the challenges they face worldwide, and promote proper captive husbandry practices.

Make sure to come visit before we close for the season! This is the time of year many people wait for temperatures start...
10/02/2026

Make sure to come visit before we close for the season! This is the time of year many people wait for temperatures start to drop slightly, and we get overcast days like the forecast for tomorrow, which means all the tortoises should be out and about and more active than ever. As always, we do not have an exact closing date set in stone, we go based on temperatures and how our animals are behaving as we head into the winter months. It could be next week or it could be three more weeks. Don’t miss your chance while the forecast looks this promising.
We have a ton of projects waiting to start the second we close: the snapping-turtle pond (if you’d like to donate and have your name on the finished pond, check out our previous post!), multiple shaded viewing areas for guests, tunnels and mock burrows for our sulcata yards, landscaping, and much more.
11926 Upper Columbus Rd, Coker, AL 35452
Thursdays–Saturdays, 9:00 AM–1:00 PM

09/27/2026

Posty sittin pretty. Been a cool experience watching this little guy grow.

09/23/2026

How to tame a Tortoise or Turtle. Always try to look from the animals point of view. As humans, we often try to put human emotions, and feeling (anthropomorphise) into animals, when that’s just not how they think. Baby tortoises eat, drink, and hide. It’s the way they stay alive in the wild, and takes time, especially with some individuals and species to come out of their shell.

09/22/2026

We only have a few more weeks before we close for the winter! We never have an exact closing date, but we aim for mid to late October. We let the weather and the turtles decide when they’re ready to start their winter naps. Make sure to come by and see them before the big sleep. Open Thursday-Saturday 9am-1pm

09/21/2026

🐢

09/18/2026

Tomorrow will be the perfect day to visit if you want to interact with some of our tortoises. As always, you’ll receive free aquatic turtle food with entry while supplies last. Meet me at the Red-foot Tortoise yard at 9:30-10:15a.m. for the guided tortoise feeding! Oh yeah, try to wear close toed shoes if possible 😂

Going to be a great morning. Visit is today or tomorrow from 9am-1pm. Feed some aquatic turtles, and make sure to visit ...
09/18/2026

Going to be a great morning. Visit is today or tomorrow from 9am-1pm. Feed some aquatic turtles, and make sure to visit early if you want to see all the tortoises out and about.

We appreciate everyone’s interest in visiting our facility and seeing the turtles, however, we need to address a recurri...
09/17/2026

We appreciate everyone’s interest in visiting our facility and seeing the turtles, however, we need to address a recurring safety and trespassing issue.
We are a small, family run operation located on the same property where we live. Our hours are clearly posted on a large sign at the top of the driveway, and when we are closed the gates are locked and multiple sirens and alarms are activated for everyone’s safety. Despite this, people often drive in, get out of their cars while the sirens are blaring, and try to open the gates. This creates a stressful and unsafe situation for our family and the animals, who one group was throwing food over the fence with animals with strict diets.
If you arrive after hours, please understand that we’re closed and respect the signage and gates. Leaving a small donation does not give permission to enter when the facility is closed. We ask that visitors follow posted hours and gate procedures so we can keep everyone, including our animals and our family, safe. Unless you booked a private tour, event, and are actually being expected, do not get out and walk around our yard. Also you should never stop by expecting us to take a turtle, squirrel, badger, lion, wolf, etc, out of the blue just because you drove here. All surrenders are done over the phone and we plan a date and time for drop off.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

09/17/2026

Getting ready to open for the day and I’ve already seen dozens of frogs and toads, of multiple species. I also grabbed a tree frog on accident while reeling the hose 🙃. If you don’t have water features in your yard or garden you should really consider it!

Address

11926 Upper Columbus Road
Coker, AL
35452

Opening Hours

Thursday 9am - 1pm
Friday 9am - 1pm
Saturday 9am - 1pm

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