Coming Out of Their Shells : Turtles on View at Open House

Casa de Tortuga.

Sounds like another chic Orange County eatery featuring the very latest in turtle soup and other reptilian delicacies.

Not.

The House of the Turtle in Fountain Valley is a museum of sorts for 500 shy types--in other words, it’s awfully hard to get these critters to come out of their shells.

On Saturday--and continuing today from noon to 4 p.m.--the public is invited to tour Casa de Tortuga and see turtles and tortoises from around the world--Vietnam, Africa, China, the Galapagos Islands and more.

Then there is all the turtle kitsch to contemplate. Turtle toothbrush holders, turtle belt buckles, turtle posters, not to mention about 300 turtle refrigerator magnets.

“Everything in here, from toilet seat covers to wind vanes, is turtle-related,” said Fred Caporaso, a friend of Casa de Tortuga owner Walter Allen. Allen is a retired oil company executive.

Besides giving an annual open house and regularly scheduled tours throughout the year, Casa de Tortuga takes in sick turtles and offers others up for adoption.

Every week, Casa de Tortuga employees feed their clients several hundred pounds of mashed vegetables.

On Saturday, the biggest turtle on display was a 300-pound Aldabra turtle, which hails from Aldabra Islands near the Seychelles.

Caporaso said Casa de Tortuga would like to have a leatherback sea turtle from Costa Rica, too, but there simply isn’t room. The leatherback gets as big as a Volkswagen.

Parking was already at a premium on Saturday--about 5,000 people are expected to tour the Casa de Tortuga this weekend--so it’s just as well that old leatherback stays home.

Then there is the Australian snake neck, whose neck is almost as long as its body. The Chinese big head turtle climbs trees and eats bird eggs. The Sulcata hails from the Sudan and likes to lay out in the sun when it gets to 120 degrees or so.

The famous Galapagos turtles are at Casa de Tortuga and were seen munching on some grass Saturday. Though many believe the Galapagos is the world’s largest turtle, the Aldabra and old leatherback easily outweigh it.

Of course, no Fountain Valley turtle ranch would be complete without the California desert tortoise, the Golden State’s official reptile.

One estimate figures there are about some 30,000 desert tortoises in Southern California that are being domesticated as house pets. The Pacific pond turtle is the other commonly found turtle in this region.

Though turtles have been around for more than 200 million years, many of the species are now facing extinction because they are eaten in a variety of cultures. Their eggs are actually thought to be a sexual aphrodisiac in some cultures.

Casa de Tortuga is at 10455 Circulo de Zapata in Fountain Valley.