This weekend, we’re celebrating a very special birthday at Liberty Science Center. Except…don’t call it a birthday! It’s a “hatch day” for Tortellini, our juvenile red-footed tortoise, who turned five years old on Friday, January 20.

As a reptile, Tortellini was not born – he came from an egg that was incubated and hatched right here at LSC. So, instead of a birthday, he had a “hatch day.”

On Friday, we sang “Happy Hatch Day to You” during our Animals Out and About program. Of course, no hatch day party is complete without a cake, but Tortellini was given no ordinary cake. Our cake was made with care by covering a base of fruit-flavored gelatin (a new food for him) with a pelletized food crumb topping, surrounded by blueberries.

Every cake needs its candles, so for Tortellini, his were made from meal worms!

They grow up so fast! Here's a photo of Tortellini from his smaller days:

We will be celebrating Tortellini’s birthday again on Saturday, January 21. Stop by and give him some love! He lives in our Eat and Be Eaten exhibition, along with 110 more fascinating species.

birthday,  Eat and Be Eaten,  Tortellini,  tortoises