By Katherine Adams
Sal Santelli has only been employed as a program manager for Access Services at UTMB for about a month. But the director of his department insists that he tell everyone he meets about his “thing” for tortoises.
Sal’s “thing” for reptiles and amphibians began in his early childhood. Until he was old enough to get around on his bike in his home neighborhood in the Bronx, he followed his fascination with creepy, crawly, scaly things by poking around in his neighbors’ gardens. When he was 10 years old, he started exploring further from home and found his true fascination under a discarded piece of carpet in an abandoned lot.
“I looked under this carpet and I found 27 little brown earth snakes,” he said. “They’re narrow, about a foot long, and they’re nonvenomous. I brought them all home in both of my fists while riding my bike. I don’t know how I did that, but I got home and said, ‘Look, Mom!’”
His mother’s calm reaction to the presence of over two dozen snakes in her home laid the foundation for what would become her son’s lifelong passion.
“My mom is my hero. She could have told me to get those snakes out of the house. But she just looked at me and said, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of snakes!’ But she didn’t freak out. She said I could keep one, and I had to let the rest of them go. And so, that’s what I did,” Sal said.
“She allowed me to discover my passion and express myself by letting me keep and care for a non-conventional animal,” he added.
Unable to find any information about how to keep a snake as a pet, Sal figured it out on his own, through trial and error.
“I became really adept at creating tanks for different species, as naturalistically as I could,” he said. “I’ve always been intrigued by that. Creating enclosures that are very natural for the animal that is housed there is something I’m very interested in, and I was able to do that for that snake and I kept it for about a year.”
His family’s move to Arizona during his high school years ignited his passion for reptiles and amphibians even further.
“I became enamored of all desert reptiles, whether venomous or nonvenomous,” he explained. “I found out that tortoises are personable after my English teacher helped me adopt my first desert tortoise.”
That adoption caused Sal to fall in love forever.
“I learned that tortoises are intelligent, they’ll follow you around like a puppy and they have so much personality,” he said. “I had a room full of lizards and snakes, but my tortoise became my pet, and I loved it. Feeding it was my favorite thing to do.”
After moving again, Sal rehomed his beloved tortoise with a friend who was remaining near the desert, knowing that was the best place for his reptile.
He went to New York University, began spending his free time exploring creeks around the Appalachian Mountains and became an expert on the North American wood turtle.
“I spent a lot of time out in the field with animals, and I had some in captivity,” he said. “I translated everything I learned about them in the wild to how I kept them in captivity, and I could successfully breed them and that’s when I began connecting with peers and others who shared my interests.”
He found a herpetological society, went to meetings and did presentations on the species he absolutely loves.
His home collection at that time included a Hermann’s tortoise, some North American wood turtles and some box turtles.
After graduating, marrying, and moving to Pennsylvania, Sal expanded his collection and started a turtle rescue organization with his children. He maintained it for about 15 years and disbanded the rescue after divorcing and moving to Houston.
Currently, his collection includes three African spurred tortoises, some North American wood turtles and some box turtles. He’s also got some red-footed tortoises, Russian tortoises and a menagerie of different species that have been acquired through the rescue.
“I saw a need here in Houston for a rescue for turtles,” he said. “People will say they’ve found an injured turtle and ask me to come and get it.
“It doesn’t matter the species or if it’s a tortoise,” he said. “I will pick it up and either put it in my collection or rehome it among peers who also keep those species.”
That’s why Sal founded the Houston Tortoise Rescue in 2023. Although there is certainly a cost involved in keeping so many animals, he believes it’s completely worth it. His sons, who are now adults, also appreciate their upbringing in nature, among animals, learning about each species and how to care for them all.
“Now I’ve got about 26 or 27 tortoises, about six chickens, three chihuahuas—and I have the space to keep them all,” he said. “I look at it like this: The more turtle pens I have, the less grass I have to cut!”
If not for his mother’s patience and encouragement for his ‘thing’ for scaly, crawly creatures, he would never have been able to pursue his passion.
“I really love cold-blooded creatures. I have a tarantula and a red spotted desert toad, too,” he said. “And once they paint and change the carpet here in my new office, I’m going to set up a terrarium with some tortoises so people can come and visit.
“Watching them is good for your mental health,” he said. “I’m getting known around here as the guy with the turtles.”
