About Us
Russ Gurley is a herpetoculturist, author, and artist living in Oklahoma.
Russ has a BFA from Oklahoma State University with an emphasis in painting and illustration. He was a founding member of the American Federation of Herpetoculturists in the 1980s and served as a creative force behind The Vivarium magazine for several years. He has produced many books and articles relating to the captive care of reptiles, including geckos, snakes, and more recently aquatic turtles and tortoises. These articles have appeared in magazines and journals such as HERP NATION, Reptilia, MANOURIA, The Batagur, and on various websites.
Russ’s first turtle-related book, The African Spurred Tortoise, Geochelone sulcata, in Captivity, was published in 2002. He has authored a number of other popular books including A Color Guide to Tarantulas of the World I, A Color Guide to Tarantulas of the World II, Tarantulas and Scorpions in Captivity, Keeping and Breeding Freshwater Turtles, Baby Turtles, SULCATAS: Spurred Tortoises in Captivity, and he currently has a number of other books in progress.
Russ formed the Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group in 1996 to promote the captive breeding of rare turtles and tortoises and to spread the most recent information relating to the keeping and breeding of captive reptiles through articles, books, conferences and workshops, and through the TTPG website. Russ and the TTPG members host the TTPG Conference on Captive Care and Breeding of Turtles and Tortoises each year in Arizona.
Russ has spent many years traveling to the most remote places on Earth, photographing the landscapes, people, and wildlife, delving into the amazing cultures, and cataloguing the artistic creations of indigenous people. He has been especially interested in the trophy and ancestor skulls created by cannibal “headhunting” tribes of Borneo, New Guinea, and other “forgotten” places. Russ creates replicas of these skulls in both real and resin for customers around the country. His pieces can be found in the collections of museums, anthropologists, haunted house attractions, movie and TV set designers, artists, and other collectors of unique objects. These pieces of art can be safely shipped anywhere in the world.
Please contact Russ for information, for a custom piece, or to add one of these ancestor skulls, trophy skulls, Aztec-Mixtec skulls, voodoo skulls, shrunken heads, animal skulls, or other unique pieces to your collection.