Turtle_Crazy
08-21-04, 11:58 PM
On Thursday, i had the pleasure of bringing home my two Red Eared Slider Turtles! i adopted these beauties from Toirtis- a.k.a Christian Bilou of Reptile Rescue Alberta. They are doing excellent!
Speedy is a 10 year old Female R.E.S and was well loved, but the previous owners could not find time in thier lives anymore with the birth of a new baby. She measures about 9.5 inches long. Speedy lived in a 40 gallon tank, ate bologna as a treat, and came with her own knitted blanket (her Blankie) she was given the run of the house during the day, and likes to dig around in piles of clothing and sleep in the closet. She knows her name and loves to be scratched on the carapace (top shell) and wiggles her bum in appreaciation:)
Soup is about 6.5 inches long and her age is undetermined as of yet. little Soup was found wandering around in someones backyard and looks pretty worse for wear, the carapace (top shell) sports a array of little white speckles and a few superficial gouges, due to improper care and/or a animal using her as a chew toy/ a bird pecking at her. Her plastron (botton shell) is well worn and scuffed up, from wandering on pavement, most likely to warm up. her nails are worn down to nubs. She is shy and doesn't like to be picked up, giving a hiss or a loud snap to voice her dissapproval. She is my favorite because she needs alot of TLC right now, the past few months have been a very tough and truamatizing time. both turtles are going into the herp vet for a full physical a.s.a.p.
The past few days have been a time of fun, learning and adjustment for my new "kids" and our family. My husband who didn't even remember that i was getting the turts, worried himself silly the first nite, thinking that they may drown if under the water for two long and is now hard at work in the basement building a cover for the submersible heater, and looking to improve the design of the basking spot;located in a 125 gallon pond i have set up under two 48"UVB tubes and a 75 watt heat lamp, filtration is provided by a Tetra Pond ClearChoice pressure external filter. The water temp is at 78 dgrees F and the air under the lamp is about the same, there is a room temp shady spot at the far end of the pond, no gravel at the bottom, a clay flowerpot for the little guy to hide out in and all natural cuttle bone.
The greatest moment so far was seeing the two RES devour a quad of Rosy Red feeder guppies! i thought i would not be able to go thru with this and surprise, surprise- i felt no remorse! i may be a sadistic murderer now but im rationalizing to myself that i did it out of love so far they have been feasting on romaine, red leaf, kale, escarole, dandelion greens: mainly, then a bit of chopped defrosted mixed veggies, chopped papaya, chopped cherries, chopped strawberries, tomato, roasted chicken breast, chopped raw squid, all topped with rep-cal powder, and of course the Reptomin food sticks and the unfortunate Rosy Red Guppies Soup and Speedy are relishing this new and exciting fare. i think i overfed them a bit(remember i just got them on Thursday) but now decided on a one day 65% protien and the rest veggies, then and the other day just greens. i would love to see your turtles meal plans!!!!
i would also love to show some pics of them and thier new pond habitat so stay tuned.................
Nicole ^_^
Speedy is a 10 year old Female R.E.S and was well loved, but the previous owners could not find time in thier lives anymore with the birth of a new baby. She measures about 9.5 inches long. Speedy lived in a 40 gallon tank, ate bologna as a treat, and came with her own knitted blanket (her Blankie) she was given the run of the house during the day, and likes to dig around in piles of clothing and sleep in the closet. She knows her name and loves to be scratched on the carapace (top shell) and wiggles her bum in appreaciation:)
Soup is about 6.5 inches long and her age is undetermined as of yet. little Soup was found wandering around in someones backyard and looks pretty worse for wear, the carapace (top shell) sports a array of little white speckles and a few superficial gouges, due to improper care and/or a animal using her as a chew toy/ a bird pecking at her. Her plastron (botton shell) is well worn and scuffed up, from wandering on pavement, most likely to warm up. her nails are worn down to nubs. She is shy and doesn't like to be picked up, giving a hiss or a loud snap to voice her dissapproval. She is my favorite because she needs alot of TLC right now, the past few months have been a very tough and truamatizing time. both turtles are going into the herp vet for a full physical a.s.a.p.
The past few days have been a time of fun, learning and adjustment for my new "kids" and our family. My husband who didn't even remember that i was getting the turts, worried himself silly the first nite, thinking that they may drown if under the water for two long and is now hard at work in the basement building a cover for the submersible heater, and looking to improve the design of the basking spot;located in a 125 gallon pond i have set up under two 48"UVB tubes and a 75 watt heat lamp, filtration is provided by a Tetra Pond ClearChoice pressure external filter. The water temp is at 78 dgrees F and the air under the lamp is about the same, there is a room temp shady spot at the far end of the pond, no gravel at the bottom, a clay flowerpot for the little guy to hide out in and all natural cuttle bone.
The greatest moment so far was seeing the two RES devour a quad of Rosy Red feeder guppies! i thought i would not be able to go thru with this and surprise, surprise- i felt no remorse! i may be a sadistic murderer now but im rationalizing to myself that i did it out of love so far they have been feasting on romaine, red leaf, kale, escarole, dandelion greens: mainly, then a bit of chopped defrosted mixed veggies, chopped papaya, chopped cherries, chopped strawberries, tomato, roasted chicken breast, chopped raw squid, all topped with rep-cal powder, and of course the Reptomin food sticks and the unfortunate Rosy Red Guppies Soup and Speedy are relishing this new and exciting fare. i think i overfed them a bit(remember i just got them on Thursday) but now decided on a one day 65% protien and the rest veggies, then and the other day just greens. i would love to see your turtles meal plans!!!!
i would also love to show some pics of them and thier new pond habitat so stay tuned.................
Nicole ^_^