DonnaM

Hi there Rach, apologies for the delay in reply. I'm happy to help out with any questions you have about your turtles? Yes, the barrel can harm the turtle if it's rubbing on something rough. You'd be better off with a nice piece of driftwood as they do want to 'scratch' and the driftwood is safe and natural for them. It would be great to see pics to check out if there's anything of concern? If you like, you can email me on [email protected]. I run Turtle Rescue here in Christchurch. www.turtlerescue.co.nz has plenty of info that might be helpful as well Cheers, Donna

Hi Hamish, Donna here from Turtle Rescue in CHCH. Great to see that you're wanting to look after your wee baby and provide the best care. Cut back and eventually stop with the bloodworms. They're OK as an initial baby food or the occasional feed for a sick turtle, but basically you want to cut them out of the diet altogether as they're just protein and turtle needs much more calcium and variety in the diet. Do you have access to frozen Hot House turtle food? And also the JBL brand of dry fish mix called 'classic' in your area of NZ? They are suitable foods for your turtle and you can include the JBL 'energil' brand once he/she's bigger. As livingart said, the shell is starting to get ready for a shed and looks pretty normal from what I can see. Turtles will stress with changes and also they will often bask when you're not around, so don't worry about that for now :) Can you post a couple of pics of the tank setup so we can see if anything needs a bit of tweaking to help? It's EXCELLENT that you have removed the rock from your tank....the turtle will get tiny scratches in its shell from swimming past the rocks and that can eventually lead to ulcers as the bacteria in the water causes the scratches to start to break down..... Don't force the turtle up on to the platform at all as that will make it more nervous to bask up there. Minimise handling or disturbance of the turtle once you make a change in the tank to allow it to get used to the new environment :)

If you stick to females, then you are less likely to have territorial issues and fighting. If you add a male...well, that will definitely alter the balance and harmony of your tank :facepalm: Females can also fight, but generally they settle down quickly and it's not a problem in my experience. I'll try and check in to see if I have any advice about the shell when you post the photos. You are right, good food and environment makes a HUGE difference to an ailing turtle :thup:

I agree with Alan . Check out the website for some more info. www.turtlerescue.co.nz and you can email me on [email protected] with any questions as well. Best to start off with everything right....and then you won't end up with a tank you can't keep clean, or is smelly, and a turtle with longterm health issues :thup:

I agree with Repto about them slowing down a bit at this time of year and watch out for bullying...between any sex really! Pink can sometimes come and go in small amounts like that...bit of a mystery...but I often see it if a turtle has got really cold and then disappears when they warm up a bit. I'd keep an eye on it, pictures help you remember how much was there, and if it gets worse or is associated with concerning changes in behaviour then take a visit to a reputable vet with some reptile knowledge. The shell is just the product of her past neglect and may never be 100% shiny and bright. Keeping the environment healthy will see improvements over time. It takes along time for a turtle to show symptoms of an illness and even longer for it to improve in most cases. Shell issues are the same...incorrect diet, lighting, filthy water...all lead to changes in the shell and these will take time to improve. The shell is just another part of the turtles anatomy (ribs etc) and so anything that affects the internal stuff can also affect the shell. Like metabolic bone disease. She doesn't have any symptoms of that or a build-up of unshed scutes, or a deformed shell, so as long as she is eating and basking, swimming correctly etc I'd just observe and see how she goes. Also, especially with a female, make sure she gets access to plenty of calcium (float a cuttle bone in tank) so she can munch on it if she needs to. Give cuttle bone a scrub when it gets a bit green or brown and pop it back in tank. She will know when she wants to munch on it! :happy2:

Tania Dunkley and Fiona Dunkley are both VERY keen to see this happen. They don't want to see a pet expo with no fish! If you talk to them about it, they will no doubt have major discounts or even offer a free site in order to have fish keepers involved. :f77: :f77:

Turtle Rescue and Rehoming. Sally is a female Red Eared slider found abandoned at the Selwyn river 2 months ago. Unfortunately a reptile vet with good expertise is sadly lacking in CHCH. After 2 unsuccessful attempts to draw blood off her...involving approx 18 minutes of constant stabbing at her neck with needles until her eyes were bulging and blood shot and she was almost in a state of collapse...I'm keen to send her somewhere with a bit more experience. The open wounds over her skin have healed and a number of abscessess around her toes have been opened up and drained. She has always had a good appetite and is placid and responsive to humans. Initially her front legs were not able to bend due to swelling and there has been a good improvement there, but she is still not strong enough to pull herself up a basking ramp. She's not making good progress and if she is to have any chance she needs to have a blood test and examinations to determine if she has something treatable or terminal. Is there anyone in the Wellington area who could care for Sally and take her to Rappaw vetcare in Paremata? You would need to be able to keep her in a suitable tank or container of water and treat her as directed by Tara Rana the vet. Please contact asap. 021 2020 185 or [email protected]

Thank-you! Donations can be made through: BNZ Account name: Nature By Design Ltd-Turtle Rescue Acc Number: 020828 0091088 83. Turtle Rescue has recently been incorporated into the 'Nature By Design Ltd' Charitable trust so it's tax deductable Actually I think this is the first time I've put up that account, so thanks heaps for asking!

Awwww, thanks team! The turtles behaved well Caryl....but no, they didn't throw me a party :sml2: ....I just abandoned them for a couple of days and let them party while I was away

:happy1: Yay, wondeful!

Thank-you...I'd never have known that....

Ok..so how do I do that? :facepalm:

Yay! That's what I was hoping..... Thank-you! So now to find it a nice healthy pond to live in Almost forgot...it has a few missing scales...well quite a few patches of missing scales, but I figure they will recover?

This female was one of two evacuated from the red zone after the Feb quake last year, placed into a pond and survived last winter ok. But this year the male has died over winter and she is only just surviving. It seems the pond is in a shady area...next to a fernery...so this has had a significant effect the longer they stayed in the pond. She has a blocked nose, blowing bubbles from her nose, was VERY cold when she arrived and barely moving. Her scutes are green and smelly and she is in a pretty bad way. So I have removed the smelly scutes...they were ready to come off, or I wouldnt have removed them, allowed her to spend some time in a warm room and then outside in a sunny spot so she can slowly warm up. Needs to be done very slowly. When I put her in some shallow water she just sat there, unmoving, which was the reason the owners had bought her to me.

Todays turtle rescue involved emptying a filthy pond to locate the turtle...so the giant goldfish which was also in there ended up in a little bucket of filthy water travelling over earthquake damaged roads from Taylors Mistake to my place...... It seems to have survived the ordeal, but it has some growths on the fins. Will they affect the fish? Grow and kill the fish? What do I do with the fish! It already has a shredded tail fin from the turtle, so I don't want to put it with any of the other turtles. My spare pond gets very warm and isn't that large....and is full of watercress and O2 weed to feed the turtles.....so not too much room for a big fish! Any ideas??? Also the fish has white spots on its head. Are these normal?

:thup: Excellent pics!

Excellent! Will be great to see you both again!

yay! Will be great to see you there!

Welcome from another Cantabrian! :thup:

Most of my tanks have polystyrene on 2 sides and I've had the insulation upgrade done on the house recently to try and help cut down on power and keep the house warmer. It has helped a bit. Last year at this time the bills were $700, but I also had more tanks throughout the house instead of most in the one room as I have this year. I also have 60 to 100 watt globe bulbs on for 10 hours a day on every tank and pond....so that adds to the power.... :facepalm:

Last month was about $400. This month nearly $600. :tears: :tears: I just have to ignore the power bills or I'd stop doing the Turtle Rescue work!

Yep, what he said! :slfg: Increase the water temp, check out the turtle care sheet stickied at top of this section in case there is something you may have missed and give them some time. Don't worry about feeding them liver. It makes the water slimey...was advised as a good food in the past, but not seen as suitable nowadays. Stick to a fish based diet with pellets and greens. Have they got come form of calcium in the water?

Hi Judi I'm afraid I don't have many answers for you. I don't know that anyone has the correct answer about the 115 yr old tortoises? :dunno: I think Caryls got the right idea! :sml2: Food is a tricky one. I haven't had to feed one turtle, ever.....I started with 2 and that was along time ago. Food is generally bought in bulk and so will last for many months. Like a container of pellets may cost $48 but last for months. In the summer I worked out one week I had used 2 x 1kg bags of Hot House turtle food ($40 each at petshop) $20 raw fish, pellets...not sure of cost, 3 hydroponic lettuces at about $9, half a container of dry fish (approx$20 worth), $15 worth of 02 weed, free stuff I have here...pond snails, dandelion leaves, watercress, a few feeder fish, worms, plus all the tanks and ponds have one or two cuttle bone in them at about $3 each if I get them from the supermarket. It was alot! At the time I had 58 turtles here and some were getting extra food and others were wasting it and needing to be tried again later. I know I pretty much go through one bag of hothouse frozen food in 2 days when I open it...plus pellets and all the other things...but sometimes I use a bit less. At the moment there are 32 turtles here and 3 more coming over the next week. :facepalm: The cost of turtle food is very much dependant on what you feed them, where you purchase it and how often you feed. The 10 yr old turtle I received a couple of weeks ago was seldom fed, hadn't eaten since Feb earthquake, was only put in a bath to eat and drink when the people felt like it and was left wandering around the house and often lost for weeks or months at a time....they wouldn't have spent much on her :an!gry She didn't even have a tank to live in! My foot is much better thank-you. There was talk of having to pin the bones together as they havent joined, but as the pain is managable, we are leaving that option for now! I just don't stand on my toes! :lol:

So sorry for your loss. You certainly did all you could and he is now at peace. Take care. Donna

Great pics! Love the natural looking enclosure.