DonnaM

Yes turtles can survive our winter. Often I get a rescue turtle influx in early spring as they appear out of hibernation...sometimes with pneumonia, rotting/algae covered shells and nearly always Vit A deficiency.... They survive but certainly dont thrive....and I don't know that there are many places in NZ where they can breed in 'the wild?' My parents live on Cashmere hills and this season had a possum eating all the young shoots on various trees and all the fruit from apricot and plum trees...just one possum caused all sorts of havoc until caught in a 'humane' trap by a neighbour... :-?

oh thats no good at all mel Not nice. I've sorta got the opposite problem.... the 4 guppies put into a turtle tank last week...are all still there The turtles don't want to eat them and they even share the same food stick or bit of meat at times. I think I'll need to buy some fish food soon!

I think they'll be lucky to find one...........

I know It just 'looks' like it has more...

Wouldn't like to try and pick it up! But look at its amazing structure! I find it fascinating to look at So, just how many legs does it have?? And look at that cool bit on its back.

Have an amazing time! And yes I agree with Mel about the photos...

I'm guessing lots of you have seen the sale of geckos/skinks from CHCH on another site? There is a slightly blurry photo added now. Does it look like a native? I dont know enough abought them to know....a bit of a concern if it is a native tho

Thanks guys. Yes Speedy had problems with his diet, and then for quite some time he apparently didnt eat much at all, which will have been coz he was too sick. Georgia has just had a tank mate added for the winter. Lucy is same size and been out in pond, so just bought her in for the winter. Georgia was horrified and tucked tail and legs under shell and swam sideways if Lucy went near her for the first 10 minutes...but now they are happily swimming around together and Lucy has already been up on the platform checking out the heat/light supply with Georgia hot on her tail, so should be a good mix for the winter. Might even keep Georgia.....mmm she'll go nicely out in the ponds next summer with Lucy and all the big girls I really need another turtle And she's turning into a wee monster when it comes to food! Previous owner had said she never ate much....just dry shrimps.... but I have to wonder how hard they tried to introduce other foods. :roll: So officially she had "bilateral Blepharedema" caused by "hypovitaminosis A"...or puffy eyes from lack of Vit A from poor/inadequate diet. Shouldn't be a problem for her in the future tho!

I wondered where you were Never mind, another time Turtles are all tucked up for the night...and guppies still swimming happily about.... :lol:

This is a photo of Georgia with her eyes open again....After the Vit A injection it took about 9 days before they started to open and over a week they've gradually got back to almost normal. Shes eating a good variety of food and her temperament has calmed alot...with being on the kitchen bench and having to get used to movement and people around all the time Her eyes are now open even more then when this photo was taken.

I Hope these photos work....The colour in photos is a bit duller then she actually is, but these are of 'Red'. She has a very red stripe by her ear, orange stripe on neck, red spot in front of both eyes, orangey edge on shell, small red stripes on side scutes and orange on front stripes of carapace. Shes very small for a 14 yr old and is having a bit of a peel at the moment and photos are dreadful, but hopefully you can see some of her unusual colouring. Just looked at the photos again...she really is much 'redder' in 'person', especially on her face Maybe this is what your very cute wee one will grow into Repto

Donna Female....well one would hope so when called Donna 48 Single and lovin it! :bounce:

:lol: :lol: only girls!!! Boys are so bad mannered!

2 x 4ft 1 x 3 ft 1 x 3 1/2 ft in the process of being set up for 'winter' One "turtle motel".... well thats its nick name...a big enclosure with fibreglass pond in one half and other half basking 2 ponds and a dog basket and the bath if needed.... and spare tanks in garage.... waiting on 7 turtles coming for "holidays" soon. While their owners get married or go overseas and stuff.... :roll: :lol:

27 turtles...(at the moment) and a dog.

Thanks Spoon! Hope its a nice day so we can see the turtles in the ponds as well. and the impressive filter!

I have a 14 yr old like that. Very striking red marks on her shell and very bright red stripe by her ear. Nice.... Also she has a fiery temper so naturally her name is "red!"

Thanks guys, all very much appreciated. I feel very humbled by the kind words.........I was just doing what needed to be done for Speedy and the others

certainly does Tho hope not to get too many as sick as this wee fella... He was 11yrs old.

Speedys autopsy showed major issues in many areas. The main being respiratory. Not only did he have the pneumonia in the lungs but also a sort of pleurisy as well. ie/ the space between the carapace and lungs was "full of muck'' as well. Also his liver was fatty and showed issues from inadequate diet, his bladder was very full of urine aparently, (not sure why tho.) and generally a very unwell boy who'd got beyond being able to recover. Urine full of urates, but not sure if that amount was 'normal' or excessive, as turtle urine does apparently have plenty of urates His liver is going to have some further testing done at Massey vet school to see if any viruses or anything. Yes, RIP little Speedy.

Yes Repto, its definately taken a long time for him to get this sick. As said at beginning of post, I didn't think he would survive even overnight, so hes hung on for 6 weeks more then I expected. He is passing more and more pus, despite the AB's and other treatment. For a couple of days the pus stopped, but then came back thicker and more of it. I feel the blood in the kidneys was quite significant and as vet said, we don't know how well they could support him when so damaged...not to mention the pneumonia etc. His owner has started reading these posts and is greatful for everybodies input for Speedy As am I for all the support :bounce:

I've been putting off writing...but Speedy is at the vet and will be euthanased in the morning and then an autopsy done. On a brighter note, yesterday Georgia was able to move her eyelids a little. Still hasn't opened them but you can see the iris thru the corner of each eye as she moves her third eyelid etc. So thats taken 9 days so far since the Vit A injection. Also 'boy two' has developed a layer of thin, bone-white plaque over the areas of exposed bone. As this has been slowly debrided off there is now a layer of 'skin' that has formed over the bone undeneath. All looking very good for him and his mate. Shells beginning to harden and both are basking and eating well. Its been a long haul with Speedy, and he certainly made small gains, but would then not look so good. To me, he's now slipped back to about the same level he was in the first few days I had him, so this is the kindest thing for him now.

All the turtles were swabbed quickly and no problems....except a couple of snakenecks who were not sticking their tails out for anyone! Thanks for the visit Heidy and also the loan of the reptile book. Fascinating pictures!!! Good luck with getting your degree and I look forward to getting the swab results back.

7 pages....Goodness this is looking like a novel!!! Third dose of flagyl today and not much improvement. :-?

Turtles are safely delivered! Tho not without a couple of 'moments'.... Like us arriving at the airport as they were doing 'final call' for the flight :roll: Not intentional...but it was 5am... Then being confronted with security and ALL luggage x.rayed...I'd forgotten about that as I popped my cardboard box thru the x.ray....and collected it at the other side with not a word said Then, as we were right down back of plane, there was no need to hurry off, so we were the last to gather our box and bags and head down the aisle...my friend saw someone had left something in the overhead locker and jumed up on tip-toes to check...and there was a turtle right in the back of the locker, happily tucked up having a dose!!! So I rushed back, climbed on seat to retrieve 'Blossom' and pop her in friends backback as the hostess came to see if we were OK Very entertaining looking back...but a good way to 'wake you up' when you're tired on the red-eye flight! So we walked to Butterfly creek and left them in a fish box in a back office with a bit of water for the day. Staff at Butterfly creek were REALLY nice and friendly and helpful...one person even dropped us at a bus stop. I must say (in my own opinion), I found the butterfly part very overgrown and messy. The 7 turtles were all up basking on a great bit of driftwood, but as no direct sun for warmth/UV, and especially to dry them, they all had a thick layer of green slime over them and a couple you could see a bit of injury or white shell disease under the green. :-? Someone I spoke to said, oh they'd bite if we went anywhere near them....and the person in charge told me they had 3 turtles...but there were 7 :-? Great to see the alligators, 3 of them in an enclosure in the butterfly house, but too much reflection to get a photo thru the glass, (Sorry Broms2), and there was one waterdragon in another enclosure who was pretty cool. I thought the aquariums of fish and the bugs area were great. You should see the size of some of those spiders and wetas! All in all we had a wonderful, tho tiring day in Auckland...and its LOTS warmer there then it is in CHCH at the moment!