DonnaM

"a large one" of what? Reeves or snakeneck?

Last year I got a great bargain and got a 4 yr old female reeves and a 4 yr old snakeneck from a certain site for $200 for both...but thats pretty extreme. Also ended up with 4 snakenecks from someone on here for $150, if I took the 3 RES as well, which I did. The most extreme I paid for snake necks was $200 each for my first two. They were 3 yrs old...and it was more of a 'rescue' purchase. 18 mths later I'm still working on their really soft shells and encouraging them to eat more than just ox heart which is all they'd been fed before I got them. You could kind of 'squeeze' top and bottom shell together a bit like a meat pie... Can also push on certain scutes and have it move on its own...sort of spongy. But they are definately loads better then they used to be. Around $150 tends to be average for snakenecks and $300 for a baby Reeves here. I got a male Reeves from a friend for $150. He's about 4 yrs old now too, but he's very little compared to the female. They'd paid $300 for him as a baby. Theres a few snakenecks around for sale at the moment, but haven't seen a Reeves for awhile.

Oh dear, I'll be away that waitangi WE so will miss mtg... again! :roll: Well maybe I'll make the next one! You'll just have to come to my place and see the turtles and then maybe I'll finally make the mtg! lol

Oh, and thanks Mystic for posting my photos! You're a star :bounce:

Great video TM and thanks SOOOO much for the pump. It certainly made the job heaps easier today. It was great. I might have to keep the pump!! lol And thanks to alanmin who whisked away 'Oddie' for a few days, as she was desperate to find somewhere to lay eggs. Hope she has success now And especially a HUGE thanks to Spoon and flatmate for loads of work with buckets and wet, heavy carpets and a rabbit hutch for a stroppy turtle etc etc etc! :bounce: It was great to get it all done today, I really couldn't have managed on my own! So now the turtles have had a nice feed of anchovies and are mostly back in their usual homes. Thank goodness for sunshine today. :lol: Only sad bit was my goldfish got eaten by a turtle whose not normally in the tank the fish was living in. Fish had coexisted with turtles for years... Never mind. Just as well I had a day off today to get everything back in order. Now, back to summer weather :roll:

I was lucky conservatory roof didn't break. Its a lazerlight roof added to the house. Where it meets the eaves, the water was pouring like a waterfall inside one end of conservatory. Straight down onto the lights/basking area of a turtle tank....I couldn't 'quickly' unclip the lights and metal mesh barrier thing that stops turtles climbing out, so I put the washing basket over top of it, covered in towels to deflect the worst of it...haven't tried the lights yet... :roll: Fortunately floor is decking so water could drain off the floor. There was a parked car down the rd with the water half way up the passenger doors! Water was part way up your thigh on the footpath area...well not mine, but the neighbours who were trying to remove rubbish from the drains on the RD. Now for the clean up...man piles of soaking wet towels are heavy!

Thanks Spoon, that'll be great. TM has loaned me a pump too. I'll give you a call in the morning. Yes the rabbit hutch would be good for a wee bit. It'll take a day or two for clean water to warm up in the ponds, so that will be useful. I still have a couple cm hail in places even now! Some parts of CHCH had nothing at all :roll: I'll get you to help drag all the wet carpet outside from the garage too. Hopefully it wont rain! Thanks again

Well I'm soaking wet, just finished sweeping out the garage with neighbours help...but the turtle ponds!!! SOOOO much hail and water poured down as I was retrieving turtles from ponds and putting them anywhere I could find... I need to pump the water out as so full of mud and rubbish. So much water everywhere that the pond liners were lifting even tho they were completely full of water. Does anyone have a decent pump and could help me pump water out and clean out the flooded stuff that has poured in? I have tomorrow off work if anyone can help, or loan me a pump. My pond pumps aren't the best at emptying the ponds and I have turtles in very overcrowded conditions needing to get back in their homes.... I've never seen a storm like it. The water was going down the drain pipe and then gushing out from the ground like a gyser (spelling?) as too much water everywhere. Anyone able to take a turtle or two for a day or two??? Please get back to me ASAP ...not sure if allowed to put ph number or email... if I can, can someone let me know...right off to get into dry clothes and check on turtles.... Cheers, Donna

Yep they sleep in the water or where-ever Sometimes out on the basking ramp...or under the violets if out in the garden pond

Thanks for that. So it may well be fertile! Is quite small...and I keep looking for more, but only the one so far...well its in alanmins incubator so we'll see what happens.

I guess it all affects different people in different ways. I've just taken on two 20 yr old turtles that the owners were VERY upset at having to rehome...but their situation has meant now having to downsize and move out of their home. Would be very hard to have to give up their pets of 20 yrs (and their adult cat) as a result of financial situation.

I was surprised to discover a snake neck egg in a tank this morning. I'm led to believe my snakenecks are all about 3-5 yrs old and the girl in the tank about 4-5 yrs. Is that too young to expect its possibly fertile? I have a book on them, and talks all about egg laying, breeding etc but not their age for breeding? Any ideas? At least I know "Hudini" is definately a girl

My dog has no problems being home alone while I'm at work. Dogs need to rest heaps, and if given the proper training and attention when you are there, they are fine when alone. Also a guy down here who changed the way they train the police dogs in UK and is now trainingdogs here, says dogs with too much 'space' are more anxious and likely to bark, dig holes etc. A dog with a large back-yard feels they are responsible for the entire area, and every bird that lands on the fence etc etc gets barked at. It would be like a human feeling responsible for the whole city and all the anxiety that would create... Having her confined to a smaller area means she's relaxed and calm when I'm not here and is usually asleep somewhere when I get home. I've had dogs for years and having 2 dogs the same age was more trouble then one on their own. I've certainly changed the way I do things from the first dog I had, and Milo is much better with me doing a few things differently then some of the other dogs I've had. Just my experience tho

Cool....is that him in the other video 'wetting' 'your bed?!?

I just have a piece of that fake grass/astro-turf stuff sitting on the basking area as easy to remove and clean. Having it glued onto the ramp in the water is a bit of a pain, as it tends to get a build up of algae and is difficult to clean, even tho rest of tank and water is clear of algae. I prefer to have the glass 'ladder' type ramp for that reason. Sand will make a big mess of the tank and filter I guess ,tho I've never used it... :lol: Last winter I had several tanks set up with 28 turtles over the winter...and the ones with shingle stayed much cleaner as shingle 'caught' any rubbish that wasn't going up the filter. The ones without shingle were easy to net larger solids out of, but water got dirty much quicker even with same regime of water changes etc. Stones are smooth and reasonable size so as not to be swallowed, but I've never had turtles eat stones ...tho I believe some do... :-? 'Yes' to the reptile light and a basking or ordinary lightbulb (40watt) to encourage them out of the water to bask. My reeves eat pretty much everything I feed them...commercial turtle foods, (wet and dry), snails, worms, 'fancy' lettuce, those dry fish sold as cat treats at the supermarket (Purranas), Ox, chicken or lamb heart cut into strips (NO fat), purina 1 cat food biscuits, cuttle bone floating in the water (from supermarket, sold as bird food) boiled eggs and /or boiled egg shells , plants hanging in the water, courgette, pumpkin, peas ....and probably other stuff I cant think of at the moment :roll: I think they eat the raw anchovies as well....NEVER fed in their tank tho, as turns into an oil slick...so they all have turns in the bath munching on the whole fish and then I just net out any uneaten heads or spines etc and pull the plug (and of course rinse and dry the turtles well before putting them back in tank/pond ) But others may have other ideas.

awww they're gorgeous!! :bounce:

Dont use any cleaning product for cat spray/ wee that has ammonia in it, as it encourages the cat to spray more! Clean up with plain water, soak up as much liquid as possible with cloths and spray straight 'white vinegar 'to remove smell. White vinegar (undiluted) in a spray bottle is good for any urine/feaces smells as not ammonia etc and not harmful. When I worked in a nursing area with many incontinent people, a carpet cleaner gave us that hint and it was the best advice ever....for people and animals

I got some at Bunnings. Also I believe plant nurseries carry it

Yes its been SOOO hot today. Even the turtles spent more time in the water then out in the sun today. I was almost tempted to jump in the ponds myself! Mind you the mess from the boiled eggs they've had today didn't make the water look that inviting for awhile... :roll:

Keep the water level up to the basking area. If you leave a 'gap' the turtle can dive off and is more likely to cause an injury hitting the exposed ramp. Or could even hit bottom of tank if turt dives off in a hurry and is reasonable size and water is too shallow. Its better that they can just slide off basking area straight into the water. Most of the injured turtles I get have shell injuries from above causes or rough surfaces....like rocks or even concrete blocks in their tank :roll:, burns on the head from turtle able to touch their light or nasty injury on back of head/neck from diving into shallow water and back of head/neck catching the edge of upper shell while chin ends up with bone exposed from hitting bottom of tank etc. Reeves are so cool! My two are real characters...and both now like to spend time sleeping in the garden on these really hot nights. :lol:

mmmm don't think my phone calls were quite that bizarre!!! 8) Well ,update is I had over 20 calls all up, and 3 different people, (on the coast) rang telecom to complain and so then telecom phoned me. Apparently the number in the advert was being somehow diverted to my old telecom number...and so automatically was being put thru to my new telstraclear number. (I changed years ago!) Should be resolved by tomorrow lunch time apparently. :roll: Yes Smidey I think Sth Island is all 03 and the coasters would normally have to dial it to get thru to CHCH, but it was just coming thru when they dialled their local number. :-? Poor guy missed out on lots of phone calls from people wanting to sell him records!!!! Mind you I've probably saved him money :lol:

Two more phone calls.... :roll: At least I get lots of 'well have a happy New year' from the people....

To cut a long story short.... so far I've had 11 ph calls since getting home from work from people in Hokitika, Greymouth, Ohoka and other West coast spots from lovely people trying to sell me old records and CDs.... I live in CHristchurch! :roll: Apparently theres an add in the Greymouth newspaper tonite with a LOCAL phone number that starts 7684... and people are ringing it and getting thru to me on 9807... in Christchurch! They don't even know they are making a toll call as are not having to dial the 03 first. After spending 20 mins on 'hold' to telsra-clear and explaining the situation 3 x to the customer service lady, I was put thru to technical support (another 5 mins) and the really helpful person said 'it must be a crossed wire' and they can get a technical person out to look at the problem on...MONDAY! I guess that means I'll be getting aquainted with all the lovely folks on the coast for 6 days. Mind you the last lady I spoke to was about to ring telecom and tell them she wasn't paying the toll call to Christchurch.....so maybe they'll sort something out at their end. :roll: :roll: Couldn't do without a phone nowadays....but would prefer to have one that doesn't get random calls from the coast And no, I don't want to buy any old records or Cds

I cut out a news-paper article last Aug about straw in ponds, but never ended up using it myself as have those UV/bio filters on the turtle ponds. Its from the 'gardening section' and theres a ph number for Wally Richards (author), if you want more info on 0800 466 464 Anyway, article says....The simple tmt for control of algae in ponds with fish is to place either wheat straw or barley straw into a plastic bag with a large stone (so bag sinks). Tie off bag, punch lots of small holes in the sides and toss it into pond. This works well after cleaning the pond first which can be done by removing fish,,,,then it goes on to talk about applying moss and liverwort control product to kill off algae...will rob water of O2 so cant have fish in there...blah blah, turn on pump...replace O2 with aquarium air pump or stone for 24 hrs, try one fish, if happy put others back,,,, Now, with the pond clear of algae, you can use the straw method to keep it clean. This works because the straw absorbs the nitrogen, which the algae needs to grow, from the water. Do not use pea straw as it works in reverse and increases the nitrogen. Same with hay. Only use wheat or barley straw. I thought there might be some useful info there for people , tho haven't tried it myself. The UV/bio filters are the best investment I ever made!!!

Hope you all had a great New Year and dont take too long to recover!! :bounce: ...I wonder why the 'time' that shows on the posts is an hour slower than real time? :roll: