DonnaM

Fantastic pics Bulldogod. What an awesome mountain! Is that snow falling in the 4th pic? Almost looks like stars..

Nice one T. Do you plan on trying to hatch it or letting them have it for dinner?

Thats awful! Devastating to see what we humans do to the animals and birds...When in Oz recently I saw a sea turtle (huge thing) with 'floating disease'. Basically the turtles swallow plastic bags so cant swim properly and die unless a passing fisherman brings them in to the underwater aquarium for treatment....which can be days or weeks of giving parafin and stuff to flush out the bags and rubbish.... and then its back to the sea for more of the same. Really sad

They just had one....and said it had come from Nth Island!

I noticed a certain pet shop on Moorhouse Ave here in ChCh has a baby reeves for sale....usual price of $299. Thought I'd mention it in case someone was looking....Not a financial option for me at the mo or I'd have grabbed it! :lol:

I used to hate sitting in the car with windows up while both parents smoked...probably put me off for life! I agree people have the right and choice to smoke if they want, and work with many people who smoke, but really can't stand the smell. I hate the way the smoke blows so far away from the smoker and over the non-smoker wether they like it or not. I agree how nice it is not to put up with smoking in public places, planes etc. Best thing that could have happened.

Well the fins are growing back, (really fast), theres no sign of infection and seems to be doing fine! Yay

Actually insurance has been really good, paying for new tank, glass removal etc etc... Carpet being steam cleaned Mon so need to move other 2 tanks out of lounge as well, (open plan dining/lounge), so good excuse to do complete filter/ tank clean on all 3 tanks I have in that area...and new tank hopefully arrive in a few days as well. You should have heard the NOISE the commercial grade blowers and huge dehumidifiers made for 3 days....very glad they've gone now :bounce: Bit of a nuisance having to run around getting quotes and buying stuff etc. No idea wots happening with table as whole top needs replacing and may not be able to get same colour, sigh. Just a bit early (and cold) for such a good 'spring clean' of every-thing :-? But turtles all safe. Just as well none in there as big jagged pieces of glass were sticking straight up (thanks to my towel/sheet pushed so far under the tank)... Any one know where I can get some new poly-styrene from?

Hi Mumzy I also had a mishap....11.30 pm Sun nite I was cleaning my 1200x500 turtle tank thats currently sitting on dining table... When nearly empty I (foolishly) slipped some sheets under one end to get last of water out...and then stuck the hose in and re-filled it as was going to run fresh water thru filter and then empty tank again...but tank decided to empty itself!...So there was a HUGE noise, the bottom broke in several places and it emptied the entire contents on the carpet in about 40sec!!! :roll: It emptied so much, so fast, the water was about 2cm above the skirting board for awhile until it spread itself throughout the room...and fortunately down a small hole under a cupboard as well...I'm still dealing with carpet cleaners and insurance claims for lights and plugs that were on the floor...and the 6 wet chairs and water damaged table...and the list goes on! :-? And 5 more turtles arrived Monday which was why I'd cleaned the tank But great work from "inside oceans" who arrived next day to remove the tank and all the glass. So 5 turtles in the bath at the moment......ahhh such is life...anyone want a free turtle???

If you have a reptile UV light, then all you need is an ordinary light bulb...or one of those floodlight bulbs. 40 or 60watt if its close to turtle or 100watt is fine if at a safe distance. Its mainly to encourage them out of the water to bask as its warm and they need to dry out properly. They'd much rather be under the warm bulb than the UV light, but get the benefit of both if the lights are next to each other.

Thanks for all that, really appreciated. I've popped her in with 4x 4mth old RES so don't think they'll be able to do too much damage... I'll keep a look out for any fungus etc and heres hoping the fins may grow back!

I have a female bristlenose Aucistris who has co-habited with red ears and snake necks with no issues for the past 10mths. However 2 days ago I swapped some turtles about and put 2 new 4yr old snake necks in with her... The next morning she had 2/3rds of her back fin (dorsal fin is it??) missing and several pieces out of her tail. She's still swimming fine and I've given her a large fake island thing to hide in. Will the fins grow back? Do I need to do anything for her? (Apart from keep the new snake necks away from her?) I don't know alot about cat fish, other than she's really cool to look at and does wonders with cleaning the tank and I feel terrible that this has happened to her. Any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully recieved. ( They also killed the golden algae eater by biting its dosal fin off completely... Quite a surprise when even a 22yr old red ear hadn't bothered them at all prior to this.)

Ahhhh that makes perfect sense! Thanks for that

Hi there, I've tried to pm you a couple of times re your turtles, but for some reason waaaaaay beyond my computer knowledge, they just stay in my 'outbox'...along with one I sent to someone last nite ....could you maybe pm me and maybe I can reply to that????? Cheers, Donna

Has anyone 'posted' a turtle from one Island to the other? If so, how did you do it? I have a new home lined up for a rescue turtle....but its in Gisbourne....and I'm in Christchurch. NZ courier post said 'no way' and Air NZ said 'sure, but pay us over $165 to do so'.... I have a few other males that I'll be needing to rehome soon and need to sort out a way to transport them safely. Any ideas??

I'm also in CH CH and have had turtles for over 20 yrs. I'd never let them hibernate...even the ones in the pond have a heater added to keep the temp above 16 degrees over winter. They slow down a bit in the coldest time but thrive in the sunlight as its very sheltered etc. At Willowbank wild life park here they don't substitute feed their turtles who live in huge unheated ponds full of fish and natural feed. They hibernate in the mud at the bottom of their ponds over some of the winter, but thats a much more natural environment then a tank. Definately she needs to add a heat lamp (or ordinary light bulb) as well as the uv light, but needs to be careful of the distance to the turtles so they don't get burnt or eyes damaged. how many does she have? Are they all basking? Good Luck!

I have 2 snake necks. One never gets out of the water and the other does sometimes. This is the same, regardless if they are inside in a tank under a heat lamp, or in the outside pond under the sun. The one that never basks does often float near the top and under the lights with legs outstretched as tho hes basking...just still in the water.

I've no idea of the 'official' size of tank, but I currently have a 4yr old female Reeves in a tank 1200x450x450. She is incredibly active and loves to do regular laps and loops etc. She has a 1yr old red ear and a small 3yr old long neck in there as well and I wouldn't like to see them in anything smaller. Shes a great one for hitching rides on the snake neck... I understand the water depth should be a minimum of twice the size of the length of the carapace to prevent injuries when gliding off basking area and to give them plenty of room to swim. I recently had a 'rescue' turtle that was a 20 yr old female red ear in a huge tank...with 3inches of water. Not a pretty sight...

Willowbank wild life park in Christchurch has a huge pond full of red ears that they let hibernate there over the winter, also a tortoise or two. Just down the road from there is Redwood aquatics...fish and turtles...Dunedin has the new butterfly farm which has turtles in ponds in it as well. From what I've heard thats a pretty amazing place to visit. Will definately be going one day when I make it to Dunedin. Have a fun trip

I lost a red ear male last year. He'd got under the neighbours fence where the dog had been chasing a hedge hog. Was found 3 wks later 'running' down the middle of the road at 8am by a passing fireman! Had got quite a long way with out being spotted. Fortunately the fireman rushed him into a house where I'd put a flyer the day before, so I could be contacted. The lady of the house was in 'shock' when I got there...she had the turtle sitting on the kitchen table where the fireman had put him....she preferred soft fluffy cats to my turtle....

Nah, the 2 of them are brothers and I wouldn't want to separate them.... :bounce: or post them to the Nth Island!

I have 13 Red eared Sliders from 9mths to 23yrs, 2 x3yr old male snake necks and am having another RES arriving soon. All in ponds except for snake necks and 9mth old who all share a tank inside and 'visit' the ponds on hot days.

Last year I ended up with a rescue tortoise thru SPCA...it was sooo exciting to have it...but the owners were found after 7 days She ended up being (we think) a Russian? tortoise and is 70. She came to NZ on a boat with an immigrant family from England, was taken at the border and sent to Welly zoo. Then after a couple of years the family was recontacted...(I guess by letter or phone as no email!!!) and told they could have her back. They've thought it a male greek tortoise, but pictures on web indicated a female Russian, so not really sure. She was so wonderful...wandering around devouring dandelions and bananas.. She had escaped by climbing up some overgrown shrubbery and was found wandering around Halswell Quary...The family had thought she was still on their large property and being elderly hadn't thought of contacting SPCA for info which is why I had her so long. She then revisited for a couple of weeks at Christmas....hope she comes back for another holiday...

Thanks people, thats been really helpful! 8)

I thought having read so many other various questions that it was OK to ask for some info myself. I've had turtles for 20 yrs and learnt plenty from my many mistakes when there was no google or pet shops that knew anything about basic turtle care. I'm of the opinion you're never too smart to keep learning and am always keen to hear what others have learnt first hand. Having never seen any sort of forum before I was really looking forward to hearing what so many other turtle buffs might say. Not sure I'll ask again...