DonnaM

Heres some shots of a number of turtles that have ended up here over the past 18mths or so. No particular order. Some don't make it, most do. 8 yr old female RES. The seemingly superficial areas of grey discolouration hide multiple ulcers penetrating deeply into her. Red skin showed she had septicaemia and her pale mouth was indicative of anaemia. She was euthanaised. Owner had no idea how sick she was. No 'obvious symptoms. Main ulcerated area. The smaller area on the edge penetrated right through to the other side. Removing the cheesy like substance from the ulcer. It smells awful! Red skin from septicaemia Scutes rotted through

5.5 is a bit bigger then most.... :facepalm: It was a long, rolling one. You can tell those ones come from the fault line that goes through Rolleston (Sept quake), and the sharp 'bouncing' ones come from the direction of the Lyttleton faultline (Feb quake). It certainly sent lots of things swinging and water waves in tanks and over basking areas...but none on the floor :happy2:

Or bite, injure or kill them...... :tears: Put a mirror at one end if you really think hes lonely...but believe me he will happily adapt to being the King of his tank :thup:

Navarre, you want to be a Mum!!!!! :sml1: :sml1:

Yay!!!! :happy2:

mmm nope, $49 :thup: Check out TM for them from redwood acquatics if you want one.

Heres a few of my tanks with lighting. Heat source is a small 'exo terra clamp lamp' with a 75watt globe bulb from the supermarket. I was using glass, but after the quake I have had perspex toppers made. But I still have plenty of 'stuck together' type of tanks due to the extent of damage from earthquakes. So some have green tape holding the perspex together and a makeshift ramp to basking area etc until I can get more sorted out. Nb/ there is a sheet of perspex covering the stones in the basking area.... I've seen too many deaths and terrible infections and blockages from turtles eating small stones to use them at all UVB light is missing from these 2 photos

Have you had a chance to check out the thread about UVB lighting? It gives some very detailed reasons as to why you should have your UVB light 25-30cm away from the turtle to prevent permanent eye damage and also how you need a source of heat next to the UVB light to stop turtle looking straight up at the UVB...again causing eye damage. I just checked out your photos :thup: Great job on the open lid and gaps wide enough to allow UVB light through, but check out the safe distances from lights to turtles

I've still got 6 platties in my 6ft tank that have survived about 3 mths now. Started as 11 and then down to 7 for a very long time and now 6. Eventually they will no doubt be food, but look nice in there at the moment. Still trying to breed enough guppies etc in another tank, but will save them for when all my own turtles come back from Napier Aquarium and Chris at Hot House Turtles. So should have a few larger guppies by Sept. when they return. Also White Cloud minnows can be interesting in a turtle tank.

Use a nice interesting bit of drift wood....much better :thup: Also, throw a suction cup or two in there... if he likes to play, he may well become besotted with a suction cup. I've got a turtle here who carries one around, up to bask, back in the water,tosses it and chases it.... plays with it for hours!

This is what can happen with rocks.... a hidden killer.... :tears:

I wouldnt do 100% water change per week. Unless you are grossly overfeeding or have too many turtles for the volume of water it shouldnt be needed. I vary from about 30 to 75 per cent, depending on size of tank and the amount of turtles in it. As Alan said, bare bottom tank is best and easiest and always get the biggest external filter you can afford. :thup:

awwwww Beautiful! :love: (Alexandrine...not you Mark :sml2: :sml1: )

mmm as a kid I have vague memories of one lasting at least 6/7 yrs.... but then that was a long time ago.... :sage:

Currently on the Aussie turtle forum theres a lovely photo of an ELN with a ripped neck from a slightly bigger ELN tank mate...and they are both juveniles. How big is your tank? Plenty of hidey places/ driftwood? If they do cause an injury, the others keep going back to it as they think its 'food'. I've had ELNs of varying sizes together in large tanks/ponds with no problems, but theres always the potential for territorial issues and fighting with turtles. :facepalm: If it was me I'd keep an eye on them and seperate immediately if I noticed any aggression.... Others may have different ideas :spop:

Hes probably stressed. He's gone into a new environment and he's then picked up and put into another container on a regular basis while hes still insecure in his new home. Sometimes a turtle can take a week or two or even longer to adjust to new surroundings and feel confident to eat. Personally I would leave him in the tank to feed him for now. Drop a hot-house cube in front of him and leave him be. Unfortunately now that you have 2, its likely the more secure, bigger, active one will dominate the tank and the food. You may need to remove the bigger one out to allow the other to eat. Definately pop plenty of live plants in there. He can hide in them and eat them when he wants. Putting a piece of sponge around the intake strainer of your filter will stop all the plant bits going into your filter, but you need to clean the sponge regularly. Have you got plenty of places in the tank for him to hide and feel safe?

I phoned the CCC and was put through to 'water and waste management'...(or something like that). They looked up on the computer for me and were able to tell me what the levels of chlorine were all over the city. Areas near pumping stations (like me) had higher levels. Areas that were badly affected by the quake...like Brighton and I guess Sumner had even higher levels. Places like Hornby right through to the airport had no chlorine added at all. Even parts of the hills had no chlorine. Levels ranged from 0.2 in Woolston, 0.64 in my area to 0.9 in Brighton. Nothing was higher than 0.9 ppm on the day I phoned. You may find it helpful to give them a call and ask what the levels are? Definately sounds like a good idea with the barrel and pump :thup:

:facepalm: oh! Got it... :roll:

Do you mean their drop off point is too far away from where you live? :dunno: Thats a pity. Yes, using air NZ pet carrier service would be very pricey!

You could try the petbus. I know its costing $55 plus GST to transport 4 turtles (one Container) from CHCH to Northland on May 27th.

:happy1: VERY EXCITING!!!! Congratulations! :happy2: :happy2:

WOW Good on you! Tell me they haven't gone to a breeder......

oooo I feel the need for another visit to Tauranga...well Natures Place....its just that I have to go to Tauranga to see it! :lol:

Does anyone want a selection of lids? I've started throwing the odd one away, so will stop that and save them in case anyone wants some