Other Turtle Discussion :: We have a house turtle.

Non-care related topics here.

Post Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:47 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

Do you mean the tank with everyone else or a tank just for herself?
... I'll miss her being a house turtle but maybe I could rig up a ramp so she could get in and out and still walk around the house as she pleases.
Outside Pond Boys: :mrgreen:Timmy & Chewy & Ike
Outside Pond Girls: :msgreen:Betty & Frick & Frack & Tina & Nyrtle-Sweetpea
Inside Tank: :mrgreen:Sheldon :msgreen: Mork :msgreen: Mindy
Nursery: :?: Baby Timmy & Ranger
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apondfortimmy
 
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Post Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 2:57 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

I just mean whatever you had planned for her. Alone, shared, pond, etc.
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steve
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Post Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 7:39 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

Hows she doing?
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Into_the_Mystic
 
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Post Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:25 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

Thank you for asking!

She's doing fine right now. She's in her box at the moment, but in the mornings she's been waking up about when we do, which is cute. Then she wanders around for a few minutes as we feed the rest of the beasts in the house (kids included), and she will walk over to her water bin and look at it, then at me, then back at the bin until I pick her up and put her in and turn the lights on. She's been hanging out in there for hours at a time without issue. When she scrabbles at the side, one of us will take her out and dry her off and let her roam the house again. When she's done with that, she goes back into her house and buries herself under the clothes inside.

She GOES BACK INTO HER HOUSE. HOW COOL IS THAT?! ON HER OWN! I mean, this is ... this is great. :D

I have plans to make a basking area on top of her house (with walls, of course), covered in towels, with a towel-covered ramp that leads down to the ground but still gives her plenty of access to the "door" of her little house. That way she can come and go in the water as she pleases and will still be our house turtle.

I noticed that her shell looks worse when it's all wet. I'd been leaving the water low enough to not cover her shell lately but today I put more water in so she could actually swim. Does the shell develop scars like skin?
Outside Pond Boys: :mrgreen:Timmy & Chewy & Ike
Outside Pond Girls: :msgreen:Betty & Frick & Frack & Tina & Nyrtle-Sweetpea
Inside Tank: :mrgreen:Sheldon :msgreen: Mork :msgreen: Mindy
Nursery: :?: Baby Timmy & Ranger
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apondfortimmy
 
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Post Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:25 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

There can be pitting and scarring, depending on the depth and extent of the injury. How often is she going into the water?
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steve
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:31 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

She looks melanistic. Isn't that rare for a female? Do they get friendlier as they get older?
:mrgreen: Bill - RES
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ataraxiamb
 
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Post Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 4:36 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

apondfortimmy wrote:Thanks. :) I love this turtle a lot.

Can they get TOO MUCH cuttlebone?


My turtle didn't have cuttle bone for a while, and when I finally provided it he would eat the whole thing within a couple days. I started noticing a lot of tiny pieces of cuttle bone all over the tank, and his stool was not regular. I think he was eating so much it was just going straight through him. Once I switched to offering half a cuttle bone a week, little chuncks at a time, he was regular in no time.
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:48 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

I wonder what ever happened to this turtle.. Been awhile since we've had an update.
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Into_the_Mystic
 
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Post Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:05 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

It sounds like this turtle acts more like a dog! That's crazy! I've never let my turt roam around my house. I just assumed he wouldn't like that, or would be scared. Do other people let their RES run around the house? Would your average turtle enjoy this?
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:35 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

It depends on their personality... some like to explore, some will hide. Either will likely pee somewhere if left out for awhile.
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steve
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Post Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 7:59 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

Pretty sure Gertrude does not have that personality. LOL
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 10:12 am   Re: We have a house turtle.

mark_alexandre wrote:It sounds like this turtle acts more like a dog! That's crazy! I've never let my turt roam around my house. I just assumed he wouldn't like that, or would be scared. Do other people let their RES run around the house? Would your average turtle enjoy this?

Skimmer loves to get out and about.. We watch him closely, but let him roam freely for about an hour a few days a week if our schedule allows it.

He gets upset when we put him up, almost like he is saying "I don't want to go back in!!"

It has really helped get him over his fear of us and he will stop and preen sometimes when we call his name :D

I also think it is good to have him dry for small amounts of time if he hasn't basked a whole lot that day.


Just my opinion of course, but so far it seems to make him a happier turtle.
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Into_the_Mystic
 
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:59 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

I hope no news in good news.
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Into_the_Mystic
 
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Post Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:47 pm   Re: We have a house turtle.

Hi guys, sorry for the lack of updates.

I hadn't subscribed to this thread so I didn't get notified that anyone had posted anything. :P Go me.

She's doing great - this is her outdoor enclosure (I shot this through the blinds yesterday).
Image

It's a blocked off part of my porch, so she can't get out, that has about half a day of sun. She has her own bin with water (that I clean and refill every two days), a ramp in and out of the water, and her own sun for as long as she wants to sit there. She's not chowing down on cuttlebone as voraciously as before, and having this setup means solicitors think twice before ringing my doorbell.

The ramp serves as a hiding place for when she's caught out of the water and scared. When we open the screen door at night, she will look at us from her water and just float there on top until one of us picks her up and dries her off. Then she toddles her way into the house and goes to her sleeping box (a box with old clothes in it) and doesn't come out until we're all up in the morning.

Even with building a new pond in the back, my husband said he'd love to keep her as a house turtle (though I am going to make her a special enclosure in the back yard so she can hang out there too but still come in at night). She comes up to us and stops, and will sit totally limp and still as we pick her up and give her head pets and skritches. She never snaps or bites or hisses and I am totally comfortable with her around the kids (they know to play gently). Her shell looks like it's ok, and I've stopped the treatments for now.

She's still so cute and friendly.
Outside Pond Boys: :mrgreen:Timmy & Chewy & Ike
Outside Pond Girls: :msgreen:Betty & Frick & Frack & Tina & Nyrtle-Sweetpea
Inside Tank: :mrgreen:Sheldon :msgreen: Mork :msgreen: Mindy
Nursery: :?: Baby Timmy & Ranger
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