Learned two things about Toady this last year. The first was that we found pictures of Toady from 1969. So that puts this RES at 47 up a year from what I said last in 2012. The other item takes some explanation. Took Toady to the exotic vet for problems with eating. Turns out it was just turtle fasting. Some days they just don't want to eat. After 4-5 days we were concerned. We kept mentioning "she" does this or that. The vet said little during our descriptions. Then the vet said "you know she is a he, right?" Jaws dropped. So I must announce I have a four-legged, hardshell son.
He is still a mover and shaker. Bangs on his 15 gallon heated bedroom, with double pool coping tile dry dock, at dawn each day to announce he wants out. He either goes directly to his 55 gallon playroom or the 9200 gallon salt water pool. On some days we rinse and towel him off so he can crawl around the tiled sunroom and kitchen. So far no accidents be he loves to explore. He is no slouch on speed either.
Built him a PVC bridge with mesh landing pads over the spillway from our ground level spa to the pool. No instructions were needed by Toady. Within 5 minutes he had gone back and forth a few times as if he had done it a thousand times before. Last year I added a "sun deck" to his bridge. We had seen RES in a park all basking on large boulders rising from the ponds so figured he might like a place to get out and dry at his leisure. The stretchy fabric hammocks him a bit, and along with the railings on the bridge, keep him from going to the edges of the wall between spa and pool to make a clean get away to the pool landscaping. His owners were taught this lesson a couple of times when he was not found after being left on the spillway.
- Toady testing bridge railing
- Toady on bridge with sun deck expansion
- Toady on sun deck expansion
His 55 gallon playroom developed a slow seep back in February. Took 2 complete scrape outs, cleanings, and aquarium sealant applications to make it waterproof again. Seems I do this every 5-7 years. Old sealant will not stick to new sealant. Acetone and mucho rinsing, and drying is the key. Can't rush the process. It takes one whole day to scrape, clean, and dry before I start the seal the next day. I allow 48 hours there after to cure before adding water.
This time we did not reintroduce the ancient aquarium rocks to his clean playroom. Every time I drained to replenish the water before this time, the rocks were a mess requiring multiple rinses, a 30 minute Clorox and water soak, rinse again followed by a fill. Twice a year I removed the rocks and boiled them in water for 15 minutes. It has been 3+ months and today, when I performed the monthly drain, flush, and refill, I found 3 small rock presents at the bottom. Looked up online and found it was not a good idea to use the small gravel. It is not supposed to be a digestive aid as do birds. So now Toady has a clean, modern, all glass sides, hexagon playroom. When I looked for links on the gravel eating, I saw this website. Did not realize it had been 5 years since my last and only entry. If Toady keeps on moving on, I will have to repost before the next 5 years have lapsed.