General Care Discussion :: School turtles....

[Sassamo]

At my son's k-6 school there is a pet room with 4 love birds and a pond with 2 res turtles. The turtles live outside in a teachers pond all summer. Then they move into a 2 level pond insert . The problem is the lower part is filled with water and a bunch off big rocks, there is no heat sorce, the basking light(only one no uvb) has never been turned on(last year it was...), I have only seen the fliter on a couple times this year and they are fed handfulls off pellets. I never see veggies, the light on or them out off the water. No basking light is what's keeping them in the water. They both have pyramiding shells.
Now I don't know what I should do too try and help them.
I wish I had some cash too buy a UVB bulb and fixture, a new basking bulb for them. I'm thinking off writing a letter too help the turtles. Any ideas on how too help these 2?

[TheComputerGremlin]

First, speak with the teacher nicely and ask them to come on to the board here or the main website to see the requirements of a RES. Many people simply don't know how to care for them or were told the wrong info. Educate the teacher nicely. If the teacher is unwilling to make the needed changes, speak to the principal concerning animal neglect.

As for how you can help, ask the students to chip in or organize a bake sale. For the proper basking setup you may only need around $40, which shouldn't be hard to get. What size is the pond? If it's larger than 50 gallons, you can use a mercury vapor bulb instead of needing two. The bulb is more expensive, but it lasts longer and takes the place of both bulb needs.

[SpotsMama]

I second computergremlin's suggestions. Upgrading the habitat and taking good care of the turtles (and birds) could be a very good school project. Lots of lessons could be learned about responsibility and sensitivity. In fact, that's probably why the turtles and birds were acquired in the first place but somewhere along the way the purpose has been lost.