General Care Discussion :: Shelly's shell is dirty...

[julesmims]

Hello all...

Our outdoor girl, Shelly cruises around the garden with our two hens... hence, her shell has become covered with dirt from just being in the vicinity of there scratching around for bugs, etc. I don't think this is harming her in any way, but she's not as pretty as she was upon arrival in May. Would it be okay to take a soft/medium toothbrush and some clean water to give her a bit of a scrub?

Thanks,

Jules

[Moose]

I would highly suggest it

[steve]

Yes, please clean her after her cruises. Any way to setup her own area?

[julesmims]

Thank you Moose and Steve... I shall give her a scrub. Also, she has full run of our rather small backyard. She also has a 150 gallon (give or take) pond that we built exclusively for her use. She is out basking and cruising during the day and comes in to the pond at dusk. She seems to enjoy her life immensely. She co-exists nicely with the 2 hens and 3 cats. She has a healthy appetite too. I would hate to confine her activity. Do you think it is harmful to be out in the garden dirt during the day?

Thank you very much,

Jules

[steve]

If there are fertilizers or poop, then I would be careful about her movements.

[julesmims]

No fertilizers at all... some poop here and there I suppose. Should we just check everyday to be sure she is clean, as far as the chicken poop goes. Is it harmful, bacteria-wise? I would really hate to confine her. She loves her routine. Morning under the cypress tree. Afternoons under the swing with an occasional stroll through the gazebo. Yesterday we gave her a scrubbing with a toothbrush and clear water. She was mad as heck and I thought she'd hold a grudge for awhile. I placed her on the ramp in her pond, she shot in like a rocket, swam halfway to the other end, made a U turn and swam back to us showing her best "please feed me" look. She is obviously a forgive and forget kind of girl and now she looks absolutely gorgeous again. I will send pics.

Thank you Steve!

[kamekichi]

Hi Jules, your set up for Shelly sounds incredible! Would love to see pictures if you ever have the opportunity.

[julesmims]

I will post pics this weekend.

[graceandmalu]

sounds like turtle heaven and she sounds like she has a wonderful personality cant wait to see pics

[julesmims]

Sheesh.. I must be a computer moron... will someone tell me how to download photos?

[kamekichi]

Hi jules, no worries, I had to get photo help here as well! Do you need help downloading from your camera or you mean to add them to a post? If you want to add them to a post, click "Full Editor", then towards the bottom, where it says Options, click the tab that says Upload attachment. Click "choose file" and find the photo you want in your computer, select it, click "Add the File" button - a text tag for your photos will now be in your message (it holds the place of where the photo will actually appear)

I'm sorry, I'm not the best at explaining but I hope it helps.

[steve]

You can also use a free service like www.imgur.com and it'll supply links, codes, resizes, etc.

[julesmims]

Thanks so much... I think I've got it. All of my pics are in the computer. I'll post tonight....

[julesmims]

Okay... now.. my "file" is too big. How do I reduce the size to less than 256 KiB? Hate computers!

[PridgNYC]

Do you use Picasa on your computer for your photos? If so, you can click on the photo and hit the export icon at the bottom and resize it so it will be smaller. I find that normal compression and resize to 800 pixels usually keeps me under the limit. If you don't use Picasa, most other image editors also allow you to export to a smaller image size or more compression. (just make sure you change the name so you don't overwrite the original, Picasa won't let you overwrite the original so no need to worry about that)