General Care Discussion

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:26 am

It's good to test water quality because the bad things that affect water quality - ammonia and nitrites - are invisible. Your water can look clear but still be toxic.

Bigger rocks are fine. Good even because they give your turtles a source of amusement ( :roll:

). Small rocks are bad - dangerous.

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:02 pm

*UPDATE*
Well it seems I've resolved both problems at once.

After I found the rock she ingested in the bottom of the tank I thought that was that but oh no, it couldn't possibly be that easy if Beaker is involved. This morning I fed them both pellets in a separate container to try to keep the water quality up in the 90 gallon. Both ate as usual, but then there was an inordinate amount of splashing and when I looked in Beaker was going crazy! Thrashing and bouncing around in the container while Gomie cowered in the corner. This continued as I picked her up and put her back in the tank. Then she began swimming like crazy all over the tank, bouncing off the walls. I left Gomez in the container, figuring she would want no part of this. Then Beaker suddenly stopped and grabbed hold of the edge of the basking ramp with her rear legs pulled in.
Then it happened. A huge cloud of green-brown stuff started flowing out of her butt, followed by a few bubbles and then one, two, three rocks! :shock:

The last one was the largest and she shook all over as it came out. Then she let go of the ramp and settled on top of the pipe, looking exhausted. Now the tank had this greenish looking cloud, so I called work and told them I'd be a little late, I had to change out the water. I didn't see her pass the first rock, but I'm guessing it probably went the same way and this "cloud" (I can't even call it diarrhea, it was pure liquid) overwhelmed the filters, driving up the ammonia and then the nitrate levels. I checked her over and the cloaca looked OK, no signs of blood or even swelling, so far so good.
I hope this is the last of the rocks, I don't think I (or Beaker) can take much more of this. I'll post some pics tomorrow.......

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:16 pm

That's scary!

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:29 pm

That is so awful! poor crazy little Beaker! And poor little gomie with her crazy crazy tank mate.

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:46 pm

LOL Poor Gomie looked scared and confused! She's usually the one that gets anxious to get out of the container first.....after all the food is gone, of course.
I was going to post pics of the rocks next to Beaker (the last one to come out was REALLY big) so you could get an idea just how large they really are, but the camera batteries are dead, and the Beakster is all worn out, she's sleeping under the basking ramp, tucked into the plant......
I just hope this is the last of it.

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:52 pm

Wow i hope that's all of them! Did you save the rocks?

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:58 pm

Yes, I'll post a pic of them tomorrow.....

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:36 pm

Wow, that must've hurt! :shock:

Good thing she was able to pass it or she could've been another gravel casualty.

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:31 pm

My goodness! I'm so glad she seems better. I do hope that's the end of it. You might keep an eye out for Gomie too in case she also picked up the habit.

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:53 pm

Well this morning they were both begging as usual, so I clipped two medium sized romaine leaves and a small piece of carrot to the tank. When I got home, it was all gone, which means Beaker was eating. I've never seen Gomie eat a whole leaf by herself. Beaker seems better, but she's still a bit anxious, I'm guessing she's a little sore after passing those rocks. Plus she's staying away from me, I guess I'm getting the blame for all this. So I'm going to feed them pellets tomorrow and see what happens.

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:57 pm

I finally convinced Beaker that it would be in her best interest to come out and pose for a few pics. As you can see, nothing has changed......

Here she is with her "hors d'oeuvres" in the order they came out, left to right. How she managed to swallow that last one is beyond me.

Gomie says, "What an idiot!"

Everything in the trunk looks OK....

But I have noticed she is losing some of her color. I'm not sure why, but her red ears ain't so red anymore......

When I put her back in the tank I gave her another baby carrot and she gobbled it up while Gomez dozed on the basking ramp.
I'm going to continue to keep the tank bare for a while and keep an eye on the Beakster, but I think the worst has past.....

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:01 pm

I LOVE the first picture with Beaker! He looks so awesome! Your turtles are quite colorful!

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:15 pm

She's a beauty! She has some massive back feet! That's a lot of rocks for her to have been carrying around, she must be so relieved to have them out. I'm glad she seems to be doing okay. Turtley's red stripes are darkening a little towards the ends like that, i was wondering about it too, i figued maybe it was just a getting older thing.

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:23 pm

emmanelson96 wrote:I LOVE the first picture with Beaker! He looks so awesome! Your turtles are quite colorful!

LOL Here she is several months ago.....Her Royal Highness hates it when the "servants" touch her!

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:28 pm

octpusgirl8 wrote:She's a beauty! She has some massive back feet! That's a lot of rocks for her to have been carrying around, she must be so relieved to have them out. I'm glad she seems to be doing okay. Turtley's red stripes are darkening a little towards the ends like that, i was wondering about it too, i figued maybe it was just a getting older thing.

I know my UVB bulb is on its last leg, I'm "burning in" a new one now.

General Care Discussion :: Water Quality, Beaker is driving me INSANE!

Who is online