General Care Discussion :: Take the turtles?

[kamekichi]

I am going away for seven days on vacation and have been asked to bring the turtles, but should I? It's about a six hour drive. I have a plastic box with towels and some heat pads to take with them. Their old tank and heater was already sent to my parents when we got the new set up. They are still young (vet estimates about four months) so I am wondering if it would be better to leave them behind for the duration of the trip or take them along? I am also thinking about just taking Taro. She is bigger and having her out of the tank and with me would make me feel more comfortable asking someone to feed Yawara (since they wouldn't have to worry about Miss Aggression!)

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.

[dumbork14]

If you leave them behind, will there be some one to take care of them?

[kamekichi]

Hey dumbork14, I have someone who says she is comfortable watching (doing lights, check-ins, and feeding) Yawara only. She watched them once before and that's around when Taro's aggression towards Yawara started getting bad. I have a tank divider but the lights are only on one side of it (the divider cuts width wise and the lights can only go on the far side of the tank. Since Taro is mainly aggressive during feeding, that's the only time I slide the divider in) and she doesn't seem comfortable taking care of both.

I may take big girl Taro with me and leave Yawara to the care of my friend.

[dumbork14]

yeah, that's a good plan. Maybe taro's aggression will wear off after the trip. have a safe flight.

[steve]

What kind of place will you be staying at?

[CactusJohn5]

That bad of aggression at 4 months? That seems very wrong?!?

Traveling will stress them out, very badly, i doubt the aggression will magically go away after 7 days.

I think it would be safe to say, they have food aggression?

If it was me, i would let them be, it would be more likely for them to die from the travelling then from them doing enough damage to each other in a week.

[kamekichi]

steve, it's at my parents' house. They took the old tank, filter, and heater in case something ever happens and we need to move the turtles when moving the bigger tank is not possible (something like when we thought we may need to evacuate for Sandy).

CactusJohn5, it's mainly when food comes into play, so I separate them during feeding. I don't know why Taro is so aggressive, I've made sure they have plenty of food. I guess I should have started separated feeding sooner. With the divider (the divider is higher than water level) they shouldn't be able to see each other eat anymore. It's not that Taro outright attacks Yawara - it's that she is like a seek-and-consume eater. Is he coming back up for his next pellet? CHOMP - no he isn't - she just swam the length of the tank to take it from him and is now trying to see where I will put the next one.

I will offer my friend more money and see if she will reconsider watching both. It seems like she's not afraid of Taro, but afraid she did something wrong last time, which is doubtful. I think I just should have gotten the divider sooner. Thank you all for the insight!

[CactusJohn5]

yes, turtles are like kabs(dog), they fight for every piece like they are starving it's kinda a strange behavior, separate feeding is an excellent idea!

[steve]

I would probably take them with me if it's only a 6 hr drive (provided you can take a few breaks in-bewteen).

[kamekichi]

Hey CactusJohn5 and steve, thanks for the insight.

Steve, what are your thoughts on taking only Taro and leaving Yawara for my friend to peep in and and let him have free reign of the tank sans divider for the duration? Would this make either turtle's behavior worse?

[steve]

Sorry for the late response... but some separation is fine. Usually once aggression starts, it doesn't go away.

[kamekichi]

No problem, Steve. Thanks again, all of you, for the tips. I took Taro and she did pretty well. Even though she hasn't been away from her old tank that long, she looked so much bigger in it - and performed a jail break the first night. I could not believe how high she climbed, so we had to adjust the set up and water level a bit. >.> She was fine though - no cracks and she swam and ate fine afterwards. We gave her lots of extra veggies on Thanksgiving Day as a mini holiday celebration! I looked at the Rosy Red Minnows in Petsmart on Black Friday (since I often see them reccommended here as feeder fish) but they're so long, I don't think my little guys could eat them...well, not without turning their tank into the scene of a horror movie!

Though I definitely think this will be the last "Turtle Trip" - I'll be looking into auto feeders and more permanent solutions in the future. I can see they are way happier just being in their big tank.

Hope those who celebrate had a great Thanksgiving!

[steve]

Glad to hear it went well! Yea, they're very good at getting out of enclosures. They can stretch their legs pretty far.