General Care Discussion :: Follow up on Rain the Turtle- cuttle bone question

[puppylovejewelry]

Hello my turtle friends. I have not visited here for a long time. I became a new turtle mommy last February when some careless teenagers threw their female red eared slider into a 50 degree park pond and I pulled her out.

She is doing perfectly well. She has now gone through a normal healthy cycle of scute shedding (she did eat some of the scutes which scared me a bit- have to fish them out faster next time...but she is pooping fine and healthy as an ox). She is now living in a 70 gallon stock tank which is appropriate as her shell is 7 inches long. I understand that she will outgrow it but I am only staying in this small guest house until my landlady passes away- she is in her 80's, not well, needs my help sometimes and I am fairly certain a move is coming in the next year for us. At that point Rain will get a 100 - 125 gallon aquarium to live in for the rest of her life.

Her Fluval FX5 works so well I can't believe it. Her water is always crystal clear enough to drink (but I don't, I know about the salmonella).

I take her outside most afternoons now for 15-30 minute romp in the sun on enclosed desert terrain (rocks, dirt, dried up grass). I live in AZ so its very warm still here in the afternoon. She basks indoors under her Exo Terra Repti Glo 10.0 Desert Compact Fluorescent Lamp (26W) and has a regular 60 watt incandescent bulb too. I put reptisafe in her water. I keep her water around 81 degrees as she is likely from the desert.

I feed her the frozen turtle jello shots I learned how to make from this site w/ knox unflavored gelatin, a can of no sodium tuna plus juice, crushed up calcium tablets from walgreens and whole bunch of pureed fresh veggies (romain, dandelion greens, carrots, kale and other things recommended here-what i make is almost entirely vegetables). I sprinkle reptomin on the top and store in 1 ounce containers in the freezer. She gets one ever 2-3 days. I feed her brine shrimp as treats and boiled chicken if the dog is having some (I'm vegetarian).

She is not shy about basking around me and she comes up to me to beg for food when she smells me cooking stuff. She seems to very much enjoy being taken outside and spoken to...in the video she is really trying to escape her enclosure but that was the first day and I have since made it much larger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M35liZDPgoc

You can see her cute face up close at the end (2:55) when I put her right by the camera.

Since I have a newly adopted husky now, she lives with her stock tank inside of a very large dog crate to keep her from escaping and keep him out and from trying to drink her water...this pic is terrible but you get the idea:





here is the new dog- a rescue who was living wild in the desert...he is amazing. He ran away from an abusive puppy mill and was found in the desert with a very tight puppy collar strangling him. He came with heart worm so needed a $1000 hospitalization and treatment but he's doing great now (all covered and reimbursed now by Embrace pet insurance btw even though I had only owned him for a month and he was infected with this at least 6 months ago- I HIGHLY recommend them for dogs or cats..they don't do exotics yet but I keep begging).



Rain is going for her first well turtle check in about a week. I can find nothing wrong with her at all, but I'm going to establish her care and be safe. I haven't taken her earlier due to the other vet bills in our family...if a baby is sick the funds go to them first.

I keep reading to educate myself. this site has been wonderful in teaching me. Am I doing anything wrong or missing anything? please speak up if you notice something.


and a question: I bought her turtle bone cuttle bones...I know to peel the hard side off. How often should I give these? Should I always keep one floating in there as an unlimited supply as guinea pigs need unlimited hay? I figured she needs more calcium since she ate her scutes.

I just wanted to follow up here because I got a lot of help when I first got her...I wanted everyone to know she is doing wonderfully. She is becoming more tame as I handle her almost daily now and talk to her a whole lot....I think years from now she will be an extremely friendly and tame pet. She does do the chomp threaten thing when I touch her arms and legs but she has never yet chomped me purposely. From what I hear, for a red eared slider she is darn tame and it will likely only improve as I interact a lot with my pets

for fun: a video I made of my new dog lancelot...he has BAD separation anxiety...he sleeps with his head on me, long story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyJJgosaef4

[ljapa]

I remember your story about finding her. I'm glad to hear she is doing so well.

I have read of some here who float large chunks, which their turtle grazes as needed. My son's turtle is a pig. If I did that, shed eat the entire thing. I break off small bits and add one periodically.

[devilduck]

You have a crate trained turtle! It does look like it takes up a ton of space. I would just put metal grate over the top of the tub, weigh it down with something decorative like potted plants. the natural cover may help him feel more secure and less inclined to escape. Turtles just need a few inches of vertical space to stretch out, something like the height of their shell plus 3-4 inches.

[puppylovejewelry]

LOL @ crate trained turtle. I like your idea, but did you watch my "Destructo-Dog" video? (link at end of post) She is WAY safer in the crate. He very easily could get into what you describe if I ever leave him alone again. And eventually something will happen, someone will die or need help or there will be some emergency where I will have to leave Destructo-dog alone. I would hate for him to terrorize poor Rain. For now I have groceries delivered, order everything online and walk with him to Walgreens where they let me take him inside.

Also, I have a vision starting to form in my creative mind.......I want to eventually disguise the whole thing in moss, vines, fake rocks, plants and somehow make it into a natural looking indoor pond with an internal waterfall for her, large crystals lining the bottom with colored lights under them for the evening...etc. I think i will figure out a way and the crate will add some structure for me to work around. I make my living as an artist, own an airbrush and get VERY carried away with projects like this. By next year I will probably have something beautiful to post

[puppylovejewelry]

Oh, and I forget to say thank you ljapa for your guidance about the cuttle bones. Rain is a total pig too....I will give her bits of it every few days.

And I also forgot to say whenever I am done creating this stock tank and crate into some kind of pond looking thing, when we do move and Rain gets her 125 gallon aquarium, the stock tank w/ cage will go outside so she can have supervised time outside in the hot summers (water will get very warm on its own here in tucson). It will be nice to have the cage outdoors too for protection, even though I will likely sit there and watch when she is in it.

[steve]

They look great! I'm with devilduck a metal grate (some have used wire shelving, cut to fit their needs) could actually be a nice solution. If you don't mind a few holes on the tank, you can add some hinges to make it slicker.

[puppylovejewelry]

I may do what you are both suggesting about a top metal grate the day this becomes Rain's outdoor dwelling and I buy her the 125 gallon aquarium for inside (which I'm not doing until after we move...those things are so heavy and I am a single woman- I will have to hire help to move it into my new home). But I like the idea to keep her safer during outdoor swim time although I will likely only bring her out when I am out there supervising my guinea pigs grazing. This stock tank can easily become a lovely outdoor pond for rain with a bit of digging and landscaping. A grate on the top could add safety. For now, because we have Destructo-dog and his severe separation anxiety issues to contend with, Rain is safest fully enclosed in a a sturdy metal crate. If I were left alone in the house with Destructo-dog during one of his freak outs, I would want to be in a metal crate for my own personal safety too! I mean, he is EXTREME. A total angel when I am here and a complete beast if left alone. Its just not safe enough with only a grate secured on the top. Huskies with bad separation anxiety have been know to TEAR HOLES IN WOODEN FRONT DOORS to get out and look for their owners. Unless you have owned a problematic husky, its impossible to understand the severity of what I'm talking about.