General Care Discussion :: How bad is this???

[RiverChubbs]

Well The main point of this story is actually wheather or not to enroll my nephew in a particular childcare center because they take great care of children but poor care of their Red Eared Slider Turtles.

Please read on ...any advice or ideas welcome.

We went to check out a childcare center today for my active 3 year old nephew. I will be paying for this care so I have to agree to the place as well. He seemed to LOVE this place it has activities, nice children and staff and tons of toys and climbing structures...however when I walked into the second room on the tour...I noticed they had 2 or 3 RES (one 8 inch, one 5 inch - I could not tell if there was another one in there) in a 40 gallon tank with only about 5 or 6 inches of water, no place to bask and completley dry off, no lighting at all no sun/heat light and no UVB (heck not even a regular fish tank light, I could not tell because the water was a little murky, but there was probably not a heater and filter either)

The wierd thing was, these Turtles looked perfectly healthy and happy like this is what they were raised in...so they don't know a difference. At least I saw that they had Reptomin food sticks...and they were feeding them that which is pretty healthy...but I wanted to tell them or save these turtles so badly!

I would like to take my nephew to this center, but I feel I would see the turtles every once in a while when I pick him up and feel worse and worse every time. It's like I just want to fix there tank up for them but I had a hard enough time coming up with the money to do my turtles tank.

If I didn't know any better....like some people don't know about turtles (like them, I am sure they are not intentionally neglecting the turtles) I would enroll my nephew in the center...but I just feel a little guilty.Thanks for any comments.

[N4784N R4613]

You could always print some of the info on this web-site and give it to the owner of the RES. At least get them to get a spot where they can dry off, and get UVB.

As for your nephew, I hate to say it, but that has to be your choice. You have to feel "right" about the place, if you have any funny feelings, or are uncomfortable, just try the next one on your list.

[Nevy]

My thought on this (for what it is worth) is the turtles care, or lack of knowing what right things to do for them, an indicator for what care your nephew would get?

I dont know if I am being gun shy or not since what I have expirienced with my rescued turtles being in a filthy environment was true for the entire household and appearance of the people we got them from. I know you said they appeared healthy and happy, but are they really? Sorry for the word vomit, but that was my first thought when I read your post.

I agree with N4784N, print them information, and give them the link to this site, they may accept it and be truely thankful that you cared enough to point them in the right direction. Their response could be an indicator as to whether they are open to new ideas, and would want to do the best thing for both human and critter.

I hope you find the perfect day care for your nephew. )

Nevy

[pumpkinsherbet]

i agree with N4784N R4613, print out some of the info from here. or go to the store or the amazon.com used bin and get some turtle care text and give it to them. having turtles in a daycare centre is a fun thing, also a good way to teach responsibility. much like having a class hamster if you see they're not quite being treated right, respectfully let them know and give them the information they need

and i agree with nevy on the turtle care vs. child care. if they accept your information and are grateful for it, that's a good sign. if they have that ''no, it's fine" attitude about it, i would wonder what type of attitude they'd have towards the child care as well.

[RiverChubbs]

Thank you all very much. This is very helpful. Yeah I was thinking to print them some ifo...would be good.

[kikicool]

It is worrisome that educators didn't do their homework, learning how to care for the little guys. But that said, maybe thsey just don't know. I agree with whoever said it (too lazy to scroll up, if you can believe it--that kind of day!): introduce the proper care sheets and the idea of it being a class project. You can even help to monitor it, if you'd like: perhaps one day after school, you could come in and talk to the kids about the turts. You could send them home with requests for funds from their parents--and they will be able to explain why it is needed. That's my suggestion.

GOOD LUCK!

[Starchick]

Excellent idea kikicool!

[Erroneous]

My guess would be that one of the staff took care of RES at one time and didn't know how to raise them properly, but still figured it would be a good idea in a daycare. I wouldn't be so worried with the fact that they didn't do the research since many places that sell turtles didn't do research either. Sadly, most people just thing turtles are as easy as gold fish, which simply isn't true. Hopefully information you give them will either prompt them to improve the turtles' environment or give them up for adoption.

[RiverChubbs]

So...What I am going to do (and have already started to do...is) print up lots of info (but not too much that they won't have time to read) Just AT LEAST focus on the basic care sheet that Petco and many websites have...I have jotted down notes here and there on the copies. I am going to write a nice friendly personal note and offer my help too. I know Daycare facility owners and managers are totally busy and they might not have a whole lot of time to fix up the tank. So I am going to offer to DO IT FOR THEM. What I will do is buy the stuff and save the reciepts, then they can either reimburse me or give me free daycare for a few weeks. Cause it will cost at least $150 up front to get them even close to the proper set up.

I love doing things like this and I love all types of animals and I would have more if I had a bigger house. I find great joy in helping people and animals.

Thank you all, for all ideas. Hopefully they don't blow me off. If they do I don't think I can bare to see the turts like that everytime I pick up my nephew and I might have to take him somewhere else.

[Nevy]

Good luck River Chubbs! Let us know what happens!!

[scripta_elegans]

the don't let the little kids handle the turtles do they?

[scmom0305]

Hi I was reading this and just wondered what the outcome was?

[RiverChubbs]

Oh hello. Yes I sent them information...of all kinds and a peronal cover letter as well. I also mentioned that I could do it for them at only the cost of supplies...but I never heard from them. My Nephew has been going there for 3 days now (2 days a week, for 2 weeks) my sister picked him up Tueday and said that there water was really clear now but only still about 6 inches deep. I even mentioned to them, in the letter, that they might want to adopt them out if they could not afford to update their environment, because It was not healthy. I even invited them to come see my set up....

I guess when my sister first talked to them on the phone they asked her if she was the one who sent them the information on the turtles and she said no...That was my sister....and they said "Oh, tell her Thank you." but they didn't do anything to change it...So I dunno I wish they would at least get them a UVB light and a basking area to dry off. Maybe they are saving up...I dunno.

[DavidY]

I could see how running a daycare that they've got their hands full. Hopefully they will get around to fixing their setup though. I once volunteered at my son's 1st grade class to setup a planted fish tank using spare equipment I had laying around. It was fun explaining everything to the kids but it was a challenge trying to not go over their heads with the technical stuff (nitrifying bacteria cycle, photosynthesis, etc.).

Anyway, I would go into the classroom every couple of weeks to do water changes and to check up on things. It turned out to be a lot more work than I thought it would be. I guess the kids kept overfeeding the fish. I explained that they should only feed just a few flakes once a day and the teacher tried to enforce that, but ... well you know how kids can be. So lots of water changes, major algae blooms, and eventually the kids lost interest. We managed to keep it going for the whole school year and there were certain students that really took an interest, so it was worth it.

I'm sure they would love to have you volunteer to come in and help with their turtle setup. That way you can also see how your niece is getting along too. I'm sure the turtles would really appreciate it!

[RiverChubbs]

"I'm sure they would love to have you volunteer to come in and help with their turtle setup. That way you can also see how your niece is getting along too. I'm sure the turtles would really appreciate it!"

Yes....me too...wow sounds like you had a fun and interesting experience...