SOLAR, Halloween and TURTLES!
an update! eeee...i've been needing to do this properly for months, but yeah...gah...anyway. making this public so that you don't have to be logged in to see it necessarily and there's nothing super private or sensitive in here. (and i want everyone who can to see the halloween thing and turtle thing)
SOLAR all hallows this past weekend, and as per all hallows we got our asses kicked *grins* and as i sat down to sort out my weekend schedule for the next month-ish i realised i have too much going on! oi! but it will be good to see everyone so much *snerks*
podo drove all the way to site leaving her poor hubby in the car just to hand deliver jeni's dress and ohmigod it was so beautiful! it's like a princess dress! it was so good to see her, especially bearing such beautimous, fantabulous gifts. i know jeni will look stunning in it...and did we mentioned hand sewn pearls!?!?! *giggles and winks at podo* you outdid yourself sweetie, you're my hero :) i covet your crafting abilities.
halloween: wil, sarah and i are still planning to have some manner of get together at my house. now we've decided perhaps a haunted trail of some sort is the way to go and i have a few viable options--anyone interested in seeing what they are, drop me a line. also, there's a possibility of a fire pit out back of my house in the field (next to the graveyard) which could be fun. who is interested? who'd like to come? not sure what time thinks will kick off but the party will go until yes... and people are (as always) welcomed to crash at my place. i've got floor space and should have plenty of blankets, but you may wanna bring a pillow and extra blanket if you think you might have to crash. i'll let you guys fight it out who gets the bed upstairs *grins* it'll be BYOB and if we do food at the house, we'll probably just group order a pizza or some such. i'm hoping to have snacks on hand.
i'll be getting in touch with most of the people i'd mentioned this to at jeni and troy's wedding, but even if i haven't mentioned it to you, you're more than welcome, just drop me a line and i'll get you the appropriate info (oh you know, like directions?)
so...i think i made mention of acquiring two turtles at myrtle beach when sabrina and i went. had i had any idea what actually maintaining turtles in a proper habitat involved, i'd have never done it. when i had four turtles when i was a kid, there was no filter, no basking light, no heater, we just had four turtles.
well, my little guys weren't eating, so i started researching. i found out that they are a) red ear sliders (RES) and b) are more complicated than the SAT.
a proper habitat for a RES includes:
a heater for the water to keep it around 78 degrees F
a basking lamp for the basking area that needs to run at LEAST 15 degrees more than the water temp, or they will not be enticed to bask. why is basking so important you may ask? you asked, deal with it. basking is important because they must dry off to properly shed when they begin to shed and it helps strengthen their shell.
oh oh wait! i forgot to tell you, the basking lamp has to have a bulb that includes HEAT for drying out as WELL as UVA and UVB rays...this is for mental well being (yes, i said it) as well as giving them D3 that they need and allowing them to metabolize calcium to prevent softness in the shell. see see!!!! i'm a turtle expert now!!!! *goes nuts* also, it's impossible to find a bulb you won't pay out the ass for that will give you both heat and UVA/UVB at one time (if someone knows of one, please hook me up--and i don't mean one that is the long tube like, i need a standard lightbulb fixture, as i have no way to attach the long, tubelike bulbs.)
so...the first thing i did was buy the little guys a heater...which involved buying a BIGGER tank because i couldn't find a heater small enough to safely go in a 1.5 gallon tank. so we got a five gallon fish tank with the hood. it had a light in the hood but you couldn't safely put a heat bulb in it. i bought a repto heater that regulates itself at 78 degrees instead of me having to use calculus to figure out how to set the other kinds (bah). however, if the house is too hot or cold, it can't keep up...but whatever.
okay, so i got a basking lamp, clipped it on (the hood had to be up at the time) and i had heat, but no UVB rays, but connor and murphy -were- basking and it helped with the shedding.
feeding: the container said to feed them as much as they could eat in a five minute period. word to the wise: this is BULLSHIT. turtles will eat you out of house and home if given the chance and beg worse than a dog. they will get fat, this is called pyramidding, this is bad. i found the error of my ways before this happened, so we're on a real diet now.
our little set up was working. (save there being no UVB rays).
at this point i've already spent more money on these guys than i ever dreamed, and and and i have a 1.5 gallon tank that's useless to me.
so i call my local vet during this time, just to find out if she does see turtles or if i'd need a special vet if the time comes. they confirm my doc doesn't treat reptiles, but there are several exotic vets in the area that do, i get some contact numbers but don't use them because the turtles are healthy. while talking to the woman that works at the vet (not a vet, but one of the nurse people) i find out that she herself bought two turtles at the beach one month before i did. she tells me she's been keeping them in a bowl with two inches (TWO INCHES!!!!!!!) of water, no heater no lights no nothing and that they won't eat, she's never even SEEN them eat.
i almost lose it. yes, i had no idea when i bought my guys what went into them, but once i realised they weren't eating, etc i started doing research and i realised i could kill them (too cold makes them think they are preparing to hybernate, but it's not cold enough for actual hybernation) and so i tried to correct it. this woman that works for a vet hadn't bothered. i first of all informed her two inches of water could potentionally drown the turts because if you stand them tail to nose and they aren't longer than the water is deep, they can drown. i told her she needed a heater and a basking lamp and that's why they wouldn't eat. i also uttered the words that have since gotten me in trouble:
if you decide you can't/won't do what's necessary to give them a proper habitat, call me and i'll take them off your hands.
two weeks later, i get a phone call *groans* and she asks if i'm still interested because they just sit there and she knows they are going to die.
what the fuck do i say to that? no, let 'em die? so...i tell her i'll come get them the next day.
what does this mean? it means the 5 gallon container will no longer contain my turtles.
oh and fun bit of trivia? the RES site and all the people on it claim that RES need 10 gallons per inch, per turtle. that's right, you heard me!!!!!! i laughed a little hysterically at this and decided that part could just...not be thought about at the moment.
i go pick the little guys up the next morning and they are...just...tiny. i've had mine a month less than hers and mine have already doubled in size (connor is 1.5" long, murphy a smidge smaller) and these guys about half the size of mine. she tells me someone at the vet told her if the shell is soft at the tail it means they aren't getting enough nutrition (enough? she said they weren't eating at all!)...and these guys' shells were soft. so now i'm concerned they have soft shell syndrome which is very serious. but...i take them home and test my guys, also a little soft but not terrible. i think do research and it states that it's normal for young RES to have leathery shells on the edges because they grow so fast. so...yeah.
anyway, mom picks the turts up from me at work and i get off a bit early to go to pet smart and buy a few things:
a 10 gallon glass aquarium (still not technically enough gallons per turtle per inch, but dude they are tiny it's fine for now) and a new bulb (my house ate my other and blew it) and ANOTHER basking lamp to put a $22 UVA/UVB bulb in. thank god the heater i have is rated up to 30 gallons. oh oh and don't forget, the filter is supposed to be double what the tank actually is as turltes are nasty. the 20 gallon filter? too big for the 10 gallon tank, so i have the old 10 gallon one that came with the 5 gallon tank (well it says up to 10 gallons) and another 10 gallon filter and they are doing their job pretty good.
so let's recap if we shall, on the 10 gallon aquairum there is:
a screen when the lighting is not on
TWO basking lamps, one with a heat basking bulb and one with a coiled UVA/UVB bulb
TWO filters
an intank heater
TWO thermometers (for water temp and for air temp at basking area)
turtle dock for basking
a cuttle bone for calcium that floats in the tank always
and new food pellets with extra calcium and D3 supplement (to try and get the little turts where they need to be)
so when i first got the new turts i rescued, i started calling around to vets because i wanted to see how much it would cost to get them checked out, and i didn't name them because i realised i might have to give them away. the cheapest vet wanted $50 just to walk them in the door (per turtle mind you) and that's not counting what they might have to DO to them. other than a bit of softness in the shell they seemed fine. i decided to give it the weekend (this was a thursday).
i found a place called ARC (animal rehabilitation center) and the woman that called me back said they do take turtles, and gave me the turtle lady's number, stating i'd have to leave a message and she'd call me back. we're two weeks in now and i've received no return call, but whatever. i know i have an option at least.
i got the new tank, got it all set up and put the little ones in with my guys (which was a bad thing, i know in case they were sick, but i couldn't maintain two habitats that each needed their own heater, etc.
at first, the little guys just didn't do much, wouldn't even hardly bask and wouldn't eat.
i named them...merry and pippin, despite my intentions not to.
pippin was very personable, he'd come to me, he's adorable, merry is getting more so. merry attempted eating first, then finally pippin and now, everyone has voracious appetites.
what does this mean? this means i now have to feed them in a process of much fighting over food ensues (but no other violence).
i have to take connor out and put him in his own little container. i take merry and pippin and put THEM in their own container and i let murphy (as he gets upset) stay in the tank. each guy gets 2-3 pellets. after they all eat (i have to keep pippin from stealing from merry sometimes) i put them back and sometimes sprinkle lettuce which they will munch. i've gotten it down to an art. five minutes. 3 out of 4 will come up to me and let me catch them. connor doesn't even run when i put him BACK in the water (connor's my buddy).
now...here's the dilemma, i will NEVER have enough space to maintain four adult RES. they grow from 9-12" (depending on sex) and so that means technically speaking i should have 10 gallons per inch, per turtle...i was like...so...if all are female, 480 gallons? why don't i just caulk the house, fill it with water and get a basking platform for my computer? because dude.
so i've accepted that at some point, after they get to 4-6" i'm going to have to find homes for at least two of them...and the problem is i'm deeply attached to all four already, even murphy who is bitchy. and if they are all female? that means nesting areas because if they don't have one, they won't lay their eggs which means egg binding which can mean death (and yes, they'll create eggs even if they have no male). you can't tell sex until they are at least 4" long (another thing they bullshitted the vet lady about, they gave her some bullshit way to tell, and it's impossible to tell in RES hatchlings).
right now, we're doing okay in our 10 gallon tank...and they supposedly only grow about an inch a year, but as i said, murphy and connor have already nearly doubled.
my question now is, anyone interested in adopting a turtle or two at some point? i'd want to make sure they had a proper habitat to go to, which is why i'm being pre-emptive because it would require getting some of these things. i could always take them to ARC when the time comes, but this means i'd never be able to find out what happened to them or see them or visit them and that makes me a bit sad.
turtles are driving me crazy...they require more care in my absence than my warm blooded felines.
and there's my update! more about turtles than you EVER wanted to know!
SOLAR all hallows this past weekend, and as per all hallows we got our asses kicked *grins* and as i sat down to sort out my weekend schedule for the next month-ish i realised i have too much going on! oi! but it will be good to see everyone so much *snerks*
podo drove all the way to site leaving her poor hubby in the car just to hand deliver jeni's dress and ohmigod it was so beautiful! it's like a princess dress! it was so good to see her, especially bearing such beautimous, fantabulous gifts. i know jeni will look stunning in it...and did we mentioned hand sewn pearls!?!?! *giggles and winks at podo* you outdid yourself sweetie, you're my hero :) i covet your crafting abilities.
halloween: wil, sarah and i are still planning to have some manner of get together at my house. now we've decided perhaps a haunted trail of some sort is the way to go and i have a few viable options--anyone interested in seeing what they are, drop me a line. also, there's a possibility of a fire pit out back of my house in the field (next to the graveyard) which could be fun. who is interested? who'd like to come? not sure what time thinks will kick off but the party will go until yes... and people are (as always) welcomed to crash at my place. i've got floor space and should have plenty of blankets, but you may wanna bring a pillow and extra blanket if you think you might have to crash. i'll let you guys fight it out who gets the bed upstairs *grins* it'll be BYOB and if we do food at the house, we'll probably just group order a pizza or some such. i'm hoping to have snacks on hand.
i'll be getting in touch with most of the people i'd mentioned this to at jeni and troy's wedding, but even if i haven't mentioned it to you, you're more than welcome, just drop me a line and i'll get you the appropriate info (oh you know, like directions?)
so...i think i made mention of acquiring two turtles at myrtle beach when sabrina and i went. had i had any idea what actually maintaining turtles in a proper habitat involved, i'd have never done it. when i had four turtles when i was a kid, there was no filter, no basking light, no heater, we just had four turtles.
well, my little guys weren't eating, so i started researching. i found out that they are a) red ear sliders (RES) and b) are more complicated than the SAT.
a proper habitat for a RES includes:
a heater for the water to keep it around 78 degrees F
a basking lamp for the basking area that needs to run at LEAST 15 degrees more than the water temp, or they will not be enticed to bask. why is basking so important you may ask? you asked, deal with it. basking is important because they must dry off to properly shed when they begin to shed and it helps strengthen their shell.
oh oh wait! i forgot to tell you, the basking lamp has to have a bulb that includes HEAT for drying out as WELL as UVA and UVB rays...this is for mental well being (yes, i said it) as well as giving them D3 that they need and allowing them to metabolize calcium to prevent softness in the shell. see see!!!! i'm a turtle expert now!!!! *goes nuts* also, it's impossible to find a bulb you won't pay out the ass for that will give you both heat and UVA/UVB at one time (if someone knows of one, please hook me up--and i don't mean one that is the long tube like, i need a standard lightbulb fixture, as i have no way to attach the long, tubelike bulbs.)
so...the first thing i did was buy the little guys a heater...which involved buying a BIGGER tank because i couldn't find a heater small enough to safely go in a 1.5 gallon tank. so we got a five gallon fish tank with the hood. it had a light in the hood but you couldn't safely put a heat bulb in it. i bought a repto heater that regulates itself at 78 degrees instead of me having to use calculus to figure out how to set the other kinds (bah). however, if the house is too hot or cold, it can't keep up...but whatever.
okay, so i got a basking lamp, clipped it on (the hood had to be up at the time) and i had heat, but no UVB rays, but connor and murphy -were- basking and it helped with the shedding.
feeding: the container said to feed them as much as they could eat in a five minute period. word to the wise: this is BULLSHIT. turtles will eat you out of house and home if given the chance and beg worse than a dog. they will get fat, this is called pyramidding, this is bad. i found the error of my ways before this happened, so we're on a real diet now.
our little set up was working. (save there being no UVB rays).
at this point i've already spent more money on these guys than i ever dreamed, and and and i have a 1.5 gallon tank that's useless to me.
so i call my local vet during this time, just to find out if she does see turtles or if i'd need a special vet if the time comes. they confirm my doc doesn't treat reptiles, but there are several exotic vets in the area that do, i get some contact numbers but don't use them because the turtles are healthy. while talking to the woman that works at the vet (not a vet, but one of the nurse people) i find out that she herself bought two turtles at the beach one month before i did. she tells me she's been keeping them in a bowl with two inches (TWO INCHES!!!!!!!) of water, no heater no lights no nothing and that they won't eat, she's never even SEEN them eat.
i almost lose it. yes, i had no idea when i bought my guys what went into them, but once i realised they weren't eating, etc i started doing research and i realised i could kill them (too cold makes them think they are preparing to hybernate, but it's not cold enough for actual hybernation) and so i tried to correct it. this woman that works for a vet hadn't bothered. i first of all informed her two inches of water could potentionally drown the turts because if you stand them tail to nose and they aren't longer than the water is deep, they can drown. i told her she needed a heater and a basking lamp and that's why they wouldn't eat. i also uttered the words that have since gotten me in trouble:
if you decide you can't/won't do what's necessary to give them a proper habitat, call me and i'll take them off your hands.
two weeks later, i get a phone call *groans* and she asks if i'm still interested because they just sit there and she knows they are going to die.
what the fuck do i say to that? no, let 'em die? so...i tell her i'll come get them the next day.
what does this mean? it means the 5 gallon container will no longer contain my turtles.
oh and fun bit of trivia? the RES site and all the people on it claim that RES need 10 gallons per inch, per turtle. that's right, you heard me!!!!!! i laughed a little hysterically at this and decided that part could just...not be thought about at the moment.
i go pick the little guys up the next morning and they are...just...tiny. i've had mine a month less than hers and mine have already doubled in size (connor is 1.5" long, murphy a smidge smaller) and these guys about half the size of mine. she tells me someone at the vet told her if the shell is soft at the tail it means they aren't getting enough nutrition (enough? she said they weren't eating at all!)...and these guys' shells were soft. so now i'm concerned they have soft shell syndrome which is very serious. but...i take them home and test my guys, also a little soft but not terrible. i think do research and it states that it's normal for young RES to have leathery shells on the edges because they grow so fast. so...yeah.
anyway, mom picks the turts up from me at work and i get off a bit early to go to pet smart and buy a few things:
a 10 gallon glass aquarium (still not technically enough gallons per turtle per inch, but dude they are tiny it's fine for now) and a new bulb (my house ate my other and blew it) and ANOTHER basking lamp to put a $22 UVA/UVB bulb in. thank god the heater i have is rated up to 30 gallons. oh oh and don't forget, the filter is supposed to be double what the tank actually is as turltes are nasty. the 20 gallon filter? too big for the 10 gallon tank, so i have the old 10 gallon one that came with the 5 gallon tank (well it says up to 10 gallons) and another 10 gallon filter and they are doing their job pretty good.
so let's recap if we shall, on the 10 gallon aquairum there is:
a screen when the lighting is not on
TWO basking lamps, one with a heat basking bulb and one with a coiled UVA/UVB bulb
TWO filters
an intank heater
TWO thermometers (for water temp and for air temp at basking area)
turtle dock for basking
a cuttle bone for calcium that floats in the tank always
and new food pellets with extra calcium and D3 supplement (to try and get the little turts where they need to be)
so when i first got the new turts i rescued, i started calling around to vets because i wanted to see how much it would cost to get them checked out, and i didn't name them because i realised i might have to give them away. the cheapest vet wanted $50 just to walk them in the door (per turtle mind you) and that's not counting what they might have to DO to them. other than a bit of softness in the shell they seemed fine. i decided to give it the weekend (this was a thursday).
i found a place called ARC (animal rehabilitation center) and the woman that called me back said they do take turtles, and gave me the turtle lady's number, stating i'd have to leave a message and she'd call me back. we're two weeks in now and i've received no return call, but whatever. i know i have an option at least.
i got the new tank, got it all set up and put the little ones in with my guys (which was a bad thing, i know in case they were sick, but i couldn't maintain two habitats that each needed their own heater, etc.
at first, the little guys just didn't do much, wouldn't even hardly bask and wouldn't eat.
i named them...merry and pippin, despite my intentions not to.
pippin was very personable, he'd come to me, he's adorable, merry is getting more so. merry attempted eating first, then finally pippin and now, everyone has voracious appetites.
what does this mean? this means i now have to feed them in a process of much fighting over food ensues (but no other violence).
i have to take connor out and put him in his own little container. i take merry and pippin and put THEM in their own container and i let murphy (as he gets upset) stay in the tank. each guy gets 2-3 pellets. after they all eat (i have to keep pippin from stealing from merry sometimes) i put them back and sometimes sprinkle lettuce which they will munch. i've gotten it down to an art. five minutes. 3 out of 4 will come up to me and let me catch them. connor doesn't even run when i put him BACK in the water (connor's my buddy).
now...here's the dilemma, i will NEVER have enough space to maintain four adult RES. they grow from 9-12" (depending on sex) and so that means technically speaking i should have 10 gallons per inch, per turtle...i was like...so...if all are female, 480 gallons? why don't i just caulk the house, fill it with water and get a basking platform for my computer? because dude.
so i've accepted that at some point, after they get to 4-6" i'm going to have to find homes for at least two of them...and the problem is i'm deeply attached to all four already, even murphy who is bitchy. and if they are all female? that means nesting areas because if they don't have one, they won't lay their eggs which means egg binding which can mean death (and yes, they'll create eggs even if they have no male). you can't tell sex until they are at least 4" long (another thing they bullshitted the vet lady about, they gave her some bullshit way to tell, and it's impossible to tell in RES hatchlings).
right now, we're doing okay in our 10 gallon tank...and they supposedly only grow about an inch a year, but as i said, murphy and connor have already nearly doubled.
my question now is, anyone interested in adopting a turtle or two at some point? i'd want to make sure they had a proper habitat to go to, which is why i'm being pre-emptive because it would require getting some of these things. i could always take them to ARC when the time comes, but this means i'd never be able to find out what happened to them or see them or visit them and that makes me a bit sad.
turtles are driving me crazy...they require more care in my absence than my warm blooded felines.
and there's my update! more about turtles than you EVER wanted to know!