Turtle in the garden..

Bus77II

Found a Turtle in my garden this morning. I'm presuming it must have been dumped. We just have it in a box at the moment with some lettuce and water. It look's like it's a Red Eared Slider type turtle.

We don't have the set-up to look after it right, so is there anyone out there who's better able to take it on?

I suppose giving it to a pet shop would be the other option.

star-pants

Where are you located? (dublin etc)

Bus77II

We are in Dublin 24.

star-pants

So you wouldn't be too far from the DSPCA, you could try calling them and see if they'd take the turtle in? 01 493 5502/4

My dad's friend did have a couple but I'm not sure he still does so I wouldn't want to take the turtle myself incase he doesn't.

January

Would you bring it to Ben in Reptile Haven? He'd look after it.

morganafay

Is there a chance it could have wandered into your garden? My friend had one one time that escaped from the house and just walked away!

Bus77II

morganafay wrote: »

Is there a chance it could have wandered into your garden? My friend had one one time that escaped from the house and just walked away!

I suppose there's a chance of that. I'll ask around.

adrieanne__x wrote: »

Would you bring it to Ben in Reptile Haven? He'd look after it.

As soon as he picks up the phone i'll ask!

star-pants

If you don't find the owners etc, what I said in my PM still stands as a home for the little guy.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Most likely it was dumped.

Unfortunetely a lot of these little guys are dumped by their owner's.

They buy them as babies, thinking they're little cuties who hard need food and NEVER poo etc. So they throw 'em into a tank with some water, no heater or filter, then they turtle does what all living things do - foul their environment.

The tank starts to stink, the turtle gets bigger, the owner gets bored and the end is in sight!.

I hear the pond in St.Stephens Green and The National Botanical Gardens are nearly over run with abandoned turtles.

Sid_Justice

They won't/shouldn't eat lettuce. Any pics to judge size/condition.

morganafay

Sid_Justice wrote: »

They won't/shouldn't eat lettuce. Any pics to judge size/condition.

Really, why not? Just wondering.

jen_23

Hmmm from what I remember they can eat lettuce but it just doesn't have much nutritional value for them as it's 95% water..

Good luck with finding the guy a home OP

morganafay

jen_23 wrote: »

Hmmm from what I remember they can eat lettuce but it just doesn't have much nutritional value for them as it's 95% water..

Maybe some types of lettuce are better than others, like for rabbits, types other than iceberg are ok.

storm2811

Damn,i wish a turtle would randomly show up in my garden!
I would so take him off your hands if it wasn't so far away!:p

jen_23

morganafay wrote: »

Maybe some types of lettuce are better than others, like for rabbits, types other than iceberg are ok.

There is a dark green lettuce that is quite good for them I can't remember the name of it. I used to feed it to my girl. I think iceberg is the main one that really has no nutrition.

tallus

Dandelions are probably the safest and most nutritional food you could feed the poor thing.

Secondly, if it's a terrapin, they are omnivorous too and can eat meat.

Be careful handling them and always wash your hands after handling as they can carry salmonella.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/

Rancid

Romaine lettuce is the only one worth feeding, nutritionally it's streets ahead of any other type.
They usually also like the Sedums, Ice plant, mallow leaves and flowers...all the oxygenator plants, Elodea, etc., and dandelions, ESPECIALLY the white root parts, in fact pretty much everything you put in the tank, they'll eat.:rolleyes:

And yes, Tallus is right, washing after handling is important.

Morpheus

are there really loads in stephens green?

syklops

Morphéus wrote: »

are there really loads in stephens green?

It might be over run with people abandoning them, but I doubt they survive long. I'd imagine the winter we just had knocked any hardened survivors. Mine I had over 10 years when she popped her cloggs, and I had necessary temperature and environment for her. If memory serves, water temp should be between 27 and 32 C? Its a long time since I read a care manual.

Mine used to love prawns, so OP, if you have some or can get some fresh ones, feed them to her, alternatively, frozen ones, but microwave them for a few seconds. Enough to thaw them not enough to heat them if you know what I mean. Another cheap but very healthy food source are garden worms. If I wasn't a thousand miles away I would happily take her.

Unlike tortoises they can move at quite a speed on their pins so it is possible she escaped, though I doubt it. You can buy them and their shell is the size of a 2 euro coin, but when Venus died she was over 30 inches from nose to tail, the size of required environment for an animal that size outgrows the wallet of most owners, and an easy solution is found. Ignorance is another factor too. Thinking you can let it crawl into the canal and "t'will be grand" is a common misconception.

OP, look up on line other things you can feed it, try to keep it warm, as it is used to a much warmer climate than here, and I wish you good luck rehoming it.

Bus77II

Good news! Just this morning, thanks to another boardsie, I brought him to his new lodgings. A pet shop in Cabra called Barts Pets. A nice warm tank for him there and a sound bloke running the place. Many thanks for all the support and advice both on thread and off.

Btw, I tried him with prawns, in the water too, but he just wouldn't eat in the couple of days i had him. But he sure did like 'bath time' all the same

Sid_Justice

syklops wrote: »

It might be over run with people abandoning them, but I doubt they survive long. I'd imagine the winter we just had knocked any hardened survivors. Mine I had over 10 years when she popped her cloggs, and I had necessary temperature and environment for her. If memory serves, water temp should be between 27 and 32 C? Its a long time since I read a care manual..

what happened? did you just wake up and she was dead?did she have an infection? I have mine over 15 years. Terrapins are very very hardy. I'd agree the frost would make things tough for them but they can survive in cold water.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Bus77II wrote: »

Good news! Just this morning, thanks to another boardsie, I brought him to his new lodgings. A pet shop in Cabra called Barts Pets. A nice warm tank for him there and a sound bloke running the place. Many thanks for all the support and advice both on thread and off.

Btw, I tried him with prawns, in the water too, but he just wouldn't eat in the couple of days i had him. But he sure did like 'bath time' all the same

Dammit, I was under the impression another boardsie would take him. I'd have housed him with my little fella where he'd have lived the rest of his days

syklops

Bus77II wrote: »

Btw, I tried him with prawns, in the water too, but he just wouldn't eat in the couple of days i had him. But he sure did like 'bath time' all the same

Another boardsie might want to back me up on this but I would say she was cold. If the temperature drops, they stop eating. Did you get her to eat anything?

what happened? did you just wake up and she was dead?did she have an infection? I have mine over 15 years. Terrapins are very very hardy. I'd agree the frost would make things tough for them but they can survive in cold water.

She died in her sleep. There was no sign of any ill-health. The day before she was basking away happily, and the next she was gone. Currently my aunt is on her death bed and has been on the way out for weeks now. Given the choice I would rather go like Venus did.

She was about 2 when I got her. I had her 10 years so it wasn't a bad innings, though she did die younger than I would have hoped. Though of people I knew who had terrapins she lived about ten years longer than theres did. Its appalling the conditions some people put their animals in.

Bus77II

syklops wrote: »

Another boardsie might want to back me up on this but I would say she was cold. If the temperature drops, they stop eating. Did you get her to eat anything?

No, she didn't eat at all. When I had her in the box I had a desk top lamp stuck into it to keep it warm. But when trying to feed her in water with shrimp I found it difficult to keep the water reasonably warm without disturbing her.

syklops

Bus77II wrote: »

No, she didn't eat at all. When I had her in the box I had a desk top lamp stuck into it to keep it warm. But when trying to feed her in water with shrimp I found it difficult to keep the water reasonably warm without disturbing her.

Sounds like she was cold. You put her into water to feed her?

Bus77II

syklops wrote: »

Sounds like she was cold. You put her into water to feed her?

because I read that she was one of the types that would only eat in water

syklops

Bus77II wrote: »

because I read that she was one of the types that would only eat in water

No. If she was a Red-eared slider, the best thing would have been to leave her in the box, get her warm, get her temperature up and then give her something and see if she goes for it. Also the stress of moving from the Box to the water wuldnt have helped the appetite.

Anyway it doesn't matter, you found a home for her, and I am sure she is very greatful for what you did. As an herpetology enthusiast, let me thank you on her behalf for rescuing her.

princess_calico

Bus77II wrote: »

No, she didn't eat at all. When I had her in the box I had a desk top lamp stuck into it to keep it warm. But when trying to feed her in water with shrimp I found it difficult to keep the water reasonably warm without disturbing her.

I think your problem was definitely the water temperature. I've got two red eared sliders (Sam and Ella... Salmonella... Get it??!) and when I got them as a present first of all I knew nothing about them. I was told they just had to be kept in a small bit of water and they'd be grand. How wrong they were!

They are now two and a half years old, have quadrupled in size and live in a three foot tank (that they'll probably grow out of soon enough.) They need a water heater, a filter and a UV light.

Unless their water is kept at a constant temperature, they won't eat. They need to have enough room to swim comfortably in but also somewhere that they can come out of the water and sunbathe on.

The UV light is SO IMPORTANT! In order for their shells to remain hard, they need calcium, just like people! But unless they have the UV light, they won't get enough Vitamin D, and so, won't be able to absorb the calcium. Because of this, their shells will go soft and they will unfortunately die.

When I had Sam and Ella for a few days, before I got all of the equipment, they were really lazy, simply because they were so cold and hungry but after I got it for them, they started to grow incredibly fast.

I feed them specialist pellets from the pet shop (not the dried shrimp, since there are not enough nutrients in them- it's mostly just bone and dried skin) and sometimes treats like dark green veggies. They do love shrimp and banana too! If you are going to feed a terrapin fruit, make sure not to do it too often because they can't cope with the amount of sugar that is in fruit.



I really hope this helped in someway!

princess_calico

syklops wrote: »

No. If she was a Red-eared slider, the best thing would have been to leave her in the box, get her warm, get her temperature up and then give her something and see if she goes for it. Also the stress of moving from the Box to the water wuldnt have helped the appetite.

Anyway it doesn't matter, you found a home for her, and I am sure she is very greatful for what you did. As an herpetology enthusiast, let me thank you on her behalf for rescuing her.

Red eared sliders are almost entirely aquatic and need water! They can't eat without being in water because their swallow is awful.

syklops

The advice is moot now because the OP has taken the Slider to a pet shop, but in my opinion it would have been better to leave her in the box with the heat, then to put her through the stress of taking her out, putting her in water trying to feed her, and then back in the box etc.

I know what you are saying regarding eating, but unlike mammals, herps can survive quite long periods with out food and not suffer discomfort, but stress and lack of heat does cause discomfort.

Run_to_da_hills

I heard of someone writing their phone number with tipex on their tortoise shell. He never had probs if it went AWOL.

Sid_Justice

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I heard of someone writing their phone number with tipex on their tortoise shell. He never had probs if it went AWOL.

I hope this is untrue, the chemicals in tip-ex are extremely corrosive and would severely damage shell.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Sid_Justice wrote: »

I hope this is untrue, the chemicals in tip-ex are extremely corrosive and would severely damage shell.

I've seen lads paint tortoise shells blue and paint UN on them in Lebanon - made the poor fella look like crawling UN helmets!.