Fly Away Turtle

Recently spending a weekend volunteering at the Universidad de Guadalajara’s Sea Turtle Protection Station, smallflightlessbird took this great video that I just had to share:

Too cute. Make sure to check out the rest of his turtle photos from the trip.

A great turtle rescue story

Photo Courtesy of The Georgia Sea Turtle Center

What a good read. Go check it out.

Advice Column: There are little white worms swimming in the tank…

Question from Luther:

I can see little white worms swimming in the tank. Do i need to treat the RES and the tank?

Luther,

Photo Courtesy of câmara escura

Sounds like you may have Planaria in your tank. Planaria are flatworms, related to flukes and tapeworms. They are quite small and hairlike. Take a good look at them and you may see a hammerhead shape on one end with eyes.

Bottom line, they are not harmful to turtles.

However… they are an indicator that the tank has a problem. Either you are feeding your turtle (You do have a turtle, right? Making an assumption here since you didn’t mention, but you are asking this question on a turtle website) too much, or you are not cleaning your tank enough.

I say this because Planaria require a food source, which means there must be excess food wastes in the tank to support them.

If you want to get rid of them, you should:

• Clean your tank thoroughly. Really get into the gravel as that is where the worms find food. Remove dead plants and other waste.

• Cut back on the amount you feed your turtle. Excess food not eat becomes part of the waste and can sustain the Planaria as well.

• Finally, once the tank is clean, make sure you keep it clean. Change the water frequently and do regular maintenance. A clean tank = no Planaria!

Good luck!

Sea Turtle Rescue 911

How neat is this…if you’re in middle school or high school, your class can enroll in a Sea Turtle Rescue 911 program at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center at Jekyll Island. I wish they had this when I was in school. I would have campaign for this as a class outing.

(Photo courtesy of Georgia Sea Turtle Center.)

Watch out! Your turtle might be an arsonist

Make sure your smoke detector is fully functional…

Published: 25 Feb 2008

A COUPLE returned home to find their house had been set on fire by their TORTOISE.

Emma Fox had brought 70-year-old Fred inside when the pet came out of hibernation early.

Emma, 30, and partner Paul Butler, 45, left Fred – a female – in a tank under a heat lamp to keep her warm enough to stay alive.

But Fred piled her dry straw under the lamp and it caught alight, spreading flames through the house.

(more)

Advice Column: Red-Eared Slider is not eating…why?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I said I would be starting an advice column on the first and third Friday of every month. Now, I know your thinking I’m stupid, because here it is a Monday and I’m getting ready to post my first advice question.

Well, as it goes, I decided that Friday’s were just too busy for me and have changed the date to Monday’s. I have an irregular work week and Monday’s happen to be a day off for me, so this works quite well.

After my announcement, two girls logged into the Georgia Public Library System thought they would be funny by sending me questions regarding how to make turtle soup and how to get rid of turtles with suggestions of shoving them up one’s butt. Don’t hold your breathe on my answering those questions, ladies.

That aside, here is the first question of the first column. Woohoo!

From Geannine

I have a red eared slider, approx. 10 years old.  She has stopped eating.  No matter what we try, pelletes for aquatic turtles or lean meat, even small fish. she refuses to eat.  I’ve also noticed some small soft brown spots on her shell.  Can you help?

Geannine,

If you still have your turtle and she hasn’t improved, I would recommend you take her to a veterinarian who is trained in reptiles immediately. While the lack of eating can be due to many things, the brown spots sound like the onset of shell rot. Shell rot is caused by organisms that penetrate the shell through scratches or abrasions. Once in, they start to eat away at the shell and eventually at the body of the turtle, leading to serious infections and potentially death.

As for the lack of eating, that maybe be related to the potential shell rot. Again, here it would also be good for you to get a fecal sample and have a veterinarian analyze it.

The easiest way to get a fecal sample is to put your turtle in a plastic container with breathing holes and a centimeter of water over night. If your turtle likes to roam, make sure you put a lid on the container otherwise you might be in for a game of turtle hide and seek in the morning. In the morning, you should have a fresh fecal sample to take to your veterinarian. (Fecal samples should not be older than 4 hours. You will want to keep them refrigerated as well.)

Now, to answer the actual question, here are several reasons your turtle might not be eating:

• Need a change in food (shrimp is always good for getting them out of their rut)
• What season is it? Turtles will generally get more lethargic when it’s time to hibernate. (Think winter for your region, just like all other creatures that hibernate.)
• Is the water warm enough? If it’s too cold, their body might get confused and think it’s time for hibernation. They can stop eating if they’re too cold.
• Is your turtle stressed? They experience stress just like humans, so if they’ve been traveling recently, get handled a lot, or have just gotten a new friend in their tank, they might be stressed. Give them some time and peace…they should be back to normal soon enough.
• Is your turtle sick? Lop-sided swimming, nasal discharge or raspy breathing could mean you need to take a visit to a veterinarian for some antibiotics.

If eating doesn’t happen in two weeks and you think you’ve done everything right, definitely take them to a veterinarian. Something else might be going on that you can’t see.

Yet again…plastic bag is the cause of tortoise death

Found this article just yesterday:

27 Feb 08

AUTHORITIES have lashed out at irresponsible litterers after a giant green turtle was found choking to death off a Darwin beach yesterday.

The adult female _ believed to be about 40 years old _ was spotted in distress floating about 200m offshore in Fannie Bay.

It is believed she had swallowed a plastic bag.

(more)

Please, please, please! Don’t litter. It affects your environment more than you know.

(Photo by CLIVE HYDE)

Advice column on Turtletopia

I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting lots of questions in blog comments on the site. So I thought it would be a good idea to start up an advice column to answer your questions as best as I can. I’ve said before, I’m not an expert, but I’m awfully good at researching information and I can certainly find the information for you from good resources, none the less.

With that, I’ll start running an advice column bi-monthly, on the first and the third Friday of the month. That gives you guys about two weeks to get your questions in and I’ll pick them out as I can answer them. I’ll even let you ask them anonymously, if you like. It also gives me time to think up a catchy name for the column.

Send me your questions and let’s see if I can help you out!

Tiny Turtles Illegal in Florida!

Well…not quite yet, but as of July 1st, turtles smaller than 4 inches in length will be illegal to own. Stores have already stopped selling turtles as of last July, in compliance with a Florida state law outlawing the sale of exotic creatures.

The law comes from having so many red-eared sliders released into the local population. Being quicker on land and in water, the turtles are overrunning the locals and interbreeding, creating a new species of turtle.

So, while you may have a red-eared slider now, in the future you will have to apply to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for a free permit to possess the turtles. If you live in Florida and you own one, consider yourself lucky to do so.

(Photo courtesy of Elma Avdagic.)

Turtle Hospital Tours at the South Carolina Aquarium

How neat would it be to get a behind-the-scenes look at a turtle hospital? Well, now you can! The South Carolina Aquarium has opened up there sea turtle clinic for tours so that you can see the care they give to sick and injured turtles admitted to their hospital.

From their website:

You’ll meet the current “patients in residence,” and hear from staff and volunteers about the types of treatment and daily care that help to nurse them back to health. You’ll also hear case histories of some of the nearly 25 turtles that have successfully been released back into the wild. Plus, you’ll learn what you can do to help keep the local sea turtle population healthy.

Thirty-minute tours operate this season every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1:00 p.m.; for advance tickets, call (843) 579-8600. Admission is $10 per adult, $5 for children (2-12). Reservations are recommended.

This sounds like an awesome opportunity as well as a great experience for young and old alike.