View Full Version : New Tort under the UV
:D Hello I am Melissa Schmidt from Camano Island,WA. I was invited by a member from a Tort list on Yahoo. Mr. Peters thank you for this invite!
I have two Russian Tortoises, a male named Mr. RT and a female named Echo. I am so in love with the Torts that I want more and more.....
I seen a couple RES at a local fish store. I so want them.... I will get them this week end so help me I will! I seen them a while back ago and this one peeked out of the horrible murky water that they were in and she looked at me and wanted me to take her home..... The water was so green and icky looking.....from this place out of Conway,WA. I will go check them out when I get the car. Then need to be out of that place, even though the people of the store are nice and all. they need to be in clean water. Now to get a big tank for them.....they should just give me the tank that they are already in.
Put the RES in a bucket with clean water for the trek home. Get the tank set up and get the chemicles out of it and the rest of the stuff that goes in it, like a basking log, a UV lamp, heater, filters ...... food.... Heard that they get fed like every other day.... they eat fish (live fish and I think meal worms?) And they eat veggies and some mangoes. The next Tort I would love to get is a RedFoot....heard that they are like puppies in a shell. That would be so awesome.
Well that is all for now... take care my new Friends of the Tort world.
melissa S.
Camano Island,WA
Welcome to the forum! We are glad to have you guys here with us!
I totally understand the pet-store rescue. I saved my Black Pine snake from a pet store. It was just too sad watching him get bigger and bigger in the same small tank. I finally had to take him home with me one day.
Yes Welcome,
As we have been talking!!
Well we done did it this time. I am pleased to announce to the group that we are proud parents of two very sweet and adorable RES turtles. We don't know how old they are but they are around 5 inches now. There were two of them and I could not bear to seperate them from each other, so we got both of them. We also got into a really good deal for a 50 gallon tank for 50 bucks...what a deal eh? It was used though, but we took it home and cleaned it up with vinager water and it is good as new. We also are using a sponge type filter for them, and a nice water heater. My husband built a nice dry dock for them to use when they want to bask under the UV. I am thinking of doing things differantly though for them. I am going to use one/third of it and set a plastic container in it and fill it up with rocks in the bottom of it, then useing the same substrait mixture for the RTs, the 50/50 mix play sand and bed a beast and plant some chia seed in it and put some other edibles for them to hide in and eat. Also going to be in search of some duck weed to put in the wet side of the micro pond. That is the ultimate goal here to create a micro pond deal....I have a nice big rock they can use to bask them self on when they want land material to be on. I think that they will really like it...heck I would really like it!
I will be posting some pics here as soon as they are feeling better in thier new home.... do not want to stress these little critters out!
I am excitted about this upcoming project...yippie skiippe Tortieeeee do!
Take care you all and Be Tort to each other and be Turty too!
Melissa Schmidt
Camano Island,WA:D
Congradulations!!! Defenitley send some pics!
I had all the Torts outside the day before yesterday and had them in the Tort play area that is secured (or so I thought it was). I generally let one Tort out into the main yard for a good bit of exersice and to graze freely. Well I had Flash our Hermanns tort and I was watching him. Every now an then I would check up on the two Russians, Echo and Mr. RT. Well I went to check up on them but no Mr. RT...he was gone! I been looking everywhere for him and still no Mr. RT! I can not believe how angry I am with myself and how sad I feel..unbelievably sad! I know that they are capable of taking care of themselves but his indoor habitat is empty as with a piece of my heart that he took with him! :(
Melissa, post signs all over your neighborhood,(if you don't have a photo, pull one off the internet) offer a reward, and hire some grade school kids to scour the bushes near your house with an extra reward for the one who finds him. If you act fast, in this hot weather you should be able to get him back, because he's more likely to be out eating than hiding. If you don't post signs, some well-meaning person may think he's a wild turtle (most people don't realize that tortoises aren't native here, in fact, most people can't tell the difference between tortoises and turtles) and they might take him farther out into the woods or even drop him into the water thinking they are helping to "make him safe."
Do everything you can to find him as soon as possible. They aren't as good at taking care of themselves as you might think- Raccoons and coyotes can make short work of a little tortoise.
Something I've done at times when I had my tortoises and boxies outside is to attach a fluorescent red flag on a lightweight flexible pole (the last 3 feet of an old fishing pole is perfect) to the shell with duct tape (the pole is upright) so I can keep track of them even in high grass.
Keep us posted Melissa, I am sorry. I like Cecelia's idea!!
Ian Bradley
05-31-2007, 11:57
One time my chameleon got out of his cage after I (accidentally) left the door open. There was no chance of finding him by actively looking, I had to sit in my room, not moving, lights out and a single spot heat lamp in the middle of the open area of the room. After 2 hours of waiting and releasing a moth in the light he finally gained the courage to move out into the open and into the light. That was a scary moment, it always is when you lose a pet. I hope you find him!
One time my chameleon got out of his cage after I (accidentally) left the door open. There was no chance of finding him by actively looking, I had to sit in my room, not moving, lights out and a single spot heat lamp in the middle of the open area of the room. After 2 hours of waiting and releasing a moth in the light he finally gained the courage to move out into the open and into the light. That was a scary moment, it always is when you lose a pet. I hope you find him!
Thank you Ian and the rest of you for words of wisdom and comfort...I took a picture of Mr. Rt around the neighborhood and showed everyone that is near my home and asked to keep a look out for him and asked the adults to have the kids keep an eye out for him too as well. This is a semi close hood we live in and we help each other out to the best we can. I have not given up hope by any means. A friend of mine thought that he is just found a nice cool spot and dug in for a snooze and he is hiding in plain sight and laughing his little shell off watching me run about here and there looking for him. I will keep looking for him and hoping that he will come home soon or appear from where he was at. Thank you all again for your care and love. You all are the best!
redlilly
06-01-2007, 16:44
I know exactly how you feel, never give up hope. Years ago I had a rabbit grey and brown flemish giant in a hutch in the back yard. I lived in the mid west at the time. She was 11 years old and one night (in the winter) someone cut the padlock off the hutch. I found the missing pad lock and empty hutch the next morning. I cried and cried for weeks. With two feet of snow on the ground I searched every where. One day two and half years later a little boy up the street said he found a rabbit in his grandmothers garden. He said the rabbit was huge. He showed me the rabbit and lo and behold it was her. I got her back. I had basically given up on ever finding her. it was a miracle. So Don't give up hope. Good things do happen.
Man ! that sucks!when i was around 8 ,i had a turtle dissapear in my back yard later i just sat back there and became one with the turtle (i was a wierd kid)thn i walked over to flower bed and started digging ,amazingly i dug about 5 inches into the soft mulch and there he was!! i hope you have a simular story soon...
gtpfreak42
06-03-2007, 17:00
Our box turtle was released by a gang of children one day a couple of years ago.
Took about 3 months of signs, looking, pet psychics, etc., but we got him back.
Still no sign of Mr. RT. And the weather been getting really stormy here with thunder showers and the likes. I am thankful that it is this time of year when it is not the cold outside. I have not given up hope of having him come back home. I am just worried about him big time..if he is alright, alive, got a cold? This is ripping me up inside..:(
I know it's only a small measure, but my thoughts are with you and Mr. RT. I know how I'd feel if I were in your place. Keep the faith kiddo. :)
I know it's only a small measure, but my thoughts are with you and Mr. RT. I know how I'd feel if I were in your place. Keep the faith kiddo. :)
Thank you so much Scott. I really apperciate the warm thoughts for Mr. RT and for the rest of the crew here. Echo my little female RT is depressed and she misses RT so very much.
I put together a MySpace honor page for Mr. RT with some cute little You Tube vids about RTs and other torts. http://www.myspace.com/kmelkang517
this will stay up until Mr. RT comes home or hear word otherwise.
This is about one of the hardest things I have ever had to face and am thankful that I have the peeps in here, I would go absoulty nuts ( but already there with the loss of Mr. RT....hope he comes home soon...:(
Melissa Schmidt
Camano Island,WA
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