Xabbusan
Member
I wanted to start a thread for anyone interested in watching their progress. I will update this as things move forward.
Storytime:
I work security at a school and they have a couple of turtles in a classroom. I noticed that they were not being adequately cared for, which even I could tell and I have never owned any sort of turtles/tortoises/reptiles. I decided to take action myself. I found out what kind they are from a friendly forum user here, Stuart S. and have contacted the teacher in charge of their care (still waiting to hear back from him, it's Spring Break right now).
2 Box Turtles (Not sure yet on their sex, and about 5-6 years old) are housed in a 20 gallon aquarium with bark/dirt (very dirty and hard, needing to be changed) and literally just a tupperware that only sometimes had water in it (and when it did was very dirty). They were left here over spring break with only a couple of small shriveled apple pieces left in the dirt. No UV light, no heat lamp. This is in Seattle... it does not stay warm or sunny enough here to not have a lamp.
Today, as a temporary measure, I added in a shoe box that I cut in half so each turtle could have it's own hiding place. I also added in two separate food dishes and cleaned and filled their water dish, making sure that it was pushed into the substrate so that they could get into the water without tipping it over.
I fed them a mix of romaine lettuce, crimini mushrooms, green bell pepper, and gala apples (stuff that I had at home). They absolutely loved it. They have both made their way into the water dish and gone potty a couple of times (after which I changed the water again). I had not seen any obvious feces or urine in the tank previously, so I'm not sure how often they were actually going before. I have also started misting the tank with a spray bottle once a day.
My plan after work today is to purchase some calcium supplement and worms, and proper half-logs for hiding that they can also climb on. I may also purchase new coconut shell substrate, a better watering hole w/ramp, and a heat lamp... but it depends on how much it will all cost. I may wait on the latter items until after I speak with the teacher. If they are owned by the school I should be able to get the school to pay for all of this stuff. I would LOVE to take them to a vet and have them checked out as well (i'm worried that the orange one might have mouth rot? I'm not sure if the white around it's mouth is bad or if it just it's regular markings. They also have some chipping in their shells
).
Worst case scenario, or maybe best case scenario lol, is that I would offer to adopt them and take them home, or if the school still wants them around, take over their care at the school myself. Ultimately, I would like to build them a bigger/better wooden enclosure, I just don't know if the school will allow me the space needed to do that.
Pics are of the turtles and their enclosure on the day I decided to take action. This was after I added in clean water. They were normally hiding in their shells barely moving.
Storytime:
I work security at a school and they have a couple of turtles in a classroom. I noticed that they were not being adequately cared for, which even I could tell and I have never owned any sort of turtles/tortoises/reptiles. I decided to take action myself. I found out what kind they are from a friendly forum user here, Stuart S. and have contacted the teacher in charge of their care (still waiting to hear back from him, it's Spring Break right now).
2 Box Turtles (Not sure yet on their sex, and about 5-6 years old) are housed in a 20 gallon aquarium with bark/dirt (very dirty and hard, needing to be changed) and literally just a tupperware that only sometimes had water in it (and when it did was very dirty). They were left here over spring break with only a couple of small shriveled apple pieces left in the dirt. No UV light, no heat lamp. This is in Seattle... it does not stay warm or sunny enough here to not have a lamp.
Today, as a temporary measure, I added in a shoe box that I cut in half so each turtle could have it's own hiding place. I also added in two separate food dishes and cleaned and filled their water dish, making sure that it was pushed into the substrate so that they could get into the water without tipping it over.
I fed them a mix of romaine lettuce, crimini mushrooms, green bell pepper, and gala apples (stuff that I had at home). They absolutely loved it. They have both made their way into the water dish and gone potty a couple of times (after which I changed the water again). I had not seen any obvious feces or urine in the tank previously, so I'm not sure how often they were actually going before. I have also started misting the tank with a spray bottle once a day.
My plan after work today is to purchase some calcium supplement and worms, and proper half-logs for hiding that they can also climb on. I may also purchase new coconut shell substrate, a better watering hole w/ramp, and a heat lamp... but it depends on how much it will all cost. I may wait on the latter items until after I speak with the teacher. If they are owned by the school I should be able to get the school to pay for all of this stuff. I would LOVE to take them to a vet and have them checked out as well (i'm worried that the orange one might have mouth rot? I'm not sure if the white around it's mouth is bad or if it just it's regular markings. They also have some chipping in their shells
).Worst case scenario, or maybe best case scenario lol, is that I would offer to adopt them and take them home, or if the school still wants them around, take over their care at the school myself. Ultimately, I would like to build them a bigger/better wooden enclosure, I just don't know if the school will allow me the space needed to do that.
Pics are of the turtles and their enclosure on the day I decided to take action. This was after I added in clean water. They were normally hiding in their shells barely moving.
