Hello all!

Status
Not open for further replies.

Messenjah

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
9
Hi, my name is Messenjah. Today, I came across an Australian Snake-Necked tortoise on my way home. I was walking to the train station from a job interview, and he was sitting on the side of the road. I once had a tortoise similar to him when I was younger, but he got away. I've always loved the smelly little things, so I put him in a safe pocket of my bag and took him home. I didn't really want to leave him on the side of the road, he'd probably be dead by now if I had.

I've put him in a tank with some gravel, and I'm picking up some more supplies for him tomorrow (A bigger tank and its associated accoutrements) Now, I have no idea what sex he actually is, but I'm calling it him because he has a mustache. I think it's some form of algae or something around his mouth. I haven't fed him yet; I don't have anything really suitable at home, so I can't see if it's fused his mouth shut. He doesn't seem to be in any distress, though, so I'll just assume he still has the use of his mouth. There's quite a bit of the same sort of stuff on his shell, and his shell is really dirty. Now, should I clean all of it off, and if so how do I go about cleaning off his face without distressing him too much?

I've put him in a smallish tank with some gravel in it. The gravel is banked up on one side to give him a place to get himself out of the water, and the other side is as deep as possible to give him room to swim. He's been rooting around in the gravel for about an hour... is this normal? Is it just him getting comfy or is it a sign that something's wrong? I assume he's pretty stressed right now and he won't be ok until I've gotten him a better home.

If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. I've done some reading, but I've not come across algae on a tortoise's face at all. It looks like he has a huge bristly mustache when he's under water. It's an awesome effect, but it's also a bit disconcerting.
 

Nay

Active Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Oct 6, 2007
Messages
1,303
Location (City and/or State)
Belchertown Ma
Hi there,
Can you post a picture? Curious to see the mustache, plus I am not familiar with that typr of turtle.
Welome, I am new also. Nadine
 

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
39,941
Location (City and/or State)
A Land Far Away...
Hello! Your the first person I have met that has found a snake neck on the side of the road...lol. Nice how much smaller the computer can make the world. Interesting animals, but I have no personal eperience with them. The moustache does sound kinda cute to see.
 

Messenjah

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
9
Jacqui said:
Hello! Your the first person I have met that has found a snake neck on the side of the road...lol. Nice how much smaller the computer can make the world. Interesting animals, but I have no personal eperience with them. The moustache does sound kinda cute to see.

I live in Eastern Australia, and they are fairly common... You don't see them very often on the side of the road, though. They're a bit different to most tortoises, as they eat meat almost exclusively. Also, you have to be careful when handling them, because when they get nervous, they release a smelly liquid that smells like a rotten swamp or something. I don't know if this is normal or not... I'm woefully ignorant in this area. They also live in the water most of the time, and they prefer to be wet. As soon as I get my camera working, I'll take pics. I've given him some food, but he hasn't gone for it yet... I'm observing him from a discreet distance, to see how he goes. I'm a bit worried, though. I put the food in and he immediately stood on top of it. Now he's moved around a bit... but he's ignoring the food. They can't swallow unless they're under water, so maybe he's waiting it to soften up a bit. Tomorrow, I'll remove anything he hasn't eaten from his tank... I may have to go to a local petshop and ask them about him. Poor guy.
 

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
39,941
Location (City and/or State)
A Land Far Away...
Will be interesting to see how things go. Be sure to keep us updated.
 

Messenjah

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
9
Thanks for everyone's warm welcome! I'm glad to have found a place to talk about torts!

I went to the petshop and spoke to the girl there. She has some turtles and she suggested I give him some blood worms. He doesn't eat an entire cube yet, but I think he's eating a little. I washed him a bit last night, then let him run around my shower (it's ok, I didn't use any soap, and I made sure there was no soap or soap related products or residue around) and today I let him walk around my back yard. He's an energetic little fellow. He's finally clean enough that I don't have to change his tank water today... I had to do it twice yesterday, and once the day before. The girl at the petshop said that the algae on his face is fine and it won't harm him at all. My digital camera's working again, so I'll be able to get pics up in a couple of days!
 

T-P

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
418
Location (City and/or State)
Coventry, England
Congrats?
if its wild you should leave it be.

Also its a turtle =]
 

Rees2

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
249
Location (City and/or State)
Santa Cruz California
T-P said:
If it's wild you should leave it be.
T-P it was on the side of the road it proably would have died if she didn't take it home with her.



Oh and Messenjah you remind me of the time my mom told me that her freind had had a tortoise but lost it when she took it out to show it to her.For me the story is SAD.:(
 

Messenjah

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
9
T-P said:
Congrats?
if its wild you should leave it be.

Also its a turtle =]

Since I posted this, I've read that there's a convention that's been used for a while which states that if the animal lives mostly in the water (which mine does) then it's called a turtle. I guess this is the wrong forum for me then, eh?

Rees2 said:
T-P it was on the side of the road it proably would have died if she didn't take it home with her.

Yeah, if I'd not moved it, he would have probably been run over. And, by the way... I'm a guy.
 

T-P

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
418
Location (City and/or State)
Coventry, England
Hi, its not the point whether it was gunna get killed or not.
You should never keep a Wild caught Turtle, Tortoise or any animal for the matter, Its not the wrong forum, cuz its in the introductions.
:D im not being mean, so please dont think i am.
I am just looking out for a turtle thats wild, your best bet would be send it back into the wild, maybe find a nice pond for it to live in, or if you wanted make your back garden a wild home for the turtle. Build a large pond, with rocks, a few fish for food and other things for it to eat and swim in.

You could of just moved the turtle into a pond near by, maybe of travelled out abit more, and found a big pond or lake side for it to live in miles from a road.

EDIT - Also, theres many many people that preach about tortoises and turtles being taken from the wild by all people, and they try and stop it all, and then theres the ones they cant stop such as yourself, im not saying it is wild. But if it is it should be placed back out into the wild.
We have enough of petstores ordering wild caught tortoises AND turtles, never to mention the millions of people who take from the wild anyway.
 

Messenjah

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
9
Ok, Preachy. I get your point. I looked at his mouth, and the algae is growing above his jawline, so his mouth is fine. I fed him some roaches last night, and they're all gone this morning, so I assume that means that he's eaten them. He's looking healthy and the algae is starting to dissipate by itself, so he's looking cleaner every day! I still need to change his water once every few days, though. I probably will for a few weeks.
 

cvalda

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
1,639
Location (City and/or State)
Wisconsin
Good job, Messenjah! Sounds like your looking out for him and doing the best you can for him!!!! Way to go!!!!
 

T-P

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2007
Messages
418
Location (City and/or State)
Coventry, England
Sounds good that his mouth is fine, and movable.

If your going to keep this lil fella, you best look up Snakeneck turtle care, such as dieting, housing.

I know they need alot of water. so i guess a huge tank or pond template is gunnabe needed?
 

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
Moderator
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 28, 2007
Messages
39,941
Location (City and/or State)
A Land Far Away...
I think there is a time and a place to take a wild caught. He thought it was needed to save the animal....to me that is one of the right times.

I look at all the turtles and torts I have and think, "Hmmm when were these animals not wild caughts? If not the actual animal, then atleast it's parents were." How can I condem somebody else, when I own these animals myself? For some species, whose habitats are vanishing or they are being eaten into extinction, being brought into captive situations and breeding programs may be their only chance.

I do agree that if your taking from the wild just to have a turtle/tortoise of your own or to not pay the cost of acquiring a captive bred or long term captive, it's almost always wrong.

As for taking it back now, it's only safe if he can take it back to it's own native range. Even then, not knowing what diseases and things it might have been exposed to while in captivity, it's not a good idea to make a blanket statement it should be returned to the wild.

But also, let's not start lowering ourselves to name calling each other...okay? We should be mature enough acting to give and take thoughts and opinions without lowering to that level.
 

Messenjah

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
9
cvalda said:
Good job, Messenjah! Sounds like your looking out for him and doing the best you can for him!!!! Way to go!!!!

Thanks for the support :D

T-P said:
Sounds good that his mouth is fine, and movable.

If your going to keep this lil fella, you best look up Snakeneck turtle care, such as dieting, housing.

I know they need alot of water. so i guess a huge tank or pond template is gunnabe needed?

When I came home with him, the first thing I did after making sure he was as comfortable as possible was research his care, diet and other requirements. It's what put me on to this forum.

I'm moving in a couple of weeks, and the place that I'm looking at has a huge back yard, so I'm going to build him an enclosure. I can get plastic baby pools over here for about $25 and they're plenty big enough to house him. I'll use that as a base and build around that... I'll probably add some sort of bushes and some other stuff for him so he is comfortable. I'll plan it more carefully closer to the date. I'll probably need some help then, so do you mind if I contact you? You obviously have more experience than I do, so you'll be invaluable to making this guy as happy and comfortable as possible.

Jacqui said:
I think there is a time and a place to take a wild caught. He thought it was needed to save the animal....to me that is one of the right times.

I look at all the turtles and torts I have and think, "Hmmm when were these animals not wild caughts? If not the actual animal, then atleast it's parents were." How can I condem somebody else, when I own these animals myself? For some species, whose habitats are vanishing or they are being eaten into extinction, being brought into captive situations and breeding programs may be their only chance.

I do agree that if your taking from the wild just to have a turtle/tortoise of your own or to not pay the cost of acquiring a captive bred or long term captive, it's almost always wrong.

As for taking it back now, it's only safe if he can take it back to it's own native range. Even then, not knowing what diseases and things it might have been exposed to while in captivity, it's not a good idea to make a blanket statement it should be returned to the wild.

But also, let's not start lowering ourselves to name calling each other...okay? We should be mature enough acting to give and take thoughts and opinions without lowering to that level.

Thanks for ending that discussion, Jacqui. It was a bit of a diversion from the original intention of this thread. I think that everything that needs to be said has been, and we can now lay it to rest... I'd rather focus on making my little turtle as happy as he can be.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top