Our Turtles

 

In 1995, I purchased three baby Red Eared Slider turtles. It was legal because I said I was going to do research; it would have been illegal otherwise since they were small enough to fit in a child's mouth and possibly cause Salmonella. The three turtles turned out to be two males and a female. I had them first in my 20 gallon fish tank in the back room in our Austin house. Because of the unusual coloring on the underside of one of the male's shell, I called him One Spot. His name was later changed to Mr. Turtle.




I later moved the turtles to a large plastic tub in the front hall and another tub on the side porch to give them some outside time. Sadly, as the two males got larger they started to fight and one figured out how to get out of the outside tub and got away.



My turtle tub surrounded by some of the plants my sisters and I received after our mother's death in June 1996.


In 1998 we were getting ready to go on our trip to Ireland. I was cleaning the house including draining the turtle tub in the hall. I used a hose through the front door. The door was wedged closed on the hose. I had my male and female turtle in a styrofoam box in the living room. I hadn't realized the female could get out of the box or that Smoot had left the front door ajar so she was able to get out. We searched for her frantically but never found her. I was down to one turtle.

I despaired of finding another female because breeders often hold back large females for breeding. The female had to be close to or larger than the male or he might kill her. I was working at St. Edwards and would sometimes visit a pet store on Ben White. I was amazed when I saw a female RES the right size and bought her immediately. I had another female to go with my male. I can't remember when I started calling them Mr. Turtle and Lady Turtle. Mr got the name because he was not a gentleman. He was snappish and rough with the female when they mated.


In 2000, we moved from Austin, TX to Scottsdale, AZ. I transported the turtles in their plastic tub in the back seat of the car. We lived in a rented house on Naseem in McCormick Ranch with our turtles, our basset, Sam, two dachsies, Fritz and Anya, and cat Muffin.



A dim digital photo of Fritz checking out the turtles.


 

In Jan 2002 we moved to the home we'd purchased on San Pedro, still in McCormick Ranch. There was a huge bathtub in the master bath. We don't like to take baths (why would you want to sit in your own dirt??) so I suggested we could turn it into a turtle tub. Smoot initially resisted but when I put plants about it, he gave in. I also set up an outside child's Star Wars Episode 1 swimming pool for the turtles but that didn't last long. I put in a more permanent outside habitat when I bought (on sale) a rigid pond liner and sunk it in the dirt in the atrium outside our master bath.


                             

Left, Lady and Mr. Turtle stacked on top of each other on their basking terrace. Right, Lady Turtle, right was already getting thicker than Mr. Turtle.


Mr and Lady T in their pond in 2003


On Valentine’s Day in 2005, I sent an e-mail to Smoot with sad news. I went out to give the turtles some worms and noticed something floating on their water. It was a baby turtle! Sadly, it was dead. It was the size of a 50 cent piece. I don't know when it could have hatched or why there was only one. It was already decomposing and I couldn't tell if it had been born defective or if its little feet and head had been bitten off. Ugh. For the next few days, I checked the turtle area several times trying to see if there might be another baby, but with no luck. I don't know where the poor baby had been hiding before his ill-fated dip in the pond. Poor little thing. I told our neighbor Marilyn about it and she too was upset. How could we both have missed it?

 

On March 9, 2005, I shared a funny story about our female Red-eared slider turtle, Lady Turtle. She and Mr. Turtle normally live in an enclosed pond outside our master bath, but when she gets into her nesting phase, she likes to walk around in our back yard. She can move amazingly fast when she wants to. The only problem is that I would have to be with her on her walks or she'd hide in the bushes or under leaves and I couldn't find her. It occurred to me that if I had a colorful leash on her, she'd be able to walk around and I could always see where she was. Smoot and I went to the pet store and looked at halters and leashes for small dogs. The clerk looked at us kind of funny when I told him why I needed them, but he sold us what we wanted! We got the smallest halter they had thinking it would still be too big. Turned out she was bigger than we realized and the dog halter barely fit around her! I put the two on her and let her wander to her heart's content. She ended up buried in the leaves under a bush, but because she had the bright leash trailing behind her, I was able to find her when it came time to put her back in her enclosure.

 

Lady Turtle wandering the yard in what Madeline called her pink halter top and leash. The bright color and trailing leash was to help me find her when she went burrowing into the leaves.

 

She had been in her wandering mood but just the last few days she and Mr. Turtle had been getting hot and heavy. He gets rough when they're mating. I went to feed them and right in front of me, he bit her on the front flipper. I reached in to try to get him to let loose and would you believe, she bit me! Hard enough to draw blood. I learned my lesson. Don't interfere with conjugal activity! But later, she was sitting by the door to her enclosure which means she wanted to go for a walk. At that time she didn't come to my call, : >  but she does let me know when she wants out. So I put her out. I checked on her a couple of times and she seemed happy. But later, I decided she'd been away from water long enough and put her back near her pond. She jumped right into the water. She'd had enough exercise, fun and sun for the day!

 

On March 24, 2005, Lady Turtle decided she wanted to come in the house.

 

Above is a photo of Lady Turtle after she climbed into our house on one of her walks in 2005. I don't know if she remembered that she used to live in our bathroom or if she smelled the water in the fish tub, but she was moving along until I picked her up and put her back outside.

 

This photo of Mr and Lady Turtle was taken in 2006.

 

 

On June 1, 2007, I was able to announce, “We have a baby turtle! Smoot found her in our pool this morning, luckily before she drowned. We've had two other babies from our pair of Red-eared sliders, but by the time we found them they were both dead. Third time's the charm. We didn't know at the time it would turn out to be female, we just knew it was sooo cute. I put her in a fish tank in our bathroom. The tiles are 4 inches so she's about 1 1/2 inches. The rock is there for her to crawl up on. Smoot said she was swimming hard and when he tried to catch the little thing, she dove to the bottom of the pool, a long way for something so small!”

 

A close-up of the photo above.

 

This photo was taken on June 12, 2007 and shows Baby Turtle all by herself with the basking terrace her father had used as a baby!

 

On June 22, 2007 we flew to Austin on the first leg of a genealogical-family visiting vacation East. When we went on our 3 week vacation, that was be the longest we've been away. Up till then our pet sitter hadn't had to deal with our more exotic pets who could go for a long weekend on one feeding. I'd put extra food in our bird's cage and feeders in our fish and turtle tanks. But that wouldn't work for 3 weeks; Marilyn had to feed them and she did a great job.

 


By Oct 2007, Baby Turtle had gotten bigger and darker

 

Another view of Baby Turtle in Oct 2007. She didn’t inherit her father’s unsymmetrical markings on the underside of his shell for which Mr. Turtle was originally called One Spot.

 

A photo of Baby Turtle on Oct 16, 2007 showing his size in relation to his original little basking rock.


   
On Oct 26, 2007, Bev, Ava and Nate visited us. Ava and Nate met our turtles inside and out.

 

On Feb 20, 2008, I went out our bedroom door to get a hummingbird feeder to refill when I looked down and there in the dirt and gravel was a baby turtle! My pair had produced another living offspring, well I hoped it was living. When I first picked it up, I wasn't sure. But it was indeed alive. It was sheer luck that I went out at that time. I don't know how long it had been there or where it had come from, where its nest had been. Our pair of adults had been in the bathtub for a while because it had been too cold outside in the pond, even with a heater.

 

 

In the photo above, the dirt in the water was from the turtle. I didn't think to wash it off first but just put it immediately into the same plastic tub I'd used for the first baby, now named Baby1. (The new one is Baby2 unless I can come up with better names!) I thought at the time, if we add a baby a year, that could start to add up. Little did I know what was coming!

 

The photo above shows Baby2's size, cupped in the palm of my hand in Feb 2008.

 

Baby 1 in his new tub in Feb 2008.

 

I put Baby 1 in a bigger container to encourage it (hopefully her) to grow. You can see how much bigger Baby1 is than Baby2; it almost fills my hand.

 

Baby turtle 1 in Feb 2008, quite a bit larger than when I found him in June 2007.

 

 

 

On June 5, 2008, I sent an e-mail to Ginny saying, “I now have 4 baby Grand turtles! So six turtles in all. The newest ones are only one inch across. They're sitting on their basking terrace. It's a rough plastic platform for them to get out of the water. (Rough so they can climb onto it easily.) Sliders have to dry off now and then or they'll rot! I've attached a photo that shows more of their tank. The terrace is pretty cool. It attaches to the side of the tank so it's secure, but it also floats on the water so it's always right on the surface. The black crud is algae. I've tried to clean it off, but it seems stuck and I can't use any cleaning solutions or residue might hurt the turtles and two catfish in the tank. You can see part of one of the catfish sticking out from under the terrace.”

 

On June 14, 2008, our next door neighbor, Marilyn who had been our petsitter until she gave up her petsitting business, called to say she'd found a baby turtle, obviously ours, in her back yard! She said her dog had found it, but not eaten it. Still it hadn't survived. I was amazed. How did one of our babies end up in her yard?? She said she'd keep her eyes open for others. That means we've had 6 babies born in this cycle, four who lived, two who didn't. That's a big change from the last two cycles, the one that lived from the June clutch last year and the one from February.

 

The five baby turtles from the Spring 2008 clutch next the measuring rock.

 

Almost a month after we found the first baby from the Spring 2008 clutch, I was cleaning out one of the water dishes we keep in the back yard for the birds, when I noticed another baby. That makes *7* in this cycle, 5 that lived, as opposed to one living baby from June 2007 and one last Feb 2008. Amazing. They are so cute. And they really do seem to have different personalities as well as colors.  On June 19, 2008 I put together a new, bigger habitat for them. In the photo above the new babies are next to the measuring rock. You can see the difference in size and coloring among them. And then a photo of their new world. You can really see the difference in sizes between Uno and the Tres babies. They all seem to be getting along even if some of the Tres babies spend a lot of time hiding in the decoration.

 

We went on a driving vacation out West in July. When we returned, we let Lady Turtle have access to the pool again. The photo above was taken on July 27, 2008 and shows Lady T surveying her domain. Lady Turtle has free run of our backyard now and one morning in August I noticed her standing outside our bedroom door. I opened it and she marched in, making her way to the bathroom, perhaps remembering her three weeks in the bathtub while we were gone. She then tried to sneak into our walk-in closet where she could very easily disappear. I blocked it off and put her back outside. Then that evening I heard a thunking sound from that door and realized she was knocking on it, hitting it with her shell!

 

I opened it but she didn't come in. I checked her pond and found to my dismay, she and Mr. Turtle had knocked over their filter and almost all the water had been drained from their pond. She came to the door to tell me that! I re-filled the pond and opened the door for her again. This time she walked in and made a beeline to the closet! I don't know what she was looking for, but it was sooo cute. Then she walked behind our bed, aiming for the bookshelves where I keep a lot of family papers. I had to pick her up and put her out. But she's getting very pushy!

 

 

Above, a pic of Lady Turtle in her newest favorite position, half in and half out of our pool, perusing her domain. : > We've put the concrete blocks there to help her get out of the pool and hot tub. What we do for our pets!

 

On Aug 20, 2008 in a note to Madeline, I said, Lady Turtle again knocked on the glass door with her shell, walked in when I opened it, made a beeline for the closet but I headed her off. I put her in the bathtub and fed her. She ate a lot so must have been really hungry. I let her spend the night there and it was so funny seeing her asleep with her flippers totally stretched out. She seemed to want out of the tub the next day so I gave her the choice of the pool which she took though the water on the top is so hot it almost burns your hand. I guess she's learned to let me know when she's hungry or wants a change in her routine.

 

Madeline had asked about Mr. Turtle, whether he did anything like that. No, he doesn't. He very seldom gets out of the pond and when he does it's just to sun himself before he slips back in. He's very strong and feisty and will bite you if you pick him up and don't keep your fingers away from his head! He can be rough with Lady T when he gets amorous, but she's finally learned to bite him back and get away from him. I bewail Mr. T's actions but Smoot reminds me that Lady T can't have baby turtles without his input!

 

Lady Turtle on one of her wandering trips around the house.

Lady T knocked on the door again and instead of going to the closet she hightailed it across the bedroom, out into the hall, into the guest bath and then into the living room, much to Annie's consternation! She made it all the way to the kitchen then I put her back outside to see if she wanted to go in the pool. She didn't, she wandered back around and knocked on the door again! I got the message and put her back in the bathtub and fed her. She got worms, which she loves! She's so spoiled. : >

 

I’d been trying to take a picture of my little turtles all stacked up on each other. They have to get out of the water to dry off regularly and like to stack themselves up even when there is room to spread out. But they're quick to notice any movement including clicking a camera. Smoot and I had been trying to catch them and have gotten a few good pics. Not the perfect one, but enough to give the idea.

 

 

Usually the biggest, Uno, is on the bottom, but not always. And sometimes the littlest ones, the Tres series, pile up by themselves. I think they're sooo cute. If you look carefully, the first photo shows all 7 of the little bippers, with one only showing his head in the left corner.

 

 

On Sept 9, 2008, I answered some questions from my sisters. “Red-eared Slider turtles stack themselves even in nature, I guess for added protection. When we go to the Phoenix Zoo, they have Red-eared Sliders in the lake around it and they stack themselves just like that. As for the 'Tres Series,' I ended up numbering the turtles by clutch in Spanish. So the first baby, born in June 2007 is Uno. The one born in Feb 2008 is Dos and since there were so many in the third batch instead of continuing the numbering Tres, Quatro, etc., I decided to call the group Tres so individuals are T1, T2, etc. Might sound crazy, but hey it made sense to me!”

 

Above and below, some photos I took on Sept 21, 2008, when the kittens met Lady Turtle for the first time. It was so cute. They 'stalked' her, then one had the courage to bap her gently on her shell. Then one snuck around in front so they encircled her. She ignored them and went on her way.

 

 





On Nov 19, 2008, I cleaned both the bathtub and plastic tub turtle habitats. I had the four larger ones in the bathtub, giving them more room to swim around. I kept the smallest ones in the large plastic tub thinking if they had less competition for food, they'd grow. But as you can tell they're not much bigger than when they were born in late May and June. The rock is the original measuring stone. I don't know why they're not growing. They seem healthy. Since then I've put the smaller of the bathtub four back in the plastic tub, thinking it might encourage the babies to eat. So far, I haven't noticed much change.



Gheer checking out the baby turtles on April 19, 2009. He's so focused he didn't notice his tail was floating on the water! Lady & Mr. T didn't produce any living offspring that we found for a year. I'm not sure what happened in 2009. Maybe it was a bad year for turtles just like it was for the economy!


Cash checking out the turtles and below the turtle stack on Feb 3, 2010



On Mar 29, 2010, I sent an email talking about expecting Becca and Chad and his parents to visit our house. Turned out they couldn't come We went to their resort hotel near Desert Ridge for lunch instead. All that house and yard cleaning just for us. But I DID find a baby turtle while I was cleaning up the deck. That put me to 10 turtles total - 2 parents and 8 babies. On April 5, 2010 I emailed my sisters, "I found another baby turtle last Friday. That brings our total up to 11, the two parents and 9 babies! I've attached a photo showing the two babies. The dark stuff in their tub is baby turtle food. They don't seem to be eating much, but they're still alive so something is going right! I've also attached a photo of the parents, looking primeval in their enclosure. The Leung girls asked why it's Lady Turtle but only Mr. Turtle, not Lord Turtle. I said that was because Mr. Turtle doesn't behave like a gentleman!
 
The new baby turtles on Apr 10 and 11, 2010


Cash checking out all the baby turtles on Aug 22, 2010.


Cash looking freaked in the midst of some of the babies on Dec 10, 2010. Sadly, Cash died on Mar 7, 2011.
On May 14, 2011, I regretably gave in to my lack of space and took four of my older female RES to the Phoenix Tropical Fish Store. Those would have been the one born in June 2007, the one born in Feb 2008 and two of the five born in Spring 2008. The store was kind enough to take them and put them in their huge concrete pond. I hope they found new, bigger forever homes.

Smoot with Lady Turtle in the pool on Jun 18, 2011
On July 16, 2011, I gave one of my smaller turtles to Sandy for her to put in her backyard pond. That meant I'd given away 5 of my baby turtles leaving me 4. In May 2012 I emailed that I had moved my four females to our outside pond. I assume that would have been Lady Turtle and three female offspring.


My remaining female turtles as Nov 24, 2011. Two are the babies remaining from the Spr 2008 set and the two born in Mar/Apr 2010. One of the small ones is under Lady T in the photo.



Lady Turtle with one of her babies on Dec 5, 2011
Above is a photo of Lady Turtle on her basking terrace with one of her tiniest babies perched on top of her. Lady T is so heavy that I had to reconfigure the terrace so it sits on a ledge in the bathtub to support her weight. That lets her get completely out of the water, something Red-eared sliders need to do to stay healthy. She has the biggest terrace made, but she was still so heavy she ended up with her back feet in the water. I finally figured out how to make the terrace rest on more of the ledge in the tub which made it possible to support her entire weight. She might not look happy but she was on her terrace with her back feet totally extended for a long time. If Sliders can't dry themselves off they can rot. I'd been letting her go outside but when it got cold I hadn't done that. But seeing the tiny baby perched on her huge back was too cute to miss.


A photo of baby turtles on Feb 18, 2012. I think this is Bonsai and the baby that Mr. Turtle killed.

I'd had Lady Turtle in the bathtub with her babies but would let her out to visit with Mr. Turtle, on the left above. On May 8, 2012 I said in an email, "I'd moved my four female turtles to our outside pond and put Mr. Turtle inside in our big bath tub. (I've had 11 babies so separation is the only way I could think of doing turtle birth control!) The four females seemed to have settled into their new world which gave them the opportunity to wander. Sadly, the older baby wandered off and it has been weeks since I've seen her. Then just yesterday I glanced out and there she was walking toward the pond! I have no idea where she'd been or what she'd been living on but she was back. I was very pleased to see her."


I had found two more babies in the Spring of 2012 to bring my total to the 11 mentioned above. But I put the two smallest turtles in with Mr. Turtle and he killed one. On May 18, I told Catherine, "The pool has warmed up enough to swim. Our turtles love it! Now two of the offspring can go in the pool on their own in addition to Lady Turtle. Mr. Turtle is in the bathtub. I switched their places so the young ones could be free to wander. The older one I think of as the teenager, wandered off and was gone for weeks but recently returned. I have no idea where she was or what she ate, but she's back and can go in the pool by herself. Ah, the little ones do grow up!"


In early August I sent an email in which I said I only had two babies so felt I could let Mr and Lady Turtle back together. That must not have included the two older female turtles, ones later named Bimbo and Teenager.


By Aug 2012 I was letting Mr & Lady Turtle back together.

On Sept 12, 2012 I said in an email to Lori, "we have a new baby turtle! Smoot found it yesterday in the pool, swimming along the bottom. This tiny little thing in our big pool! I've attached a couple of photos. The first was taken when we initially put the baby on the basking terrace in the fish tank. It still had its little head pulled in. The second shows it swimming. You can see how small it is in comparison to the fish. It's sooo cute. We're keeping an eye on the pool to see if there will be any more hatchlings."


 




In Oct 2012, Lady Turtle went missing. I told Lori on Oct 7, "Smoot and I both looked all around the back yard again this afternoon. I was despairing of finding Lady Turtle. I looked on the other side of the wall that encloses the pond. (Where Mr. Turtle is cavorting with his second mate, Bimbo!) I looked down and thought something about the leaves didn't look right. I cleared them off and sure enough, there she was. I was afraid she wouldn't be alive but she was and just as heavy as ever. Her almost a week away from food and water didn't seem to hurt her any. I immediately brought her inside the house and fed her. I'm going to be very careful about letting her use the pool or be outside again." On Oct 19 I told my sisters, "I had a scare recently; Lady Turtle disappeared for several days. I finally found her but it's clear Mr. Turtle now would rather hang out with their daughter than with Lady T. I've got him and Bimbo in the pond, Lady T in the bathtub, another, Bonsai, a younger baby that's been nibbled on in a plastic tub nearby and the littlest baby in my fishtank."



One of the babies got nibble on. I called her Bonsai because I was afraid the wound would stunt her growth. After that distressing event I've made sure my baby turtles were in separate enclosures from the adults.


Mr Turtle getting amorous with Lady Turtle on Valentine's Day 2013.


Lady Turtle and Bimbo enjoying the pool. Lady Turtle is in her Queen of the Serengetti pose.

On Apr 25, 2013, I told Lori, "I have to tell you the latest in my ongoing turtle soap opera. I think I'd told you poor Lady Turtle had been dumped months ago by Mr. Turtle in favor of the younger female turtle, their daughter Bimbo. Mr T and B stayed in the pond while I had Lady T in the bathtub. Then I realized Mr T was on his own; Bimbo had disappeared. This was months ago. I put Lady T back in the pond and when we uncovered the pool, she delightedly went back in it. Then on Tues I was looking at the pool and realized it wasn't Lady T floating in it nor Mr. T. It was Bimbo! I have no idea where she'd been, whether hibernating or just wandered off. If she'd been in our yard, I have no idea what she would have eaten all this time. Red-eared sliders can only eat in water not on land. Now Bimbo and Lady T are in the pool every day. I caught Mr. T bugging Bimbo there this morning. He never goes in the pool by himself but he did today, looking for a mate, I assume. The last thing I need are two female turtles producing little ones so I moved him back to the pond and he's stayed there, so far. Like I said, I have a turtle soap opera!"


On Jun 11, 2013, Smoot called me to come look in the pool. There was a baby turtle swimming around on the bottom! Lady Turtle and Mr. Turtle had produced another offspring. We netted it out and I put it in my fish tank. It's too small (between the size of a quarter and a half dollar) to go with the other little turtles in the bathtub. The previous smallest turtle had been Baby but will now have to be Babs as the name Baby is bestowed on the newest one." She's more animated and responsive than the previous baby. This one came out more quickly after I put her on the basking terrace and figured out how to get back on it more quickly too. I think I have a smart turtle like her mother!

Counterclockwise - Mr. Turtle, Lady Turtle and Bimbo basking by the pond.

After the photo above was taken, Bimbo disappeared from the atrium pond.


The tub turtles in Dec 2013.


Mr Turtle and Lady Turtle in Apr 2014

In Aprile 2014 I discovered that among all my girl baby turtles I've got a boy. He was trying to mount one of the females! He's way too young but was making a valiant effort. I was very surprised. I've had some 13 baby turtles and they're all been female until this one. The temperature of the egg made this one offspring male and he's showing his stuff already!


Three little turtles in Jun 2014

In Aug 2014 I sent an email to Sandy T saying, "We have had our pool covered for ages but this morning Smoot opened it and I asked if I could let Lady Turtle have a swim. She has always loved being in the pool. He agreed so I took her out of her pond and put her by the pool. She immediately dove in. I'd been keeping the door to the atrium where the outdoor pond is closed because Lady T had gotten into the habit of waking me up at 5 am or earlier thunking her shell on the glass door by our bedroom, wanting to come in. That was bad enough but sometimes she'd flip herself over and have trouble righting herself. She can suffocate is she's on her back too long. So I took care of both problems by closing the door to her enclosure. I'll now know where she lays any eggs so I can destroy them. That's the only way of birth control the turtle rescue group recommended.

Some history. Last year I had put Bimbo, another female, one of their offspring, in the pond with Lady T and Mr Turtle. That was when I had left the door open and one day Bimbo was gone. (She got that name because she was a younger female and Mr T seemed to like her more than Lady T!) I'd hoped that she would return but she didn't. I had no idea what could have happened to her.

Forward to today, Smoot asked if Lady Turtle were in the pool and I said yes. He said, is that her, she seems small. I looked out and sure enough, there was a younger, smaller female in the pool with Lady T! I can only assume it's Bimbo but it's been over a year since I'd seen her. I vaguely remembered that she was larger than that but Smoot disagrees. I guess she could be another offspring but where she's been or how she could have survived all this time, I have no idea. I'm going to scoop her out of the pool and put her in the bathtub. Smoot has said I could enlarge my turtle pond this fall. When I do, I can put her and Bonsai (with the nibbled on shell) outside with the door closed and see how Mr T reacts."

Four of the turtles enjoying the pool in Sept 2014


On Sept 23, 2014 I sent an email to Susan at Tortoise Rescue, "In early Aug, I allowed Lady Turtle, the matriarch of my turtle clan, to swim in our pool. I've kept the gate to her pond area closed for months now so she couldn't lay any eggs outside it since you recommended my finding any clutches that she laid and destroying them to limit my Slider population. Limiting her to the pond enclosure gives me a much better chance to do that. But she loves to be in the pool so I let her. Later my husband commented that he thought she looked smaller than expected. Sure enough, when I went to check, there was another Slider in the pool! I assumed it was one of the two that had been in our outdoor pond the year before and had disappeared through the then-open gate to their pond area. I put the new one in my indoor turtle tub (bathtub). Then a few weeks later there was still another Slider strolling next to our pool. I assumed she was the second lost offspring, though she seemed smaller than I would have expected. I thought both lost turtles were larger than that when they disappeared. Turtles can't shrink, can they?? And the newcomers seemed browner than I remembered my lost ones being and than my other Sliders are.

At least I had an explanation for the two newcomers since I'd lost two though it had been an entire year before. How could they have survived? Then today, much to my amazement, another Slider was walking on our deck! And this one was smaller than the two previous newcomers. It couldn't have been one of them. They're in the outdoor pond now but the gate is kept closed. My question is, could a turtle survive on its own for months without known access to water?? Could this one (see attached photo) have hatched many months ago and just now made itself known? Where can all these turtles be coming from?? I put the newest one in my bathtub and will make it part of my turtle family but I'm just curious to know if it could possibly be an offspring of my pair or are these turtles coming from somewhere else and sense a good home with me?? Some of my neighbors know I have turtles but I don't think any of them would dump unwanted turtles in my yard without telling me."

The Tortoise Rescue group said turtles can crawl over five foot fences to get to a new pond. Never a dull moment with turtles!


The visiting turtle on Sept 23, 2014.

On Oct 21, 2014 I sent an email to Lori W and said, "My turtles continue to be sooo cute. I've got all the larger adults in the outdoor pond, Lady Turtle, Mr Turtle and 4 offspring. This morning five were sunning themselves out of the water. I tried to get a picture of them but they got spooked and went back in. I've got 6 baby turtles in the bathtub. I'm not sure what I've going to do when they all grow up!"


My six baby turtles on Feb 19, 2015


My larger turtles basking outside their pond on Mar 10, 2015

On Mar 14, 2015 I sent an email to the choir and said, "Anyone interested in having a turtle, let me know. Lack of turtle birth control has created a bit of a population explosion!" On Jun 30, 2015 an exterminator came to remove a bee hive that was under our bathtub. About a month before I'd noticed some bees hanging around the wall outside our master bathroom. I like bees and know how important they are to our ecology so I didn't do anything about them. Then some bees found their way into our bathroom! And then bees started to swarm me when I went to feed my outside turtles. The bees wouldn't sting but would get in my hair, down my house-dress and one even followed me in the house when I hurried away from them! That was it, we had to do something. Sadly we exterminated instead of moving them as we did a later bee hive on our composter.

My turtles on May 23, 2015. Lady Turtle is in the middle, Mr. Turtle on the float on the left and the two adult daughters on the right.

On July 24, 2015 I sent an email to Lori W and Sandy T, "Since you both share my love of turtles I thought I'd share my sad turtle news. For some time one of my turtles, Bonsai, named that because she'd been nibbled on as a baby and I was afraid that would stunt her growth, had stopped eating and stayed outside the pond almost all the time. As you know, RES have to be in the water to eat. I would have to put her back in the pond when I fed her and the five other turtles in her pond. I was concerned about her but didn't see anything outwardly wrong. But this morning when I checked she was floating in the pond but not moving. I pulled her out to find she was dead. Poor thing. I'm going to do some research and see if her symptoms indicate an illness that could threaten the other turtles. Do you know of anything? Our pool cover mechanism has been broken making it almost impossible for the cover to be pulled back so the turtles haven't had their favorite pastime, playing in the pool. Workers came yesterday and took the cover off so I put the females in. Mr Turtle doesn't really like the pool."

I sent an email to the Tortoise Rescue folks about the death and Susan replied, "So sorry to hear about Bonsai…it’s always tough to figure these deaths out.  Sounds to me that she might have been egg bound. That happens when they stop eating – did you see her trying to dig at all?  Could have been a number of things.  I wouldn’t drain the pond.  It was probably just a fluke.  I don’t use a filter, never have. Just let my pond be natural – throw in fish which eat the bad algae and which the turtles eat as well and that’s it.  Been that way since 1997.  Bury her with Rainbow Bridge L"

On July 28, 2015 I told Linda L, "I got an old toothbrush and gave Lady Turtle's shell a nice brushing. She stopped her rush out of the pond area so I guess that means she liked it!" On Aug 3, 2015, I told Pat Cate in an email that I had 11 turtles.


A photo of one of my 11 Red-eared slider turtles on Sept 10, 2015. She snatched a piece of lettuce from her pond and scurried out of the water. RES can only eat in water so she was saving this morsel for a later snack.

On Oct 1, 2015, I sent an email to Faith who was going to pet-sit for us while we were on our RV trip to Utah. In her pet car instructions for my turtles I said, "There are two sets of turtles, one in the bath tub and one in the outdoor pond. Turtles have slow metabolisms so can be fed every other day. I usually feed them on T, T, Sat. A feeding includes a spoon of turtle sticks, a spoon of dried meal worms and 4 or 5 Tender Vittles in each habitat. I've been putting my excess Mollie fish in the pond, thinking the turtles will eat them. I've been surprised at how many have survived. So I've got fish food and give them a few shakes of it. The turtles also get some red leaf lettuce which is in the lower hydrator in the refrigerator. I have their indoor light connected to a timer so it goes on and off automatically.The dry turtle food is by the bathtub for the inside turtles and in the plastic container outside by the bedroom window.

I have a couple of concerns about the turtles. The first is that a couple of the young adult turtles have wandered off and might come back while we're gone. There are now three adult turtles in the outdoor pond but had been five. I'd planned to leave the door open so the wanderers could get back to the pond. But in the past I've been concerned about  Lady Turtle's tendency to come to our glass doors outside the bedroom and living room and clunk her shell on it asking to be let in! The only problem is that she will get up on her back flippers and then sometimes fall over on her back. Turtles can't breathe when they're on their backs. I panic when I see her that way. She can sometimes flip herself over but sometimes she can't and I have to do it for her. I let her have the pool and she did just what I feared, came to the door and fell on her back, twice, so I'm going to leave the door closed. I hope you won't have trouble opening it."

On Apr 27, 2016, Becca brought Celia and Greta to visit us. They got to see my turtles.

 
My turtles outside and inside on May 21, 2016

On June 21, 2016, I emailed my sisters, "We're trying to stay cool as we're breaking heat records. It was 118.8 on Sun and 116 yesterday. When it's 99 before 9am, you know it's going to be a hot day! My turtles seem to like it. All four adults were anxiously waiting me this morning when I went to feed them. One was so excited she tried to bite my toe! I've left their door open and uncovered the pool so they can go for a big swim. They use the pool more than we do! When it's this hot the pool water is scalding not refreshing. Some folks have pool chillers but we haven't done that."


On July 6, 2016, I sent an email to Julie M saying, "To prove my story, here is a picture of Lady Turtle knocking on our door this morning. I'd left the door to her pond open so the wandering daughter turtles could return. One has, the other is still wandering. I put Lady T back in the pond and shut her door. I can't risk having her fall on her back trying to stand at our door. And anyway, when she thunks her shell against the glass, it's loud enough to wake me up! Now I have to keep an eye out for the wanderer."
 
On July 9, 2016 I sent an email to Lee, "After two years I finally got my larger pond for my turtles yesterday. They now have double the amount of water to swim around in. The females like going in the pool but that can't be their permanent home. I've attached photos of before and after empty and then new with residents."




On July 10, 2016 I sent an email to Susan L that went into a bit more detail about my new pond. "After two years I've finally gotten a new turtle pond. Smoot had promised me one after I found an estate-sale person for Lucienne's house back in July 2014. He was so relieved that he said I could have anything I wanted and that was it, a new pond. I found and we purchased a new pond liner over a year ago but Smoot hadn't gotten around to finding anyone to enlarge the hole and put it in, something neither of us wanted to do ourselves. Two days ago he did and now the turtles and I are delighted with the new pond. I've attached photos showing before and after. It doesn't appear that much bigger, but it's a lot deeper and doubles the amount of water they have. What a nice change!"

On that same day I sent an email to Belinda - "I've attached before and after photos of my outdoor turtle pond. The new one doesn't appear that much bigger, but it's a lot deeper and doubles the amount of water they have. I had to find a liner that would fit inside the big rocks in our atrium. The turtles and I are very happy with the new pond. I've also attached a photo of the turtles in my bathtub. Our set-up is nice, letting me have turtles both inside and outside with a big picture window between."

On July 16, 2016, I emailed Lee, "I had a bit of sadness recently. Within a week, I found two of my young adult turtles dead for no apparent reason. They hadn't been or looked sick nor had they been lethargic. They may have been egg-bound. I hope that was the case and not a contagious disease.


On July 19, 2016, I emailed Belinda, "I took your advice and gave my outdoor turtles some Mollies from my 20 gallon Mollie factory. (It was supposed to be a tank of mixed small fish but ended up being just Mollies and more than that size tank should accommodate.) I feed my turtles T,Th,Sat so I gave them the fish yesterday when they should have been at their hungriest. What should greet me when I went to do my regular Tues feeding but at least four Mollies swimming happily in the pond! I think I'm going to have to go with ZooMed and also look for some other oil options. My turtles are just too lazy to chase down living fish. I guess I could let the fish die then feed them but that seems cruel. Luckily so far I haven't had any other deaths. I was concerned about what you said about my fish (turtles) looking dry but they do like to dig in the dirt. I should send you a photo of them when they've just gotten out of the pond and are wet and shiny." She said, "Leave the fish in there. Did you get the ZooMed food." I replied, "I'm going to get the ZooMed food tomorrow. And yes, I'm going to leave the fish in the pond and hope the turtles will eventually do what they're supposed to do!"


In response to Lee's sympathy on the death of my two turtles I said on July 20, 2016, "Thanks for your sympathy. There aren't many people I can share my sadness with. Not many people can understand that turtles can be beloved pets too like cats and dogs. Of my two turtles that died, one was only in the bathtub environment and the other was in the new pond for only a day. I think the problem developed while they were in the bathtub. A friend of mine who also keeps turtles said they should have been able to expel any eggs into the water if they were egg-bound. They might not have had enough oil to lubricate their innards. I'm going to give the remaining turtles a higher quality of food. My friend recommended live food but my lazy turtles won't eat the Mollies I put in the pond so I hope the better food will help."


On July 21, 2016, I emailed Belinda, "The Mollies are still there this morning, at least four of them, looking fat and happy! Something else was there too, a big egg sitting right next to the turtle ladder on the ground, not buried just sitting there. And I found the broken shell of another egg when I netted out crud from the water. I opened the intact egg (that being the only humane way of turtle birth control) and found only a yellow yolk, no embryo inside. It was obviously infertile. I don't know if Mr. Turtle is shooting blanks or why that should be. Or if the fertile eggs were actually buried and this infertile one was just dropped off. I gave all my turtles the prescribed amount of the Zoomed food and the pond turtles ate it, well not the cranberries yet. My smaller bathtub turtles didn't seem as interested. I may have to mix their usual food with the Zoomed until they get used to it. I made sure I got the smaller size so the smaller turtles wouldn't have any trouble eating it."


On Aug 16, 2016, I emailed Belinda, "As I told you, on Sat only three of my four pond turtles came up and out to eat. A quick netting of the pond didn't turn up the 4th one but she must have been there because this morning, she re-appeared! Since I feed them on T-Th-Sat this morning they should have been the hungriest, that's probably why she came up. I'm back to having my four pond turtles. Life can resume!


On July 28, 2017 I sent an email to Belinda saying, "I've got an issue with my turtle pond. I've attached a couple of photos. They show a white substance around the pond. At first I thought the substance might be crushed eggshells which would indicate that the suggestion I'd gotten from the Tortoise Rescue folks had worked, to limit my turtles to one area so any eggs would be easily accessible and destroyed, the best way of birth control. But when I lifted the rocks I saw it looked more like a fungus of some sort. Do you know what it is? Could it be dangerous to my turtles? Should I dig it out? I noticed one of my young females nipping at it. That was when I thought it was egg but now I see it isn't. Any advice would be most appreciated.


   


Belinda said, "Is itcalcium or salt deposits. You may need to drain and fill and treat the water. August is a bad water month."


I replied, "I heard back from the American Tortoise Rescue folks. She said it did look like a fungus that was probably safe but just to be sure to dig it up which I've done. After I did I noticed several mushroom looking things outside the pond area by a faucet and drain pipe. I might take you up on your idea to change the water though the turtles all look healthy. The water is pretty cloudy. What makes August a bad water month??"


Belinda replied about the water, "It is hot and the water warms which contains bacteria. Not much wind the air just hangs. And the cities are getting ready to change the chemicals  used. It is changed in the spring and the fall."

 

On July 31, 2017 I replied, "I did as you recommended and drained as much water as I could from my turtle pond and replaced it, using the anti-chlor chemicals to treat the new water. I was pleased to see all 5 turtles that are supposed to be there were there. I've only seen four of them lately but once the water was down, there was the 5th one. Unfortunately when I cleaned their filter the spinner on the impeller broke. I ordered another one that supposed to come tomorrow. So far all my turtles are still okay, even without the filter functioning. I hope I won't have the deaths I had last year."

On Aug 10, 2017, I told Dale F that I had 9 turtles and would be happy to give some away. On Aug 18, 2017 I emailed Belinda, "Recently I noticed something I'd never seen before. One of my small male RES was sitting on top of a larger female while they were in the water. I thought at first he might be dead as he floated motionless above her. Then they both moved. I've seen my turtles stack on top of each other frequently outside the water but never in it. Have you seen that? Just curious."

On July 28, 2018, I emailed Tortoise Rescue to ask about the white on one of my smaller turtles. Susan replied, "It appears the turtle on the right has shell rot from not being able to get out and sit in the sun. The one on the right is big enough for the pond. My dime size and quarter size rescues are out all year in a baby pool I bought on Amazon. The only way to treat shell rot is with silvadine ointment which is a prescription. I would pay a vet a visit = you cannot scrub it off. Once you have some meds, keep it dry and out of the water for 23 and half hours a day – just put it in to eat or drink. You can also use a tea color solution of Betadine in the water – won’t hurt it if he drinks it. Should kill stuff too."

On July 30, 2018, I emailed a reptile vet saying, "Through a friend who got the recommendation from Repto Mania in Tempe, I was told to check with Dr. Funk about an issue with one of my Red-eared Slider turtle's shell. I've attached a photo. I'm concerned about the white spots on the smaller turtle. I was told by the folks at Tortoise Rescue that it might be shell rot but the shell is not soft. I tried gently brushing away the white but it didn't move. My friend said it might be a shedding problem. In either case I was told to make sure the affected one was out of the water for long periods. He has a basking terrace and has been sitting on it a lot under the full-spectrum heat lamp I keep over his large tub but he does slip back in the water whenever anyone walks in his room. I realize I may have to bring him in but if there is an easy treatment I can do at home, I'd like to start that way. Thank you for any advice you can give me."

On Aug 2, 2018, I emailed Belinda, "I e-mailed the Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic and asked them to share the photo with Dr. Funk. They replied saying he was only at that office periodically and could another vet help. I told them they could share the photo with any of the vets or would I have to come in. Not surprisingly they said I'd have to come in. I'd rather not do that until I try cheaper at home cures. I found a website on turtle care and checked on shell shedding. They recommended keeping the turtle out of the water except for a 30 min bath twice a day and soaking in an iodine solution. I'm trying to do that and hope to see some improvement. The turtles shell is NOT soft so that was a relief. He's eating a little, not a whole lot but some. We're going out of town this weekend but I replaced the water in his tub and cleaned his filter. I have him floating in a plastic box inside the tub, keeping him out of the water. I'll have to let him stay in the water when we're gone but will go back to the time-out when we get back and hope it will help."


On Sept 30, 2018 to Belinda, "Since both treatments for shell shedding and if it's a fungus require that the turtles be out of water for long periods, I've lowered the amount of water in my tub so there's just enough for them to use to eat, with their shells out of the water. They've been eating but not moving around a lot. I really hope I can figure out what is wrong. My outdoor turtles are still very active. These little ones aren't. I don't want to mix the two groups and give my adults whatever is affecting the smaller ones." Belinda took one of my turtles to her vet and I was given meds and instructions for treatment.

On Nov 11, 2018, I emailed Tommie, "Sadly, my two youngest turtles, the ones I still have in my bathtub have bacterial and fungal infections. A church friend took one to her vet-tech daughter's exotic vet who made the diagnosis (for $156 which was supposedly a staff discount). Now I have three medicines I have to treat them with for a month, two of the meds twice a day. The third is oral which means getting a turtle to take a syringe. Sheesh! And I'm waiting to get a 4th med when Fry's pharmacy gets it in. When I was at Petsmart whining to Mary I was getting live food which the vet said the sick turtles need. I'm also supposed to get a water conditioner that only removes calcium but Petsmart doesn't have it. Will have to find online. Luckily my outdoor turtles seem to be fine. I'm glad I hadn't mixed the babies with them. Pets are great but they can get expensive and complicated to care for."

On Dec 5, 2018 to Belinda, "I'd been happy with my little turtles' improving look. He had a mottled green shell that looked normal. Then I decided that they needed more water to be able to swim more easily. I put more water in without using my regular conditioner and the next day, bam, his shell was mottled white again. Sheesh! I've not been able to find any water conditioner that just removes calcium. Will you have your daughter ask the vets where I can get that stuff? If my water is the problem I hope it's been worth it to give both turtles *4* medicines every day for a month. With the white back, I'm starting to wonder."

On Dec 29, 2018 to Joan O, "The outside turtles seem to be doing well. This is their first chance ever to hibernate since I didn't put a heater in their pond. I also haven't heated the inside pond/bathtub. Those turtles had been sick but seem to be better. In the past I've put holiday decorations, a tree and a fireplace with stockings, in their enclosure but I didn't this year so yes, they missed out a bit. I don't know if they're miffed!"

On Jan 17, 2019, I emailed Joan O, "As for the turtles, most of them are fine. Of the two indoors, one still has the white shell problem. I'm meeting Belinda at her vet-tech-daughter's vet office on the 25th for a follow-up check-up. I think the water is the problem but he's still alive so I guess it's not deadly. "


On Feb 26, 2019, I emailed Belinda, "I caught 6 of my 7 RES sunning themselves next to their pond this morning and got a photo before they slid back in the water. They're so cute! I'm a bit wary of putting little Smoot in with them but I'll think about it as the weather gets warmer. That would mean the remaining small turtle would be by himself in the bathtub. I don't know if that would matter but he might get lonely."


I emailed Belinda on Jun 5, 2019, "I've got some sad turtle news. I noticed this morning that the turtle you named Smoot seemed unnaturally still. I netted him out of the bathtub to see if he would move. Sometimes my turtles can look still but will move when I pull them out. He didn't move. I left him on the tile but there was no movement. He looked okay. His shell was green. The attached photo looks like he had some white but that was after he started drying out. Sadly, he was gone. Poor thing. I don't know if it was the illness he had last year that weakened him or if he had some congenital problem. I buried him in the back yard. Now I'm down to 8 turtles and only one in the bathtub. I'm wary of putting him with the bigger adults in case he might be ill too. I hope he won't get too lonely."
   

On July 15, 2019, I emailed Belinda, "I've attached some pics. The first shows three of my beautiful females. You can see the golden stripe around their shells. I think they're so pretty. They just climbed out of their pond so what looks like white on one's shell is actually water.
The second photo shows my garden cart with water and hidey hole/basking terrace for my sick turtle. He's hiding but I hope he'll come out enough to get some sun. I just checked to make sure his water wasn't too hot since he's now in the full sun. It was okay but I can't believe it would be safe to have him in there when it gets up to 114 this afternoon."

On July 30, 2019, I emailed Lee, "I finally decided to put my one remaining bathtub turtle in my pond so all my babies are there now. My empty tub looks weird."
 

On Sept 24, 2019, I emailed Belinda, "We had so much rain last night that our pool cover became a shallow pool, safe enough for my turtles to use for more play room. I pulled six of them out of their pond and put them on the pool. The first pics are of the tiny turtle on the cover then a close up of him. Doesn't he look good and healthy now? Then there's a shot showing one of the beautiful daughters in the pool. She decided she had had enough and got out and marched back to her pond. I was amazed to discover two of the daughters are now bigger, wider and heavier, than their mom.

Mr. Turtle has never liked going in the pool. I used to let Lady Turtle go there regularly but twice I saw that she'd turned herself upside down on the pool step and couldn't right herself. After that the pool was off limits. But in this shallow water she seems to be okay. I noticed that like Mr. Turtle, the tiny male didn't seem to like being there so I put him back in his pond. My other male, slightly older and bigger than Tiny, stayed in the pool and was courting his mom! As I was netting the turtles out of their pond and after I'd cleaned their filter I discovered a lot of mud at the bottom of the pond. I netted some out but left the rest. I assume they like to hunker down in the mud?

I was pleased at how big and healthy they all looked. I hadn't handled them in a while just watched them through the bathroom window and our camera feed. I also found what looked like empty turtle eggs near our bedroom door. I don't know where they came from or how old they were but I haven't seen any babies so I guess they weren't fertile.

The adventure of owning turtles!"
 

On July 23, 2020, I emailed the Tortoise Rescue folks and said, “I have 7 Red Eared Slider turtles in my outdoor pond. They are the mom and dad and 5 offspring. The dad is 25 years old this year and the mom, whom I purchased almost grown in 1998 is probably close to that. The pair didn't produce any offspring until 2007. They produced 13 babies between 2007 and 2013. Some died, I gave some away but now I have the pair, 4 female and 1 male offspring in their pond.

It occurred to me recently to wonder why there haven't been more babies. That's good, of course. I don't need to be adding to what is considered a dangerous, non-native population. But with two males and five females, do they know they're related so the offspring won't reproduce with the parents? And are the parents now too old to reproduce? I love my turtles and are happy they seem healthy but I'm curious why they haven't produced more babies.

Susan replied, "You know I have many turtles in our pond none related. Maybe 13. So far no babies and most are female. Not all sliders but mostly. They get out, they dig and lay eggs but I have never seen any babies. So who knows? 25 is not that old in captivity. It’s hard to know but I never question the wisdom of turtles. If I were to guess I would say because they are related. Maybe post on a slider turtle forum? Thanks for being a faithful supporter. "

On July 27, 2020, I replied to Susan, "Thanks for your quick response (when my message finally got through). I've posted the same question on Austin's Turtle Page's Turtle Forum. The responses were as unsure. One wondered if my turtles are stressed and if that might stop reproduction. They seem active and healthy. My pond is 55 gallons. My turtles have never reached dinner-plate size, as RES can. They're all more luncheon-plate size. Would seven of them be stressed in that environment?"

Susan said, “No we have a rather small pond for our 13. They are grateful turtles being in a pond and not a tank J I am sure yours are equally happy.”




On Oct 4, 2020, I emailed Belinda, "We recently had our house painted and I had to move my turtles inside to the bathtub for the duration. Here is a photo of them. I thought there were 7 in the pond but there were only 6. Clearly one of them had wandered off. I hope it found a new home. The others seem to be healthy and all about the same size now. They're such cuties!"

In mid June 2021, I left the atrium door open so the turtles could wander the yard and get some exercise. Two of the daughter females immediately went into the leaves and started digging. One of them came back, the smaller one didn’t. So I was down to 5 turtles, the parents and 3 daughters.

On July 24, 2021, after a hard rain had filled our pool cover, Smoot commented that there was a turtle swimming in the water. I scooped it up and put it back in the pond. I wasn't sure if it were one of my five or else one of the long missing ones. On July 25, I counted heads in the pond and sure enough, there were now six so my prodigal turtle had returned. I have no idea where she had been or what she'd been eating since mid June but she was back.