Chun-Ming Chew
Thanks, Bob. It seems you don’t really have to live in wooded areas to be visited by racoons – I don’t. I’ve kept my diamondbacks outside for the past 4yrs. without incident and had no idea that racoons were present; to say the least capable of climbing and fishing out the dbts from 2ft. of water. All my northerns and carolinans were ornately colored with light shells and white skin and thus were more visible. My true ornates and Texan have dark shells and darker skin so were able to remain undetected against the black background of the pond. Unfortunately, racoons are very capable of prying turtle limbs out of their shells… At any rate, I talked with Rick about the whole thing and he mentioned that he has mesh on all his ponds and has been successful in keeping the racoons from his turtles that way. Consequently, if you like the concept of an outdoor setup, it may still be feasible with a mesh covering. Regarding the juv. male ornate, The Turtle Man was selling one for $300 on kingsnake.com. However, it looked to me like a cross and not a true ornate. I have a felling this group will see a lot of ornates hatched in the near future. Just a matter of time… If we have any Florida natives willing to show us around, we might even be able to plan a field trip sometime to see those reclusive creatures. Bartlett’s description of an unidentified subspecies in the Florida Keys sound so tantalizing… Thanks again for posting all the way from Edingburgh, Bob. Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. Cheers. Chun