Glad to have found this list

[ADestroyah@aol.com]

ADestroyah@aol.com

April 10, 2001 at 3:10 pm #14796

Let me start by saying that I am glad to have found this list. Back when I was five years old, my father returned from a trip to a Chinese fish store with a small bucket. The bucket contained several crabs, and what would go on to be one of my best friends for the next twelve years. My Diamond Backed Terrapin Gamera. When I first received my new pet, I was less than an ideal keeper. A few months earlier I had acquired three or four baby red eared sliders that were kept in a five gallon fish bowl, and fed brine shrimp. Provided with no heat source, they didn’t last very long.. Gamera on the other hand was all ready an adult turtle. From what I would learn about the species nearly a decade after Gamera entered my home for the first time, I can say that he was a male. Originally, Gamera was housed in the bucket that he came home in, and fed bits of bread, lettuce, and other plant matter. A return trip to the fish store where he was purchased at, taught us that they were being fed brine shrimp at the store. So, naturally, we started Gamera on a diet of exclusively brine shrimp. And I don’t know how, or why, but for years, Gamera thrived on a diet of nothing more than brine shrimp. He was quickly moved to a five gallon tank, where he thrilled the whole family with his intelligence, refusal to bite, or even retract his head into his shell when handled. After about three years, I was determined to find more information in order to keep Gamera healthy. Unfortunately, in the late 80s, and early 90s, it wasn’t easy to come across information on keeping turtles. I eventually found a book on wild turtles, and mistakenly labeled Gamera to be a Reeves turtle from a black and white picture in a book. Shortly after, he was moved to a ten gallon aquarium, and given a larger basking rock. And this setup, complete with a steady diet of daily brine shrimp feedings kept Gamera healthy for nearly a decade. He learned to be hand fed, and would rush from his basking rock, to the other end of the tank, and try his best to climb up the side of the glass at the sight of someone’s hand. He would move his basking rock to different spots that he preferred. At this point, my interest in turtles began to sky rocket. I purchased a red eared slider, and a soft-shell turtle. They were housed in similar conditions as Gamera was. However, at the pet store where the turtles were purchased from, the shop keeper said that they would only eat turtle food sticks, specially made for turtles. Several cans were purchased along with both turtles. The red ear did well, and Gamera was introduced to the turtle food floating sticks. However, he refused them in favor of the shrimp, and for the first time refused food for a week, until the shrimp was given to him again. Needless to say, the soft-shell turtle didn’t do well at all in a ten gallon tank, with no heat source. It remained buried under it’s gravel, and as far as I could tell, hardly touched the floating food sticks. Concerned about the soft shell, I purchased an issue of Reptiles magazine. And it turned out to be the best purchase of my reptile keeping career. Finding piles of information on keeping reptiles, and stores that specialized in reptile only items, I ordered book after book about aquatic turtles. But with the books still en route, the inevitable finally occurred. Gamera stopped being active, and remained sitting on his basking rock. A few days later, his eyes closed, and would not open. He clawed at them on a regular basis, as well as shaking his head from left to right. Everyday his eyes would inflame more and more, and he was quickly rushed to the ASPCA veterinarian hospital. He was transported in a cooler with a hot water bottle, a technique that I had learned from Reptiles magazine. Unfortunately the hot water bottle wasn’t large enough, and he suffered the effects of the cold anyway. At the hospital, everyone was curious about “what was in the cooler.” And even more wowed by the “strange” “exotic” and “cute” looking turtle contained within. Finally, Gamera was taken in by the vets, and kept under a heat lamp for around half an hour. He was also given a vitamin An injection. The vet explained that he suffered from a deficiency of the vitamin, and would need repeat injections for a period of three weeks. After two weeks, Gamer’s eyes reopened, and Gamera’s tank was outfitted with a submersible heater, as was the tanks of the red ear, and soft-shell. Gamera made a complete recovery, and as the doctor had suggested, was being given cod liver oil capsules, which we would hand feed to him, and squeeze until the capsule would pop, sending squirts of cod liver oil into the turtles mouth. In less than a month, Gamera made a complete recovery. Back to his old energetic self, he was now introduced to a diet of goldfish, floating turtle food sticks, and brine shrimp. Gamera was extremely eager to eat the fish, and would race around his tank, chasing them, and finally capturing them. Usually making a terrible mess of the enclosure in the process. He had an interesting (and messy) habit of decapitating the fish upon capture. However, one day he made an error, and didn’t decapitate the fish cleanly. Gamera tried regurgitating the fish, which is something I had never witnessed before. He eventually swallowed it, but the bulge remained in his throat. He sat on his basking spot, and jerked his head oddly. Fearing that he was choking, I grabbed a nearby eye plucker and used it to remove the fish from the turtles neck. He indeed was choking on the fish. And the experience left me to feed him smaller species of fish. It was around then that the soft-shell passed away. It was unexpected, since he hadn’t shown any symptoms of illness as Gamera had. Though it was more likely that I just didn’t recognize the symptoms. Gamera thrived for two more years, until, sadly, he passed away one April night, and was found laying on his basking rock a final time. He was laid to rest at a local park, overlooking a lake. The years spent with Gamera were unforgettable ones, and showed just how intelligent even species of animals that are often considered stupid can be. Despite our ignorance of how to properly care for Gamera for so many years, and despite the fact that he may have been discomforted for a good deal of those years, his bright disposition, and cheerful demeanor brightened everyone’s darkest days. None of the other turtles that I have in captivity come anywhere close to being as human friendly, and playful as Gamera was. Gamera’s death six years ago has long since left me wanting to observe more Diamondback terrapins, but I have refrained from keeping them due to recent time and financial constraints. However, these constraints have loosened greatly as of late, and I plan to try keeping some again. I have recently purchased a 90 gallon aquarium, as well as an Emperor filter, and a 300 watt submersible heater. I also have purchased 100 pounds of kiddy play sand. The aquarium is set, but has had some problems. For one, the 300 watt heater heats NOTHING. It becomes hot, but the massive quantity of water around it isn’t affected in the least. The Emperor type filter also doesn’t seem to function, and I have all ready exchanged it at the store for another twice. Finally, I’m concerned now that I see my enclosure set up put together. The basking site that I have created consists of a treated wooden platform held up by a wooden beam that is connected to another wooden platform and buried under the sand. However, the 90 gallon tank is so large, and tall, that in order to be able to get air, the turtles will have to swim up to the wooden platform. This concerns me, since I worry that the turtles may drown if they don’t decide to enter the land section for some reason. I recall reading that the turtles should be able to get air just by extending their necks to the surface, and floating. So, due to these problems, I will be refraining from purchasing any animals until they are solved. I look forward to finding potential solutions here on this list, and finding out new tidbits of information on the species. Off I go now, to read old posts at the archives.

[Author]

Posts