Summer Tips.....

Buy a mister (About $7.50 at a home supply store) and use it around your box and water turtles for added humidity. You'll be amazed at how the turtles will perk up.

Tortoises won't drink from a dish? It's more natural for them to drink from water trickling along the ground, so lay your hose down near them and let the water gently run out and you'll see their heads come out and they will stick their heads into the water. Watch their throats pulsating as they swallow.

Keep the fly population down by keeping old food picked up as well as turtle and tortoise droppings. Please keep those water dishes clean because turtles not only drink the water but also defecate in it and you certainly don't want them drinking that stuff.

Be AWARE of your neighbor's spraying fertilizers and insecticides. It could drift over and kill your animals and you will not know what happened to them. My neighbor's gardeners use a blower and the dust comes over the fence and right into the turtle's faces. After seeing this, I now wet down the neighbors yard near the fence the night before the gardeners are due.

Since we are experiencing a shortened summer period, make sure that everyone eats well during this season and take care of any hint of a problem such as a swollen eye, a bubble appearing or a lump or swelling, at once before fall sets in. Don't wait until 'tomorrow'.

If your veterinarian wants to anesthetize your tortoise or turtle in order to give it medication, I strongly urge you to see another vet. There are many ways to coax a turtle out of its shell. Very often, the anesthetized turtle or tortoise does not wake up, or wakes up sluggish and never recovers, and is severely damaged. Why take a chance? Call the club for hints as to how to encourage the turtle or tortoise into cooperating. It only takes a bit of patience & ingenuity.

So far, we've collected $85 in the B.I.T.E.M.E. (Brutally Inflicted Turtle Executions Must End) fund and it will help in our war regarding the “soup pot turtles”. The Sacramento Bee newspaper editors condone the eating of a million pounds of turtles and frogs a year - yet publishes heartwarming stories about a couple of sea turtles that were saved and then released or they will run a story about a few desert tortoises being studied and isn't that wonderful, etc. etc. and I don't get it. All turtles and tortoises are threatened. What if a million puppies and kittens were being butchered alive and eaten each year? Would anyone care? YOU BET!!

The Terror of Tillie

Spring did not arrive at The Bunker until June, however, if anyone remembers, we had a few warm sunny days in April. At this time, a woman in Chico decided that she could no longer care for Tillie, her 3 year old male African Sulcata tortoise. She called me for help. Of course, I agreed to take Tillie and find a good home for him. When Tillie arrived, I was surprised to see how large he was for his age, but he seemed mild mannered and his owners were happy to see that he was calmly strolling around the yard, sniffing here and there. Then Mistake #1 happened. The owner told me to put Tillie into the greenhouse with the other tortoises to "see what would happen". Mistake #2: I did it. Within 30 seconds, Tillie turned into a tyrant. I imagine the sight of the other tortoises caused a hormone surge, one that seemed to increase into a total frenzy. We took him out of the greenhouse and then all hell broke loose.

He began running towards the Hermann's tortoises who were sitting quietly on the lawn, enjoying the sunshine. Tillie not only charged them but rolled them over and over and even did this to Fernando, a very mild mannered Leopard tortoise who wouldn't stick his head out for hours after that! Then Tillie discovered the small Hermann's tortoises. They are about 3 to 4 inches long. He ran after them and tried to bite their heads off. All of this time, the owners were standing there horrified. They couldn't believe that sweet Tillie was acting so mean. Trust me, it gets worse. Tillie became so agitated that he began charging us!! And a charging tortoise is as vicious as a charging bull. We were running for our lives and he was in hot pursuit. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. Something was running after Tillie. It was Just Jim Jr. After what I saw next, let's drop the Junior. Just Jim has been resurrected!! Tillie weighed about 35 pounds and Jim weighs about one pound. Nevertheless, Just Jim decided to tackle Tillie, he just ran up to Tillie who towered over him and started ramming into and then biting his front legs. This activity threw Tillie into a tizzy and once again, his mouth was about to bite off Just Jim's head. I snatched Jim away and Tillie chased me as I was putting Just Jim into the greenhouse for his own safety. Those Sulcatas sure can run fast.

The owners finally left after I "assured" them that he would be fine and would calm down after awhile. He didn't. I was in a panic. Every turtle in the yard was in jeopardy. Every plant was in danger. Every fence was about to be broken and the greenhouse would surely be smashed. I did what I had to do. I went next door and said sweetly to my neighbor, "Can you please do me a favor???"

My neighbor agreed to keep him in her yard until I could locate a suitable home. As luck would have it, the next morning, she was shocked to see the back fence coming down.....her neighbors decided to repair the broken fence (which had been broken for YEARS), and now here was this wild tortoise charging total strangers and it was quite a struggle for everyone to keep the tortoise on one side of the yard while they worked on the other.

The story does have a happy ending. I found a wonderful home for Tillie, and when the family came to pick him up, well, he appeared to be gone. After careful searching, we discovered him way inside of a huge bush and he would not come out for anyone or anything. He was probably exhausted. We ran the hose because he supposedly did not like water. He wouldn't budge. So, his new owner and myself were on our tummies, in the mud we had created, trying to get him out. It took some time, and we were scratched and dirty, but we got Tillie out and you know what? He is living happily ever after. However, I will never be the same. Neither will my neighbor.