Dear Members and Friends:

Our next event is the TURTLERAMA on Saturday, July 22 from 11 until 4 at the Belle Cooledge Library located on the corner of Fruitridge Road and South Land Park Drive. PLEASE let me know ASAP if you can exhibit, what you are going to exhibit, if you can help set up and help us clean up at the end, answer questions, etc. There seems to be less room each year so if you have a card table, bring it along in case you need it. Dave said he would let us into the library room at 10 a.m. so please try to be there at that time so we can be reasonably ready for the public at 11. THANKS TO ONE AND ALL AHEAD OF TIME. There would not be any show without all of you participating. It is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks to Chad Inks who gave a very informative talk at our last meeting about map turtles. He explained the different varieties, sub species, food and space requirements and the little turtles he had on display were very healthy and simply adorable with their bright round eyes looking around as they clung to their underwater logs.

Sharon Chancellor will return as our guest speaker at the October 21 meeting. I don't know how Sharon can top her presentation at our Fall '99 meeting which included an array of edible plants for our tortoises; the explanation of the need for fecal exams for turtles and tortoises and showing us how to open a tortoise's mouth in order to pop in the medication.

For those who need to know how to open a tortoise's mouth: Grasp the tortoise's head behind the jawline with your thumb and middle finger. With your index (second) finger, push DOWN on the bottom jaw and simply pop in the medicine which you should have ready to go in your other hand. After a little practice, it becomes simple. The easiest tortoises to treat are desert tortoises and the most difficult are the Leopard tortoises who, when feel threatened, immediately pull their heads way inside and fold their arms tightly over their faces so you generally have only one chance at them.

SEE YOU AT THE TURTLERAMA!!

More Summer Tips

Avoid overheating. Use a "mister" to add humidity to your box, water and tropical environments. Asian box turtles "come to life" as soon as the misting begins.

Make sure your fighters and biters are separated in your absence. You don't want to come home to find someone injured or upside down and dead.

Be careful mowing. Walk the area ahead of time to be sure nobody is cuddling in the soft grass. I mow just before dark when I know everyone is asleep and nobody sleeps in the middle of the lawn.

Provide shade for your egg layers. They could roast digging their nests in the midday sun. And place chairs around the lawn for quick shade if you don't have many trees.

Turtle not eating? They sometimes "estivate" for a few weeks in the summertime, or females go off feed before egg laying. Be ALERT!

Before grinding down the overgrown beaks and nails, try feeding on a cement stepping stone and provide cement areas to walk on for a "natural" way of trimming as would happen in nature. Let's hear your tips.

WHEN TURTLES POO

FLAG DAY - JUNE 14th - I had promised to bring some turtles to a nearby assisted living facility. The day started on a sour note. I could not find my glasses. The temperature was soaring above 109. I chose 4 critters I could depend on to behave and not bite anyone. These included a female Sulcata, around 5 pounds with a gentle personality, very timid; a male Texas tortoise with similar traits; a very attractive male Eastern box turtle and a newborn slider to bring back memories of "dime store turtles." When I got to the facility, there were about 50 residents in the room anxious to hear about turtles and tortoises.

I did my presentation during what was also the residents monthly birthday party. Everyone was served cake, ice-cream and soft drinks. I decided to carry each critter around the room so everyone could have a close-up view. Some folks were afraid but others reached out to touch their shells. The Sulcata was a big hit because her shell was so pretty, therefore, she was carried around more than the others. My fingers were crossed, but my luck finally ran out.

I had my left hand under the front of her plastron and my right hand under her rear end with a paper towel in between. I suddenly felt her legs jump, her head went in and my right hand began filling with something hot and wet. I instinctively tilted her up and took my hand away and all of the people began screaming as the PROJECTILE POO flew across the room, dousing the coffee table, carpeting and several wheelchairs, the residents feet, just missing the big-screen TV. It looked like a fire hose but that was not water shooting out. This ended Turtle Day at Grand Court and the June Y2K birthday bash. And I don't suppose I will ever be invited for a return visit......

There is a tiny bit more to this story. It is in regards to a forgotten 15 pound round watermelon I had purchased the day before and covered with a blanket to keep it out of the sun. As I was driving home with the tortoises in their boxes in the back of the station wagon including the baby turtle in a plastic shoe box, someone cut in front of me causing me to stop short and as I glanced into my rear-view mirror all I could see was the big watermelon rolling out from under the blanket heading directly towards the turtles.

It is summertime at The Bunker with many turtles spending time at "summer camp" creating much more work for me, of course. But it is fun watching them interact and making sure everyone is behaving and getting enough to eat and drink. The regular exotic residents are happy to be out of the Greenhouse and are making the most of the warm sunny days, grazing on the lawn and resting under the bushes. The bad boy Greeks are safely in their own areas. The Hermann's tortoises can always be counted on to provide endless activity and amusement. The males never tire of chasing the females and the females never tire of running away. This goes on nine months out of the year. The females seem to enjoy being chased because they will pause, look behind them to make sure the male is nearby, and then continue on. As a rule, more than one male is chasing the female and they never sit still for mating purposes. They need to become "trapped" in order to breed and the only way it ever happens in my yard is when they get stuck in the doorway of their doghouse. I may have defeated my own breeding project by buying a few new dog houses with wider doorways!

In a recent Turtle Tales newsletter from the Turtle and Tortoise Club of Florida, they mentioned my first video and questioned the water turtles in the wading pools and how "sanitary" the water was and how much work I was creating for myself. I found this to be very interesting and have written to ask them how to keep turtles in a more natural setting without the water getting smelly. I'll let you know what they say. Meanwhile, I don't use the wading pools any longer, except to house the overflow sliders coming in until they go to their new homes........I have a small pool sunk in the gound which is 8 inches deep by about four feet long by three feet wide. I "clean" it by allowing the hose to slowly run in and overflow every other day. The turtles drag in dirt as they go in and out and in the winter I don't clean it at all but leave it muddy. Please share your ideas too.

OK, who left that jar of rotted, maggot infested snails on my doorstep? UGH!

JUST IN CASE

Please make provisions for your creatures just in case. And don't will them to me!! We recently lost Cindy Tufts and her family was forced to deal with her untimely death and the painful task of finding good homes for the large tortoises. Most spouses and children do not share the same enthusiasm towards reptiles as you do. Put your wishes on a piece of paper or let me know and I'll keep it on file here and help all I can. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Cindy's family and also the family of Clyde O. Brown, long time member.