Dear Members and Friends:

Our next meeting, the Slumberama, will be held on Saturday, January 18th at the Belle Cooledge Library located on the corner of South Land Park and Fruitridge Road from 1 until 3 pm or so. No guest speaker has been scheduled so feel free to come up front and give a presentation about your favorite turtle or tortoise. Do you have a favorite? Tell us why it is so special and stands out above the others. Did you buy this turtle or tortoise in a pet shop or did someone give it to you or did you get it through our adoption program? Did you hatch it yourself? What endearing characteristics does it have? And, by the way, please remind me of your adoption request often so if something comes in that you want, I will know you are still interested.

I once said to a friend, “I need to lighten my load and give away some of my turtles”, and she asked me which ones I would be willing to say good-bye to. I looked at the tortoises, Fat Betty, the Just Jims, Clyde, Claire, Chester, Ellen, Tarzan Jr. and Tillie and I gazed at the box turtles, Tootsie, Sparky, Mr. Ed the Redhead, Roger and Rita and I also glanced over at the water turtles, Molly, Frances and many other unnamed sliders. I can honestly say I'm very attached to them all and it would be difficult to part with any of them. I'd say they are all my favorites! Even Tyson!

Baby turtles are showing up in pet shops all over town. If you see any, please let me know. We can't stop the illegal pet trade but we can encourage proper care so that the turtles have a chance at survival through our care sheets.

Does anyone know how to grow your own worms? For a city girl, I've had my share of luck raising mealworms and redworms and if I can do it, anybody can. I'll be happy to share my techniques with you at the meeting so that you'll always have a supply on hand.

If you have any expertise in this matter, please help me out. I'm sure there are many different ways to achieve healthy worms.

Thanks to all for your beautiful Christmas cards, some with photos, kind words and extra dues enclosed. You are so wonderful and the club is a success because of you out there and your kindness and generosity. I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous 2003!

RAFFLE ITEMS NEEDED. BRING YOUR TURTLE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS TO SHOW!

SEE YOU AT THE MEETING!!

WHAT TO DO IN WINTER

January can bring some warm days so be on the lookout for box turtles sitting out in the sun. Do not feed them or disturb them. Just observe them for swollen eyes or bubbly noses. Sometimes their eyes are closed and may look swollen, but they are not. Water turtles generally sit around the pond on sunny days as well. They normally have their eyes open as they bask. If one has the eyes closed and seems to be making a sound as if it is clearing its throat every few minutes, it may have pneumonia. Many turtles come out of hibernation in February and if the weather gets cold again, will go back to sleep until the weather warms up. Do NOT bring them indoors unless it is clear that they are sick and if you do bring them in, do it slowly. It's too much of a shock to take a cold turtle into a warm house. Sick turtles usually sit out all night. Watch for that.

Here's my remedy for water turtles' respiratory ailments: You will need a package of Ornacycline antibiotics for birds and some eye droppers, all available at any pet shop. Dissolve a piece of a tablet in enough water to be able to zoop it up into the eye dropper. Here's the fun part. Hold the turtle facing you and rub the eye dropper along the jawline. This should trigger him to open his mouth to bite at which time you will squirt in the liquid. It doesn't seem to matter how much or how little goes in as long as SOME goes in. You can often get them to open their mouth by tugging on a front leg as well. Do this treatment for 5 days and then see if the turtle is any better. If not, then do it for another 5 days. They are usually all well after the first 5 days. If you can't get the turtle to open its mouth, then dissolve the tablet in a little bit of water and let the turtle soak in it for a few hours a day. Good Luck!

Soon after our October meeting, I had two visitors. Kay Booth and her daughter, Christy. Kay wrote the book, “Forty Years With Tortoises” (which is still available). I gave them a tour of the yard and as I approached the greenhouse, I noticed one of the leopard tortoises upside down. I stepped inside while Christy held the door, and a moment later Christy exclaimed, “There's a baby tortoise in there”! I looked down and thought I was dreaming. There on the ground was a baby leopard tortoise and next to it was another one. My mind was spinning. Where did they come from? I put Blondie in there in August when she appeared to be ready to lay her eggs - which she did but I dug them all up -or did I? Obviously not!! After my guests left, I went back into the greenhouse and looked carefully for more and I was not disappointed. One was on the ground across from where the original two were found and as I bent down to pick it up, something caught my eye. On the shelf, three feet above the floor, was Number 4! How did he get up there? He must have climbed up the thick Bermuda grass that had taken over inside of the greenhouse. It became a convenient ladder, but he could easily have fallen through the spaces and gotten hurt. I guess he hatched under a lucky star.

As I write this, the other eggs from that batch have not hatched in the incubator*. I may have to change my incubation technique and simply place the eggs into the greenhouse during the summer because they obviously hatched very quickly at 100 + degrees, a definite no-no in all literature on incubation.

There was a Christmas Miracle at The Bunker. I keep the smaller sliders who hatch naturally in the yard in a water filled plastic tub with water hyacinths to sit on and I place a piece of screen over the top as protection from birds or other predators. About two months ago, I noticed that the smallest slider was no longer there. I looked all over and could only assume that a bird had taken him out of the container while he was sunning himself since the screen didn't completely cover the tub. I could have kicked myself for not being more careful. On December 14, during a terrible wind and rainstorm, I stepped out to bring food to the greenhouse tortoises and before going in, with my hand on the door, I spotted something on the ground in front of me. Yep. It was the missing baby, safe and sound. I picked him up and gave him a big smile and a hug and returned him to his container and he quickly swam to join the others. It is a miracle that he lived on his own for so long without being run over by the lawn mower, stepped on, picked up by birds or eaten by the bigger turtles and frogs. I simply can't understand the things that happen here. Why was he sitting in that exact spot when I went out to feed the tortoises? Why did I look down? And if you haven't had enough miracles, here's another one. *One of the leopard eggs hatched in the incubator on Christmas day. He is from the batch that I dug out of the greenhouse last August. Several more are hatching now.

I hope we don't have too much more rain this winter. I know we need the water, but Fat Betty is still in that hole in the back yard and I've put a large piece of wood over it. I'll be happy to see her sweet face again in March.

This and That………….someone reported finding their missing tortoise by looking to the northeast. You've heard this many times, however, this tortoise was INDOORS!!

Another person desperately wanted me to give her a turtle - as a pet for her 2 year old son. She said he needed something to play with…………..I told her it would bite. That turned her off. I couldn't tell her the truth, that 2 year olds can't take care of animals because she obviously thought he could.