Dear Members and Friends:

Our Spring meeting will be held on Saturday, April 12th from 1:30 until 4 at the Belle Cooledge Library which is located on the corner of South Land Park and Fruitridge Road. Father Dimitri will be our guest speaker and he will discuss seasonal problems (such as coming out of hibernation and proper hydration of your turtles and tortoises) and will discuss stimulating breeding activity and preparing for egg development. It will be a very interesting and informative talk.

By now your turtles and tortoises are probably completely out of hibernation, although some can take longer than others to emerge. There are always a few who refuse to eat even though they appear to be healthy. Check the non-eater thoroughly. Bad signs are a runny, bubbly nose or half-closed or even completely closed eyes and lethargy. Carefully look for lumps, bumps or ticks or a hidden wound, which would be infested with maggots. Make sure no limbs are missing. It's amazing how well they hide wounds. SLOWLY turn the turtle or tortoise over. Is the head limp and wobbly? This is definitely not a good sign. If the head retracts and has good muscle tone, it is an encouraging sign. If the turtle has a B.M., examine it for worms. Urine should not be a fluorescent blue color. If it is, call your vet immediately.

If everything looks ok, then be patient. Sometimes things have changed in your yard and your turtle is aware that something is different. The familiar 'landmarks' are not where they used to be. I'd like to remind you never to take anything out of the enclosure, if at all possible. Do not move rocks or logs that the turtles are used to climbing over or hiding under and never move their water dishes. You can add to the environment, but once things are set in place for awhile, please try to leave it alone. Make sure your non-eater drinks water every few days to prevent dehydration and by the middle of May, they should all be eating well.

SEE YOU AT THE MEETING! IT'S OUR 22ND YEAR - WOW!!

Mealworm Farming - It's So Easy!!

Stop paying high prices for mealworms when you can grow your own very easily. You'll need a wide plastic container (I never found a lid necessary since the worms can't climb up the smooth plastic sides). Buy some wheat bran in the health food department of the supermarket or a health food store. You can add chick starter to the bran if you want to which is available at feed stores and some pet shops. I have used oatmeal successfully as well. You'll need to buy a container of mealworms at first to get started and after a few weeks, you'll see an amazing number of baby mealworms in the culture. For food, every few days add sliced potatoes and/or carrots and refresh it as necessary. If the container starts to smell, simply start over. Never let it get wet. I keep mine at room temperature all winter but out on the patio for the summer. It's especially useful to have your own mealworm farm if you have baby box or water turtles. They love the tiny mealworms.

The Bunker was a busy place indoors all winter. Around Christmas, Blondie's (the Leopard tortoise) 30+ eggs began hatching. There were three clutches in two homemade incubators. Eggs don't always hatch at once, so each day I had to check the incubators to see if anyone had hatched and the fun began when I set them up in separate containers in the spare bedroom and they refused food for several weeks. It's amazing how something the size of a walnut can drive you nuts. Eventually, one began to eat and then the others followed suit.

On February 25th, Fat Betty emerged from her hole in the ground. I was so happy to see her sweet little face. She was dirty and slightly damp but apparently in good health. I placed her in a safe area away from the spot she was in and I then filled the deep hole up with dirt and at one point my shovel touched something that was definitely not a rock. Oops, it was a box turtle who obviously decided not to hibernate in the safe enclosure but to climb out and bury himself in the tall grass where I mow.

The leopards in the greenhouse are very ready to come out to enjoy another season of sun and fun. They certainly 'know' when the time is right and become restless and run to the door to escape whenever I open it to enter or throw in some food. It's always a relief to let them out into the yard again, although the danger of predators is a constant worry to me as it is to all of you. We have to be on the lookout at all times for raccoons, possums, rats and dogs. Birds can also steal our babies before we even have a chance to find them.

All of the Just Jims (The Greeks) and Joltin' Joe (the deformed Marginata) have come out of hibernation as well as the Hermanns - all waking up at the same time and carrying on as if they never slept at all. Isn't it wonderful to see our old friends once again every spring? I hope all of yours have come through it safely.

There are an abundance of beautiful red-eared sliders here. Most of them were raised in aquariums but have outgrown them and are ready for the great outdoors. I am happy when people turn them in for adoption because living in an aquarium is no life for a turtle of any kind. Living in an aquarium is like being in prison and the bigger they get, the more confined they feel. So it is best to let them go into an outdoor pond before they grow grotesque or wither and die.

Make Your Own Incubator

All you need is a Styrofoam ice chest, a small electric hot rock, a piece of stiff mesh screening (sometimes called ‘hardware cloth’) and a large cup of water. Place the hot rock on the bottom of the ice chest. Create a ‘shelf’ by placing the screen on the ledge that is inside of the ice chest. The screen should fit snugly all around so a hatchling cannot fall through accidentally. Place a large cup of water next to the hot rock and make sure it does not go dry. Place the eggs in a tray (I line mine with dry green moss) and put a thermometer by the eggs. Put the tray on the ledge and then put the cover on and every few weeks, peek in to see if everything is ok and there’s no bad smell. The dry moss would be for tortoise eggs. For box or water turtles I would add wet moss and keep it wet throughout the incubation process. GOOD LUCK!