Dear Members and Friends:

Our Spring meeting will be held on Saturday, April 17th from 1:30 until 4 at the Belle Cooledge Library located on the corner of Fruitridge Road and South Land Park Drive close to I-5. Darlene Pond and Cheryl Darnell, who co-chair the Reno TurToise Club, will be coming to the meeting (weather permitting) to talk about the Desert Tortoise Symposium they recently attended in Las Vegas and will answer questions you have about the care and feeding of desert tortoises. Cheryl would also like to share an exhibit with you regarding a box turtle that had been run over and half of its shell was destroyed. She brought it back to health and will tell you how she did it. Cheryl does wonders with sick and injured turtles and tortoises.

Darlene told me of a demonstration of tortoise-finding dogs at the symposium. They have been trained to sniff out tortoises in the desert. While wildlife biologists can find 45 to 55%, the dogs find 98% of them! Isn't that amazing? They are trained the same way people train dogs to find drugs. At the symposium, they had six cardboard boxes spread all over the room with juvenile desert tortoises in two of them. The dog went to the right ones immediately. Everyone was impressed.

We'll also be discussing post-hibernation problems at the meeting and show impromptu incubators for those surprised by eggs before you had a regular incubator ready. Last year some tortoises were laying eggs in February. I have not had any reports of that happening this year, however, it's very important to be ready for eggs at all times.

Does anyone remember March 7? It was the first warm day we had since last October. I was happy to see 99% of the hibernating turtles suddenly basking with only one casualty floating in the pond. After the long, cold, wet, foggy, dreary winter, it was wonderful to see my old friends again. I'm sure you all felt the same way. I had a lot of reports of box turtles developing swollen eyes after they emerged. My advice was to soak them often in warm water up to their nostrils and I don't mean for 5 minutes. Start by keeping them in water for about 24 hours. Most of them are dehydrated and this helps. After that, an hour a day should be sufficient. Meanwhile, treat the eyes with Terramycin Ophthalmic Ointment twice a day in each eye; or any other ophthalmic ointment you may have in your medicine cabinet for animals or people. It's important to have some on hand at all times. Don't wait until tomorrow or next week. Treat the eyes immediately. A turtle or tortoise that cannot see will not eat.

Judy Pitt, who has been a club member since the very beginning, was at our last meeting and had set up a table displaying Mary Kay skin care products. Thanks to all who bought some of the items and thanks to Judy who kindly donated a portion of her profits to the club.

I would like to remind you that it is OK to leave your “indoor” turtles and tortoises outdoors overnight (under shelter, of course) when the nighttime temperatures are 50 degrees or more. It's not how cold it is but how long it is cold.

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ALL AT THE MEETING!!

SPRING HINTS: It's that time again - time to inspect the yard for little white rocks the tortoises love to eat. Try to get rid of as many as you can. The soil turns over every year revealing new ones. It's a never-ending problem. Look for hair, fur, pins, rubberbands, baggie ties, string, small pits and other harmful debris. Be Alert! Dangers are everywhere. Ravens can pick up hatchlings and other turtles as large as Russian tortoises, so try to protect your smaller chelonians. Never leave your dog alone with your turtles.

Club member, Mary Halbrook, told me about a product called the “Driveway Patrol” she had bought at Fry's Electronics store. Of course it is a product to be set up in your driveway to let you know if someone is approaching, but we know it has an even better purpose. It's a great predator alert! Being too lazy to go to Fry's, I bought my unit from someone on eBay and set it up in the back yard. I attached the transmitter to my back porch facing the tortoise pens and ponds and set the alarm unit on the kitchen counter. A few nights later, I almost fell out of my chair when the alarm went off and when I dashed to the door, I saw a huge possum running through the yard. Luckily, it kept on going, but I set up the Havahart trap anyway. The alarm unit can be left outside to scare off the predator, but I'm not sure your neighbors would appreciate this loud noise at 3 in the morning. Driveway Patrol costs about $20 and is well worth it.

It seemed as if winter would never end. Did it seem that way to any of you? I miss the box turtles as the cold months drag on. I miss seeing the tortoises going about their daily routine of basking, eating, napping, basking, eating and napping. Finally it is April and our pets are coming back to life (although it started in March this year). Unfortunately, there are bound to be casualties now and then. It is usually Mother Nature at work so don't blame yourself if there is a death. Most of the time, illnesses are well hidden until the inevitable happens.

A few weeks ago, a surprise arrived At The Bunker. Her name is Luna. The surprise turned out to be on me. She came in disguised as a Greek female tortoise. I was very pleased to accept her because there are several lonely males living here all going by the name of Just Jim. She was delivered at night so I didn't get a very good look at her, but at first glance, she was a healthy female. She was obviously not pleased and left her huge droppings on my front porch as the transfer was made. I smiled and took her inside and gently placed her into a clean box for the night. In the morning, after I finished my cup of tea, I picked her up to say hello and I thought that she just didn't look right. She kind of looked like a Greek, but something was wrong. What the heck was that hinge on her shell? Greeks don't have hinges. Darn! She's a Bell's Hingeback tortoise! Oh well. The boys will have to wait awhile longer for their dream to come true.

A clutch of leopard tortoise eggs hatched at the beginning of February. These eggs were laid in the greenhouse last September. I left them alone until the time came to put the large tortoises back into the greenhouse at the end of October. I tried to protect the nest but it was impossible. The leopards were determined to move the bricks and wire and defecate and urinate on that spot.

I had to risk digging up the eggs because if I didn't, none would have hatched, yet I really didn't know if I was going to kill them by digging them up halfway through their incubation. I needed to give them a chance at life. I moved them to my indoor incubator. There were 9 eggs in that clutch. 8 hatched and they are so beautiful, light in color, like their mother, Blondie. The 9th egg, which did not hatch with the others, seemed heavy and I became concerned when, after two weeks, it still had not hatched. I did not want to break it open because this is never a good idea. I went to Plan B. Music! My keyboard and speakers share the room with the incubator and I decided to play some upbeat songs one night including “I Will Survive” and lo and behold, when I looked into the incubator the next morning, I could see tiny cracks in the egg. I was cautiously optimistic because there was a chance it was getting ready to explode. After dinner, I peeked in again and was so happy to see a perfectly formed leopard hatchling sitting there, completely out of its egg.

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!!