Dear Members and Friends:

Our Slumberama (Winter meeting) will be held on Saturday, January 20th from approximately 1:30 until 4 at the Belle Cooledge Library located on the corner of Fruitridge Road and South Land Park Drive. If the weather is very rainy or foggy, we'll call it off and if you are in doubt, please give me a call. Please notice a year's worth of confirmed meeting dates listed above. When I went into the library in October to book our April meeting, I was told that all Saturdays in April AND May were already taken. I expressed my dismay since this goes against the library's 6 month policy regarding securing the meeting room which I have been obediently following from day one. I was forced to take March 24th for our Spring meeting. I then requested all of the above dates through next January and, as a favor, they were given to us. So for now, we are all set.

We had a great time at the October meeting. Father Dimitri gave the final word on whether or not your turtles or tortoises were healthy enough to hibernate. Thank you so much for donating your time for a good cause! There was quite an array if delightful snacks you all brought including several turtle-shaped foods. My favorite was the bread bowl containing a spinach dip created by Ron & Lynn Petersen. It had a head, legs and a tail and when you lifted up the top part of the bread, there was the dip. Great Job! There were also several turtles dressed up in their Halloween costumes which we enjoyed viewing. You are all so creative!

Linda Schooler, Pet Psychic, cannot make it to this meeting but has promised to be at our March 24th meeting and will give a presentation on what she does and also give private readings at the back of the room during the rest of the meeting. And that brings us to the January meeting. It's called the Slumberama because there's not much happening in the middle of January. Bring your turtle and tortoise questions to the meeting and we'll try to answer them. It is never easy getting through the winter months. I'll include some tips at the bottom of this page. Also, we could use more raffle items, so consider re-gifting those unwanted Christmas presents! I hope the weather behaves and we can get together.

SEE YOU AT THE SLUMBERAMA!!!

Winter Tips: Outdoor turtles - if anyone is basking all night, that could be a problem. Turtles normally go under cover when the sun goes down so they are safe from predators. Sitting out is a way of causing their own demise when they are sick. They certainly know how to live and die.

Outdoor tortoises - keep an eye out for any tortoises who decide to come out and bask. Quite often they become too chilled and don't go back into their shelters. It does not mean they are sick. Put them back and if they continue to come out and not go back into their houses, then you might consider bringing them indoors slowly. It's simply impossible to know what to do!! If the pet feels very light, then by all means, end the hibernation. The same goes for a runny nose and swollen eyes. If you have pairs of turtles and tortoises, always watch for hatchlings on the lawn. They hatch unexpectedly, especially after a winter rain, and are easily stepped on. The low sun makes them easier to see.

Indoor turtles and tortoises may eat less and sleep a lot. You could allow them to go dormant for 6 to 8 weeks without harm. By Valentine's Day, everything will start returning to normal.

It is winter and not a creature is stirring except for the Greek tortoises who think icy cold nights are just fine and coming out to bask and even eat in the morning sunshine is an ok thing to do. They have great doghouses to sleep in but most nights I discover them either sleeping by the cactus or in the soggy bog with the box turtles. A few Russians also entered the bog and I had no idea they were there until we had some heavy rain and there they were, covered in mud, trying to climb out of the mess they had gotten themselves into. Fat Betty was not included because she is far more sophisticated than that. She is snugly in her doghouse sleeping away the winter.

As always, plenty of sliders have come in for adoption. The reasons for giving them away are always the same. They have outgrown their aquarium (where they never should have been in the first place), or they smell or the child who owned it grew up and left and nobody wants to take care of it or best of all, they are moving. No turtle has ever been turned over to me that lives in an outdoor pond. Not one. The last slider was delivered missing all of her legs thanks to a raccoon attack. She's doing nicely in my utility sink in the laundry room. Is anyone interested in adopting her? She'll need special care and should not be with other turtles. They probably would kill her. That's what turtles do if given the opportunity.

There are leopard tortoises hatching and I also have a new cat who adopted me who is quite frisky and curious and likes to play with toy mice. He obviously thinks the baby leopards are mice because I have caught him carefully reaching into the screened container and slowly lifting one of the babies out and begin playing with it. I made a new container for them with an even tighter lid and the next thing I knew, the entire container was upside down. This is not good! Next step is putting them into a closet and locking the door!!

About 4 weeks ago, I noticed Blondie the Leopard, pacing in the greenhouse again. I knew egg laying was fast approaching. This would be her third clutch since August. Luckily, she managed to lay the 11 eggs quickly and I was able to dig them up (not in my nightgown this time) by midnight. I carried the eggs to the kitchen sink and carefully washed them off with lukewarm water. I don't know if it is the correct thing to do, but I like them clean so I can see if they are fertile or not. When they were clean, I put them into a tray and then realized there was no more room in the incubator since Clutch #1 (10 eggs) and Clutch #2 (11 eggs) were in there. I walked from room to room. "What do normal people do at night", I wondered. At some point I realized that there was an empty drawer in a dresser in an upstairs bedroom. And that became my new incubator. I put a hot rock in with the eggs and closed the drawer. PERFECT!! I had inadvertently discovered a wonderful place for incubating eggs. It is staying at a comfortable 90 degrees which means the hatchlings may turn out to be females for a change. Time will tell.

Two nights before Christmas, I went out to check the yard around 8 pm and was so upset to see about 20 box turtles lying upside down in their habitat, obviously dug out of the bog and other hibernation spots. All were tightly closed up. I assumed a raccoon had come to visit. Perhaps more than one. Even the fake turtles were upside down!! My Havahart trap was on the front porch because the day before, my small goldfish had been taken from the little pond and I suspected it might be a predator. Obviously, I was right. I have two traps set up in the back yard now and am once again sleeping with the Driveway Patrol alarm on my pillow. (Yes it is time for the funny farm) With luck, they were just passing through and won't be back.

Thank you all for your wonderful holiday cards and good wishes and extra dues. It is all greatly appreciated more than you will ever know. I do wish you all a Happy and Healthy and Prosperous 2007.