Post by jacquisunderland on Jun 5, 2011 23:49:05 GMT
I am a charity shop manager for a animal welfare charity. one day a lady rang up asking for help to rehome her 2 turtles as she couldnt look after them properly due to ill health. She said she had a bad back and was getting rashes on her hands off the turtles. Her 2 x 2" turtles in a 3 ft tank turned out to be 2 x 6" turtles in a 5ft long x 2ft wide by 18" deep tank. At first I thought they were yellow eared sliders but after seeing Waynes fab article on 'The One Show' I think they might be Razor Edges. Until I could get some help the following week to move them i cleaned them out myself which took me 4 hours!!! A i churned up the gravel the water was like sludge,she hadnt cleaned them out for 6 months!!! 
When I got them moved to to my house, opposite wall in my dining room to my 2.. I observed them closely, when they basked and their shells dried out you could see their was somethig very wrong. One night one was plopping about trying to swim, when i picked her up she looked very pink, she had no resistance and her neck was floppy which really upset me. I looked up turtle rescue on the web and found Waynes number.. despite being half 9 at night he was so helpful, even if it was just reassurance that i was doing everything right but I had to get her to a vet first thing.. I couldnt thank him enough, even for just listening in my hour of need. I hardly slept and dreaded coming down the stairs the next morning, apprehensive of what I might find.. but god love her she had made it through the night so I was at the vet on opening at 9. He recommened I saw his colleague in the afternoon who knew more about reptiles and to take them both. To my horror the vet said she had a catalogue of ailments including behind and on the eyes being ulcerated probably caused by a poor diet and terrible living conditions. At best with months of costly treatment and no guarantee she would live at all she would be blind.. she said she was suffering and recommended she was euthanised.. I was heart broken.. if only she had rang me sooner. Her little 'sister' although not guaranteed, had a better chance as she was eating and her eyes look clear. I've changed the blue moon bulb to a U.V and she gets a vitamin supplement, shes nearly finished her medication now and is doing well on a diet of fresh lettuce, tomato, whitebait, raw king prawns,prawns and shrimp with the shell on , mussels, crayfish and her favourite and my least favourite.. pinkies! I've decided to keep the large tank and working with the local aquarium centre who regularly gets overgrown turtles back and other animal rescue centres I know in the area to try and responsibly rehome other turtles who need some t.l.c. to reduce the number of these facinating and intelligent creatures dying a long and agonising death.
My latest member of the gang is a georgeous big female red ear slider approx 10" I've nick named big mamma-mia.. to keep my little patient company.. xx
When I got them moved to to my house, opposite wall in my dining room to my 2.. I observed them closely, when they basked and their shells dried out you could see their was somethig very wrong. One night one was plopping about trying to swim, when i picked her up she looked very pink, she had no resistance and her neck was floppy which really upset me. I looked up turtle rescue on the web and found Waynes number.. despite being half 9 at night he was so helpful, even if it was just reassurance that i was doing everything right but I had to get her to a vet first thing.. I couldnt thank him enough, even for just listening in my hour of need. I hardly slept and dreaded coming down the stairs the next morning, apprehensive of what I might find.. but god love her she had made it through the night so I was at the vet on opening at 9. He recommened I saw his colleague in the afternoon who knew more about reptiles and to take them both. To my horror the vet said she had a catalogue of ailments including behind and on the eyes being ulcerated probably caused by a poor diet and terrible living conditions. At best with months of costly treatment and no guarantee she would live at all she would be blind.. she said she was suffering and recommended she was euthanised.. I was heart broken.. if only she had rang me sooner. Her little 'sister' although not guaranteed, had a better chance as she was eating and her eyes look clear. I've changed the blue moon bulb to a U.V and she gets a vitamin supplement, shes nearly finished her medication now and is doing well on a diet of fresh lettuce, tomato, whitebait, raw king prawns,prawns and shrimp with the shell on , mussels, crayfish and her favourite and my least favourite.. pinkies! I've decided to keep the large tank and working with the local aquarium centre who regularly gets overgrown turtles back and other animal rescue centres I know in the area to try and responsibly rehome other turtles who need some t.l.c. to reduce the number of these facinating and intelligent creatures dying a long and agonising death.
My latest member of the gang is a georgeous big female red ear slider approx 10" I've nick named big mamma-mia.. to keep my little patient company.. xx
