I`m writing this so that my mistake never happens again. The internet anonymity is convenient because I`m ashamed. Sorry for the long story but I need to explain.
First, I`ll point out that my two red-eared sliders were a gift - I never wanted to be an exotic pet owner. But since I love animals and they are invasive species here in Bulgaria, I didn`t want to release them in the wild. I`ve read qiute a bit how to raise them. At some point during the 15 years I had them, we discovered that they enjoyed walking freely in the flat (out of the aquarium, though they had a dry spot there). So roughly I held them only half the time in the water. Most often they ended up hiding in the corner under the bed.
I`ve noticed that in the winter they were less energetic and most (or all?) of their food remained uneaten. I`ve heard from a vet that they could go months without food but I didn`t want to risk it. Two years ago I made an effort to observe whether they actually ate in the winter. The male would come out from under tha bed once in 1 to 3 weeks (my mistake I didn`t keep track) and would follow me like they did in the worm months (you know they are food beggers). I would put him in the water and give him food but he wouldn`t eat anything at all. "Why are you following me" I thought and assumed it was a habit or he just wanted a walk. The female came out even less often and also rejected food. "Perfect" - I thought - "a pet that doesn`t need food for 4-5 months." So I stopped feeding them in the winter during their winter lethargy (let`s call it that way because it is not exactly brumation). Still, they were water turtles, needed to swim and to moisturise their skin so I put them in water whenever they came out. That was very convenient because I didn`t have to take them from the hardly vailable corner under the bed. That system worked perfectly last winter. Only at the beginning of March when they had stayed a little longer without water their eyes were closed. I worried but 10 seconds in the aquarium and their eyes opened. Everything is ok, I thought, maybe they just have glued their eyelids together after drying out.
This winter I was very busy since I`m finishing my PhD thesis. The turtles had their walks and started following me more often in February. I always said to myself I would fill the aquarium with water and put them there in the weekend. But I never did because in the weekend I focused on finishing my writing "qouta". At that time I noticed the female walking around the kitchen with her eyes closed. "Oh poor thing" I thought and held it for a while in the sink water splashing on her. 10 seconds and she opened her eyes. "It`s ok but I really should put them in the aquarium this weekend - it could be bad for their eyes and their muscles need swimming." But I didn`t. Anyway, March was close and that`s when I would start to feed them.
A week later, in the evening of February the 15th 2018 my father said "I moved the turtle from the kitchen because maybe it was freezing - it hardly moved". A sinister suspision crawled in me. I went to the turtle and found it dead. I cried and screamed and apologised to it while frantically moving her in front of a heater, trying to warm her, moving her limbs in attempt to wake her, in ope that she was just hibernating or something. Then I rushed for the male and also found him dead. Their eyes were beginning to sunk in their orbits.
-What have they died from? - my parents asked.
-Hunger! - I cried
-How long haven`t you fed them?
-Two months and a week.
-What?!
-I have told you they go in lethargy during the winter and they don`t eat!
So I thought that they could do this for 14 winters but die from hunger in the 15th… Later in the night a realisation came to me. Probably tou`ve already figured it out. They did not die from hunger, they died from thirst. As stupid as it sounds it never came to my mind that they needed to drink. Water was just a medium they lived in. If cats went into lethargy and stopped eating I wouldn`t deprive them of their bowl for water unless I checked they didn`t need it. But turtles don`t use bowl of water. Now I know that when the animals were following me in the winter they didn`t wont food or to walk but water. Too late. Even when I put the female in the sink that time I was aiming to hydrate her eyes and skin, not internally. On the night they died I recollected reading that sometimes when sick they should be put in shallow water that allowed them only to DRINK. But that was 10 years ago and I had forgotten it. Maybe closed eyes that cannot be open are a sign of dehydratation but I`m too traumatised to search it.
The thought how they suffered while dying from thirst is breaking my heart. Also that in the last days of their lives they were folowing me in need of water but I wasn`t doing and probaby felt betrayed.
The day after they died I was constantly reading confessions of people who killed their pets by accident - the only thing that gave me some solace. In the night I dreamt about putting a dehydrated turtle in water.
I have to admit that learning about the death from thirst of tens of thousands of wildebeests due to the Botswanian government building kilometres of fences in their migration routes didn`t make me feel as bad as tha fact that I was responsible for the painful death of two turtles.
After the incident I starting reading more about chelonians and was horrified to learn that turtles, especially softshells are butchered alive all around Southeast Asia and in Bali (in the markets without refrigeration) (http://nytts.org/asia/twilliams.htm). But any our petitions against this would be taken for Western cultural imperialism and ignored. So before their society evolves into mire humane towards animals, its best to focus on preserving chelonians in their natural habitat.
I`ve learned about the torturing of other animals - dogs and cats in the mentioned places - after that I`ll never be the same. They think that torturing a dog before its death inhances the flavour. Also there is a myth created by the dog and cat meat industry there - that meat from a tortured dog boosts libido. It`s certain that mass beatings of dogs before slaughter happened years ago and the mentality there is changing, especially in young people. Butchers in the infamous Yulin dogmeat festival don`t have time to torture each dog. Still, some dogs in Indonesia not dead after bludgeoning when they are blow-torched! Not to mention occasional videos of people burning or boiling dogs alive before they eat them! A lot of Chinese themselves are disgusted by those kind of people but there are no laws protecting animals from cruelty so there is not much they can do.
I`ve been researching this and that is why I`m writing so late. There`s plenty of information on the internet.
After everything described I`ve decided to help animals and people who suffer unbearably - by searching a job in some conservation NGO, and donations or volunteering (The Chelonian Research Foundation was the only one that answered me about the butchering of live turtles issue). At least the regretful event made me a better person.
In conclusion - don`t hold your turtle out of water for long and take care!
