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Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:28 pm
by steve
My female RES preferred dirt, I don't think yours would like sand. They are very picky and instinctive to where and when they want to lay eggs, I don't think any here has had a successful in-tank nesting area like the one in your picture. It's worth a shot though.

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:54 pm
by turtlenojutsu
Bummer! My status as resident "turtle noob" is showing through. That's too bad that it likely won't do.

Only reason I was trying to make the in-tank thing work is that I can't even seem to get her to climb an eight inch ramp onto her basking area, much less a foot-and-a-half tall tank into another enclosed area. These guys are hard too, as I just don't think a lot of people own them... or if they do, they certainly don't have the kind of documentation/fan following that the RES community has for their species. Just not a lot out there for me to emulate/take from for her.

I guess I just have a lot more reading to do. In the interim, I don't think how I have it currently will hurt anything... it is fun watching her act so curiously around it (when she thinks I'm not looking/in the room, ha).

Hope you don't mind all my questions/prompts for feedback on here - I know this thread has been largely a dialogue between the two of us. At the very least it provides some new material for the lurkers (somehow this thread has over 1,400 views?). Thread is also kind of a fun, public place for me to journal my successes and pitfalls with Winnie (although it's probably on the wrong board now, I guess).

I hope you have a Happy New Year! Thanks again for all you do on here - even though it's pretty inactive nowadays it's a gold mine of information in a lot of ways, especially for new-comers like myself.

Regards,

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 11:05 pm
by steve
I guess we do have an audience. It doesn't seem like she's exhibited any signs of being gravid, so there's something else probably bothering her.

Happy New Year to you too!

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:13 pm
by turtlenojutsu
Yeah - did some more reading and I agree. She's eating this morning too. Still not sure what to make of her bloat though... she needs to make a New Year's resolution to take some weight off.

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:28 pm
by turtlenojutsu
What kinds of dirt/other materials are good to mix with sand for a potential basking/nesting area? I've heard that peat is commonly used as well.

Also, I'm having a hard time figuring out Winnie's species. Here are a couple reading resources if you want to try to help. Hi-res pics of Winnie can be found on page 1 of this thread.

http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload ... opic=80160

http://www.pelomedusa.com/Subspecies.html

I believe she is Pelomedusa subrufa, but I am not completely sure.

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:48 am
by steve
Not sure what other kind of substrate, but my turtle really preferred damp dirt.

Can you post a pic of the plastron? P.s. olivacea has a similar facial marking but P.s. subrufa i s close too.

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:13 pm
by turtlenojutsu
Thanks, Steve! Here are some pics:

Carapace:
Image

Plastron:
Image

Bonus pics:

Guardian kitty:
Image

Sandy basking area v2.0 (she actually uses it... she especially likes to bury herself under the log side. It's roughly 18" x 12" x 7".):
Image

Another view (that little dark blotch under the log/under the sand in the pic is Winnie, lol):
Image

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 9:07 am
by steve
According to http://www.pelomedusa.com/Subspecies.html I'd stick with P.s. olivacea, where they state "pectoral scutes are widely separated by the femoral scutes."

Image

Cute cat :) We should at cat emoji to the forum.

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Thu Jan 14, 2016 12:33 am
by turtlenojutsu
Thanks for taking the time to look! I think you may be right, although there are unfortunately cases for both species that leave me puzzled. And definitely yes on the cat emoji. :)

Here's how I'm looking at Winnie right now (info taken from the sources above):

For P.s. subrufa:
-Broad first vertebral scute
-Shell more circular than oblong
-Head coloring seems more consistent with subrufa (strong dark/light contrast between top half/bottom half)

For P.s. olivacea:
-"...pectoral scutes are widely separated by the femoral scutes." - Definitely so on this one; glad we were seeing the same thing here.
-Plastron coloring fans out in a gradient-like manner, which seems consistent with olivacea

Unknowns:
-I'm just not sure what he means by a "hinge": "The easiest way to tell Pelomedusa from Pelusios is the fact that Pelomedusa has no hinge between the pectoral and abdominal scutes on the plastron. Because of this, the bridge (the area where the plastron meets the carapace) is formed by both the pectoral and abdominal scutes whereas in Pelusios the bridge is formed only by the abdominal scutes, the pectoral scutes being included in the anterior lobe."
-Shell coloration seems to be hit or miss... depending on the photo she looks more like one than the other

I think the more I stare at all this the more confused I get, lol. Maybe some of these things weigh more heavily than others? She is definitely a "she" though - at least we know that. Like a traitor I signed up for a http://turtleforum.com/ account, ha (don't worry, my loyalties are here! xD). There's one guy over there in particular that seems like he really knows ASN terrapins forwards and backwards... I might link him to this thread over there.

Have a great evening!

steve wrote:According to http://www.pelomedusa.com/Subspecies.html I'd stick with P.s. olivacea, where they state "pectoral scutes are widely separated by the femoral scutes."

Image

Cute cat :) We should at cat emoji to the forum.

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:19 am
by Kingbird44
I hope Winnie is still doing well!
PetSmart seems to have a thing for African Sidenecks, huh? We have a brand-spanking-new PetSmart here. It came with its very own African Sideneck turtle. I've been there twice so far and once it was sleeping on land, and once it was sleeping underwater. Unless it was dead when it was under water...

I mentioned something to the cashier the second time I was there, but I didn't know much about African Sidenecks. I saw another post here that some species might be nocturnal?

Our local PetCo seems to have responded by getting Mississippi Map turtles in when it previously didn't sell aquatic turtles. I asked the guy there why there was no thermometer on land. He said there was one under water... I said, you need both. Those Mississippi Maps look active and happy for the time being, but they just got them in. I wish pet stores wouldn't sell tutles. Or birds for that matter. Or most animals. :(

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Sat May 27, 2017 7:38 am
by litefoot
You may get some help with your local Humane Society?

Re: Advice needed on sick turtle at Petsmart

PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2017 9:25 am
by Kingbird44
Yeah, thats a good idea if it gets bad enough. I went back again and the African Sideneck was on land and awake (but sluggish once again). I talked to an employee about it, and she said that their vet said the turtle was fine and that she had mentioned something to the manager, but that they have to follow the 'corporate' rules about turtle set-up, etc.

She said I wasn't the first person to ask about their turtle. It's on sale now... I told her to bring it up with the manager again.