I never thought in all my years with my turtles, that I would ever have to make a post like this.
This evening I learned from my mother that a week ago, she tried to toss a wrapper from one of those mini-snickers bars into her garbage pail, and somehow it ended up in Sadie's tank instead, and Sadie ate the whole thing. My first thought, honestly, was "At least she ate a wrapper and not chocolate". (I make it a point to assume that chocolate is toxic to all pets).
My second thought was a deep, deep worry that she'll become impacted. Sadie is a full-grown female, and she eats some pretty good sized portions of her NORMAL food, so my logic tells me that a wrapper of that size should be small enough for her to pass it. She hasn't shown any signs of being impacted or any signs of illness. Basically, she's behaving normally. But naturally, I'm still worried and watching her closely. First sign of trouble and she's off to the vet (thank heavens I have a vet who specializes in reptile care).
I really hope that when I clean the tanks tomorrow, that I will find a glob of poo in Sadie's house with a snickers wrapper in it.
On a side note, Typhoon ate a snapped rubber band a couple of years ago, and passed it. I have absolutely no idea how a rubber band got in her tank, because it definitely didn't happen under my watch. One time of a turtle eating a non-food item and surviving, and I can call it a mistake and move on. But this is two times now, coupled with all the other less-than-intelligent things my mom has done over the years due to her stubbornness and lack of insight. It's been a huge debate between her and I because she thinks that it's "dangerous" to have canopies on their tanks; it "traps them in there" is what she says. I'm not kidding you, that is literally what she thinks. Versus all the problems it would solve like when I wake up at 6:45 am to a loud THUNK in my living room because Hurricane has yet again launched herself out of the tank. Or even worse, when I hear KABLAM a couple hours later and I know it's Sadie, and always find her laying upside-down on the hardwood floor. This does not happen daily, once or twice a month at the most, but it's frequent enough to be an issue. And of course, the issue of things ending up in their tanks that shouldn't be there. I hate open-topped aquariums! Having better, more durable basking docks, privacy, totally worth it. And it's going to happen now whether she likes it or not, because I can't take the stress of having to make my turtle's houses "idiot-proof".
