This is my first post and I have an incredible story to share. We got our RES Sparky as a baby on election day in 2004. He is a somewhat aggressive turtle, as we bought another baby at the same time who did not grow well, and Sparky eventually attacked and killed him.
Anyway, in April of this year he broke his dock, and needed to get out to bask. As the weather was getting warmer, I started putting him in other containers in the sun (first indoors then outdoors) so he had some basking time.
Well, the day before Easter I put him out in a shoe-box sized plastic container that I thought he couldn't escape (my bad). I took a walk with my 2 year old son, and 45 minutes later, Sparky was gone without a trace. My three sons and I were heartbroken and I felt VERY guilty. We searched high and low and Sparky was nowhere to be found.
We have a fenced in backyard and there were not many places for him to hide. We have a line of several pine trees so there is barely any grass in the back. There are a few plants, and a shed. Behind the shed, he could have escaped the yard. Under the shed we have a family of bunnies and sometimes we have seen a small badger. There are squirrels and birds too. We live in southheast Pennsylvania and after the warm up at Easter, it was pretty chilly for several days.
Although we prayed for otherwise, I assumed that even if he was not attacked by another animal (stray cats included), he would not have survived the cold nights we had as well as being out of water for so long - there is no water in our yard except when it rains.
Boy, was I wrong! This weekend we had a ton of rain (like everyone else in the Northeast) and lo and behold, exactly 10 weeks after escaping, Sparky was spotted walking around the backyard out in the open - as if the world was his playground!
He is now safely back in his tank, and he seems much more appreciative of having a free meal. Other than some shedding skin, he does not seem that much worse for the wear.
We are amazed that he survived for that long on his own. Prior to leaving us, he loved eating worms, but would not eat lettuce, zucchini or many turtle pellets. Since he's been back with us he has eaten a nice fat earthworm, some cuttlebone and some pellets. We got him one of those Zoomed floating logs for a dock and he seems pretty happy with it.
We know that his survival was an answer to our prayers, as there can be no other explanation for how he survived those rough conditions. I am assuming he hid in a spot under the shed during the cold nights (the ground woudl still be warm) and somehow ventured out whenever there was rain. I imagine he ate bugs and possibly some worms.
Have you ever heard of a turtle surviving those conditions for such a long time? Do you have any thoughts as to what he could have done to survive and thrive during that time? Is there anything we should be checking him for?
We are just so pleased to welcome Sparky home!!
