Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A restaurant just a little over a mile from where I live, Oriental Forest Buffet, has three turtles in a tank with their fish (two painteds and one one slider) (Golfdiva, it's at 54th Street and Clyde Park Ave). I wonder if any kids get interested and want to touch/play with the turtles before sitting down to eat....

BTW, they have no heal lamps or UV lamps for those turtles. That's not good.

Instead of complaining to us about it, why don't you be proactive and talk to the owner, help them out with educational information about proper care, and help them to put a sceened top with heat and UV lamps, so the children and everyone who visits that restaruant can safely enjoy and get excited about watching and learning about turtles. Don't mean to sound nasty and don't take it personally, but this is my opinion on how we "herpers" can make a more positive and productive impact to promote our interests to others. It is far better to help people than to condemn them for their wrongs.
Jeff

sorry, didn't mean to "complain" about it. Just thought it was interesting to find turtles in a place such as that.

They are one of those food items that don't necessarily turn up on the regular menu....

lol...ahhh so tastes just like chicken?

It wasn't meant as a joke.

Seriously, it tastes like chicken, i've had snapping turtle before.

but if the turtles in the tank are diamondback terrapins, I wouldn't eat at that restuarant for all the money in the world and I would tell everyone I know not to support it either.

The problem with getting a UV lamp, heat lamp, and cover would be that there is no easy way to set them up because the water is only a couple inches away from the glass. The turtles might not even be able to get on the "land" - the our hypothetical cover would get in the way.

Didn't mean to come down on you just trying to help the situation. So i'm guessing they have the tank nearly filled up for the fish and filters, with or without basking site. I few years back I wanted to keep a turtle in my 75 gal. display fish tank in my living room, so I built a 4 sided box with a bottom, out of plexiglass and silicone glued togather, cut to fit so that it would sit on the rim of the top tank frame. The bottom piece however was cut about 9" short of the over-all length of the box, so as to leave an opening in the floor. Then I lined the floor with plastic canvas (for support) the same dimentions of the box, and then siliconed a piece of reptile carpet on top of the plastic canvas the same size, then slightly bend it down so that the 9" goes into the water at about a 30 degree angle. The turtles will quickly find that they can climb out on the carpet to bask. They also sell floating logs and plastic haul-outs in pet suppliers, but the water level would have to be lowered to prevent them crawling out, or a plexigass backside could be attached or a board placed behind the tank higher than the tank height with something between it and a wall to support it, like some bricks perhaps. Generally fish and aquatic turtles don't mix, but it can be done and I have always feed my aquatic turtles a mix of reptimin, cichlid sticks, krill, frozen brine shrimp and live redworms.. the same things I feed my fish anyway. Hope this helps, but if the owner doesnt care about taking proper care of the turtles and ensuring the safety of turtles and the customers.... the only thing you can do is stop eating there. They will have to pass a regular health inspection either way.
Take care,
Jeff

They were already under investigation for having Asians work for them that were in the country illegally. I don't know whether the health department ever checks out the place.

So are the turtles for display and decor in the "wait to be seated lobby" because a lot of restaurants and other businesses heve tank the front room to look at while you wait, or is this a tank like they have at Red Lobster with the lobsters that you can pick out what you want to eat?

The tank is close to the waiting area.

Yes, I ate there a few years ago. I didn't see any turtles there then. Commercial places that have fish tanks, turtles, etc. for decoration, usually don't take care of the animals themselves. There is a company that supplies the tanks, animals, etc, and does regular maintenance on them. One would hope such a company would know how to take care of turtles!

I know this because while at Meijer's Gardens a while back, I noticed their turtle tank. One of the turtles had some pyramiding issues. I emailed them, and they explained about contracting with a company to take care of the turts, and the pyramiding turtle was a new comer, and they were dealing with the issues! They were very polite, thanked me for my concern, and throughly explained the situation.

So, my moral here is this: Don't jump to conculsions, always ask! (politely of course!)
-----
0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

>Yes, I ate there a few years ago. I didn't see any turtles >there then. Commercial places that have fish tanks, turtles, >etc. for decoration, usually don't take care of the animals >themselves. There is a company that supplies the tanks, >animals, etc, and does regular maintenance on them. One would >hope such a company would know how to take care of turtles!

>I know this because while at Meijer's Gardens a while back, I >noticed their turtle tank. One of the turtles had some >pyramiding issues. I emailed them, and they explained about >contracting with a company to take care of the turts, and the >pyramiding turtle was a new comer, and they were dealing with >the issues! They were very polite, thanked me for my concern, >and throughly explained the situation.

>So, my moral here is this: Don't jump to conculsions, always >ask! (politely of course!)

*****

Should I talk to someone in the restaurant? My brother told me not to do anything (he eats there occasionally). I would call if I did anything; it's more anonymous that walking in and asking for the manager.

>-----
>0.1.0 ornate box turtle
>1.0.0 eastern box turtle
>1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
>0.1.0 Red belly cooter
>0.1.0 Australian shepard
>1.11.0 chickens
>1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
>3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
>1.0.0 husband

*****

I've seen sigs like this a number of times. What I would think the numbers would refer to the sex of the organism, but there are three numbers. Can someone explain?

What are "pyramiding issues"? not familiar with that phrase.

You could just ask someone, either on the phone or in person, who takes care of their turtles. If it's someone on the premise ask to talk to them.

Pyramid issues refers to the turtle's shell not growing properly. This is usually due to poor diet or just poor care.

The numbers do refer to the sex. If I say I have 1.0.2 rabbits, that would mean I have one male, no females, and two rabbits whose sex is unknown.
-----
0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Thanks for the response on all three topics. I thought one of the numbers might be a of an unknown sex.

What does

"1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)"

mean? Is the male rabbit named "Dutch"?