Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Because Hobo has been out & about since March 13, I just knew it'd be good to get all the girls outside.
They've been out since Sunday but they've been buried the whole time & aren't coming out so I haven't seen them! LOL

I'm not worried about them though because the daytime temps have been in the mid 80s, night time dipping down into the high 50s for a very short time just before sunrise, it's mostly mid 60s at night until that usual drop in temp shortly before sunrise.
It's going to be tough leaving them out year round when they stay underground for 5 months because I miss them after just 2 days!

The baby is frightened out in it's baby pen. I know it's normal for babies to hide most of the time & I know the baby will get used to this but it's kind of sad for me to see Kibbles feeling fearful.
I'll have to get a pic.. I feel like the pen with the very heavy gate on top is very safe from cats, birds & whatever else may try to break into it. My real worry is the black widow spiders that tend to make their homes around the bricks in my turtle pen(s). I had to scrape one out of the baby pen before the baby Kibbles could move in on Sunday.
Just hope one doesn't bite the baby. eek
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PHRatz

Actually, Black Widow venom isn't nearly as toxic as people tend to think. It would seem to me, with the scales on ornate skin combined with their speed, a chance meeting of baby ornate vs. Black Widow spider would end in a tasty snack for baby ornate.

>>Actually, Black Widow venom isn't nearly as toxic as people tend to think. It would seem to me, with the scales on ornate skin combined with their speed, a chance meeting of baby ornate vs. Black Widow spider would end in a tasty snack for baby ornate.

Yeah that's a good point, one may end up as turtle food.
I can't get rid of them.. they make webs in the ceiling of the tortoise mansion, I remove them but there's always another to take it's place.
Can't kill them, I won't step on them, I can't have poison around so they're never ending. I tried using a glue trap but that doesn't attract them.

What sticks in the back of my mind is several years ago hearing about spider bite killing an iguana or chameleon that's a scary thought... but ya know these widows are native here, the turtles are native, they probably have a commensal relationship in the wild anyway.
One night we were out checking up on the tortoise after dark, found a windscorpion (camel spider) on the ceiling of her house eating a fly.
That was pretty cool!! I never mind the windscorpions hanging around even though they are not giant sized like the Internet's bogus photo from Iraq LOL!!!
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PHRatz

So yesterday after all those horrible storms in the TX panhandle, the only weather change we got from that was cooler temps.
It's been down into the high 40s at night so I brought the baby indoors until this cool snap goes away.
I think the big girls are ok though. Under one house we built I think it's Charity who's buried herself & it looks like she's gone deep enough to stay warm.
Shell E & Janie are both under a different little house we built.. they're dug in to but I covered them with 4 day old cut grass.... I think they're fine out there.
Meanwhile Hobo is still out & about when the temps get into the 60s by day.
If he's ok they should be too.
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PHRatz