Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Several weeks ago as it was beginning to get cold at night when I'd left Janie, Charity, & the 100% wild male Hobo outside. My plan was to allow all three of them to hibernate in their natural habitat.

Janie sat out in the cold rain one night 6-8 weeks ago when it's normally very warm & sunny during the day but becoming too cold at night.
I found her at sunrise when I was leaving for work sitting in the still pouring cold rain so I brought her inside hoping she'd be ok.
Later that same day I found Charity walking in slow motion in the chilly rain while Hobo the wild boy was underground. He didn't pop out of the ground until 3-4 days later when it warmed up again.
At the end of Oct. Hobo went underground & stayed, I know he's fine because I know he's been doing this for years.
I don't know where Janie or Charity came from.

I've watched Janie & Charity over the weeks & I've seen Janie's appetite decrease along with her energy level. She's not bubbling from the nose, not dehydrated, not sick looking but I knew something was wrong so I am glad I went with my gut feelings & brought her inside weeks ago before it got really cold and didn't allow her to hibernate.
She saw the vet today & she does have a respiratory illness but we've caught it before it's had a chance to get really serious.
Charity is still herself... thankfully the cold rain didn't seem to cause any problems for her but I know that she had stayed out of the rain during that particular night while Janie didn't.
I'm so thankful that we have such an excellent reptile vet!!
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PHRatz

Have you measured Chip's shell?

Last spring I got a Eastern male boxie that felt so light I was surprised when I first picked him up. I didn't have a scale then, but now he feels heftier and weighs 400 g.

I was just wondering how that compared to Chip.

Thanks!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
2.2.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

>>Have you measured Chip's shell?
I haven't but he is a little smaller than the other boxies we have. I guess I ought to measure him...

>>
>>Last spring I got a Eastern male boxie that felt so light I was surprised when I first picked him up. I didn't have a scale then, but now he feels heftier and weighs 400 g.
>>

I've always heard that when they feel like an empty shell it's not a good thing. There I was at the vet yesterday with Janie, I've been trying to remind myself to have them look up what Chip weighed the first time he was there..I keep forgetting! I didn't have an appointment though, they squeezed Janie in for me without one & they were swamped when I was there.

Chip did start to feel lighter over time so when the feeding tube was implanted he was down to around 340 grams. Yesterday he weighed 390 grams so he's just about where he needs to be. I think that because Shell E is the next smallest she weighs just a little over 400 grams. If Chip will just pick at some sort of food on his own I'll be thrilled!

Janie is looking wonderful this morning, she's awake & basking under the ceramic heat emitter right now. The lights are on timers & haven't come on yet but she's awake! She'd gotten to a point where she wasn't waking up & coming out in the morning so seeing her up now makes me think that she's going to get over this illness very quickly.
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PHRatz

I love reading your interesting turtle stories!

I wondered about the health of my Slats (that's what I called him when I first picked him up, I was so surprised by how light he was! The name just kinda stuck!). I got him from a young girl moving off to college and she couldn't keep him anymore. He looked healthy enough. She sounded like she knew what she was doing and taking good care of him. He lived in a 55 gallon aquarium, with the right lights etc. She said he was eating mostly meal worms and she gave him vitimins. So maybe he just wasn't eating well.

But, when I put him in my outdoor enclosure, and gave him some mulberries, he sure perked up!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
0.1.0 Australian shepard
2.2.0 chickens
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

>>I love reading your interesting turtle stories!

Thank you! I love having them so much, I just can't keep myself from blabbing all the time. lol
Mulberries are a favorite here too. I am out of them now darn it, can't wait for spring! We have 2 mulberry trees that produce fruit, I ran out of what I froze.
Slats sounds like a lucky boxie since you took him in.

When we decided to keep Hobo he felt pretty light, I see why he kept coming here for meals, he needed them.
One day last summer after he moved here permenently I saw something on the ground, it looked like a dead dove but something else was there, couldn't figure out what. I slowly walked towards it & as I got closer I could see that it was a dead dove and what I couldn't make out was Hobo eating it. BLECH!
That was gross but I thought to myself well... there ya go that's what he's had to eat to survive. I left him with it but got rid of it as soon as he moved away from it before the dog found it. During summer I fed him every other day or so, let him hunt the rest of the time. He felt a lot heavier by the time he went underground for the winter.
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PHRatz

Glad you went with your gut! Hope she feels better quickly.