Grimm is sick.

Grimm got sick yesterday. I think, judging by his symptoms and the information I can find online, the most likely issue is digestive.

Basically, his symptoms are thus:
– He floats (more towards the rear than the front, but level from left to right), so he can’t really dive
– Doesn’t seem interested in food
– Frequently looks like he’s trying to swallow
– Lethargic
– NO pus in eyes or nose and nothing looks swollen

So, based on the descriptions I’d found of similar symptoms on herp sites, people say it’s either pneumonia or digestive tract issues.

However, the key things about pneumonia is that usually the left or right side floats higher because of uneven buildup of fluid in the lungs, and also that there is usually swollen eyes and/or nasal discharge. Grimm doesn’t have any of those symptoms.

I called around. Seems like there is ONLY one vet clinic here that will treat turtles, and MAGICALLY, I live a five-minute walk from it. I have him booked in for an appointment on Monday, as they have no herp vets on weekends.

All the other vet clinics here didn’t even know there was a turtle vet in town, and one of them actually recommended I phone a lizard/exotic pet vet in another city. So I did. They didn’t do turtles, either.

So the very fact that I live two blocks from the one vet that does is an absolute miracle. Seriously. Grimm, you are a lucky turtle. Just be okay until Monday, please. He doesn’t look too much worse from yesterday night until today, so I’m sure he will.

Plus, out of fear for their health, I have made drastic improvements to their tank. As it was an aquarium at one point and is thus completely waterproof, I have removed the pool and instead filled the tank up with four inches of water on top of the gravel that was there before.

I bought a filtration system specifically designed for turtles, and also a turtle water heater that keeps the water at exactly 25.5°C. I also bought them a magnetic, floating turtle shelf that goes up and down with the water.

A little pricey for all of it, but there was actually a 20% off sale (ALSO MAGIC) and I don’t care what it costs, so long as Grimm gets better.

Bones seems fine, by the way. So… probably another indication it’s not pneumonia.

All I really know is that it’s not lupus. It’s never lupus.

Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles

My friend Sol decided that I must provide her with turtles in masks. I’m not sure what the consequences of not following through would have been, or for being late, but I didn’t want to know. My Night Vale horoscope wasn’t exactly promising.

So, here’s Baby Mutant Ninja Grimm and Bones:

Click for full view.

Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Heroes in a starship
Cutie power!

They’re Starfleet’s most tiny fighting team
They’re cuties in a half-shell and they’re green
When the evil Klingons attack
These turtle boys don’t cut ’em no slack!

Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles

Federation taught them to be ninja tweens
Grimm’s extra-strong, Bones has sickbay machines
Dr. McCoy is right, but rude
‘Reaper’ is an ex-marine dude

Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Baby Mutant Ninja Turtles
Heroes in a starship
Cutie power!

Not sure I would trust them to save my life in an emergency, but at least they sure are cute.

How to Feed Leonard H. McCoy – Revised

Bones just wasn’t willing to eat the worms I was giving him today, so…. I came up with a new plan.

This is it, in a nutshell:

Previous edition here.

I’m having a hard time eating my sandwich. Maybe this cute will help:

Grimm’s got a beautiful smile!

How to be Superturtle: by Leonard H. McCoy, M.D.

Allow me to illustrate what I saw when I walked in the door today:

Yes, Bones was standing on top of Pride Rock, doing a Superman pose. As soon as I reached for the camera, he freaked out, fell over, flipped upside down, and flailed frantically until he managed to right himself. Then, he froze in utter humiliation and horror. He must have eventually gotten tired of me laughing at him because he finally got rid of his paralysis and ran into the water. I got shunned for quite a while after that fiasco.

That’s what you get for practicing your Superman in visible places, Bones.

Video: Pride Rock Has a New King

Finally got a video of Grimm sitting on Pride Rock (okay, Pride Shell, in this case), considering I can never actually catch any proof of it because he always runs away before I can get the camera out. Luckily, I had the camcorder sitting right beside me so I was able to sneak this video in before he got camera shy.

He looks so smug as he sits there, sunning himself, and then he’s like, “HOLY HELL. WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?”

Edit: He climbed back on after I put the camcorder away. LOOK AT HIM NOW. HA HA HA HA. HE’S LIKE A BARNACLE. Omg, I’m dying.

What are you lookin’ at?

Video: Grimm would be the guy at the eating contest who swallows the hot dogs whole

So, I have video evidence of Grimm being a complete pig. I couldn’t believe the size of the worm he ate, so the next day, I filmed it just for proof. It’s seriously half as long as he is, and he somehow ate it whole. Whole and alive.

It seems like it keeps trying to crawl back up, even after he got the last of it down.

As my Dad said, “When is it gonna start coming out the other end?”

Physicals on the Enterprise (Again)

Well, it’s time for their semi-monthly/bi-weekly physicals again, which I did yesterday. They weren’t too entirely pleased by it, but they got food at the end as a reward. Here’s where they stand:

Grimm

Bones

Astute observers might have noticed that while Bones is exactly the same as he was two weeks ago, Grimm has gained two grams. Well, I’ll actually say a gram and a half because it was teetering between 9 and 10.

And here the lady at the pet store had told me they’d be full-size in a year. I was a little startled by that, but I thought I would adapt. There is no way they’re going to be between 8 and 13 inches in a year. I’ve had them for a month and a half and it’s not like I have to buy new booties for them yet. So, I surmise that turtles grow much slower than the lady at the pet shop thinks they do.

I mean, I don’t think I’m undernourishing them. They have a nice pond with a sepia bone in it, they’ve got their heat lamp and a UVB bulb, they get multi-vitamins in their food twice a week, and I try to offer them the opportunity to eat fruits and veggies, even if they don’t necessarily take it. So, I’m pretty sure it’s not because they’re malnourished. I think they’re just not the insanely fast growers she thought they were.

I am actually kind of relieved. The slower they grow, the more time it takes between now and needing to build a bigger tank. However, at this rate, I won’t know if they’re boys or girls until 2258.

A Guide for Non-Turtles

Holy hell, they are cute up close

Dad just got a new digital SLR camera for the jewelry store, so I borrowed it to take pictures of the babies. I had no idea they would be even more ridiculously cute up close in hi-def, which is weird ’cause I see them in hi-def all the time.

When I looked at the pictures, though, I was blown away. I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Click for full view.

Click for full view.

Click for full view.

Click for full view.

Click for full view.

 

 

 

 

I think somebody ate some veggies!

Now, I don’t actually have any proof, but I did put an African Violet flower in there yesterday. I checked on it last night. Nobody had touched it, but when I checked on them this morning… the vast majority of the flower was missing and it was fairly shredded!

The problem is, I don’t actually know if the flower maybe just completely degraded in the water and fell apart, or if the turtles had at it. Man, this is why I need a turtle cam. Seriously. I have no idea what they do when I’m not looking because they’re little sneak-thieves and are stealthy in the water. On land, they’re the clumsiest things, flashing their panties to everybody, but they’re quick when you put them in the pond. So they probably could have eaten that flower without me noticing even if I were in the same room. HMM.

Yes, I definitely need a turtle cam some day.

Though, I’m betting it was Bones. He was the only one that even looked at the raspberries I put in their food yesterday.