Leonard McCoy’s Guide to Sunbathing

How to Position Yourself for Maximum Sun Exposure

1. Ensure that you have a decoration, floating shelf, piece of driftwood, or other turtle to stand on.

Fig. 1

2. Position yourself on the other turtle (standing on another turtle is the best option – see fig. 1) so that your shell is angled toward the light source. Perpendicular to the light source is best, as this will grant maximum exposure of your shell to that wonderful, warm heat lamp. Step on the other turtle’s head every time you need to re-position yourself.

3. Optional: Stick both of your back legs out straight, turn your feet sideways, and spread your toes (see fig. 2). This will make sure your feet get warm, too. That is important. This might actually be for heat venting. I’m really not sure why I do this. It feels good, though.

Fig. 2

4. Constantly turn around in circles. This serves two purposes: it makes sure that your shell is evenly warm and it also annoys the hell out of Grimm.

5. Poop when you feel like it.

Grimm’s eating again! (I know I’ve said that once before)

Huzzah! Grimm has started eating on his own again, which means I don’t have to give him a mash of worm guts and blackberry by syringe any more! He ate some of his frozen food and he ate the innards of half a mealworm, so that’s really good news. It means he’s feeling well enough to have an appetite, so even if he’s floating still, that must mean he’s well on the road to getting better.

Either that, or he was tired of my meal choices for him.

Extremely Photogenic Turtles

We’ve only had antibiotics for two days, and already Grimm’s got a lot more energy and more spunk in him. When I go to give him his meds, he tries to fight me off! Silly little bugger. They’re good for you! Like vegetables! Then again, he won’t eat those yet, either.

But I did discover a great and easy way to get him to open his mouth: I have to press gently up and back on his throat. This tugs at the skin of his jaw and makes him open his mouth juuuust enough for me to be able to get the syringe in there. But it’s a game now: he realizes what I’m doing and as soon as he feels the syringe, he manages to snap his jaw shut. It’s like playing quick draw with a turtle! So far, I’m winning, but for how long?

I’ve also been managing to feed him with the syringe. He gets his antibiotics at 9:00 AM, then at 3:00 PM he gets a soupy mix of blueberry and worm, and then at 9:00 PM he gets more antibiotics. Busy life for a a small turtle!

They’re settled into their new spot at my parents’ house over Christmas holidays. I’ve also made some changes to their tank setup:

You’ll notice that there’s no more gravel on the bottom. After doing a lot of reading on turtle care, I decided to remove the gravel. Substrate is optional for these aquatic turts. On the one hand, it looks nice, but on the other hand, it can trap food particles and contribute to algae growth. So away it went! This should make keeping the tank clean a lot easier.

Also, they’ve got a lot more water to swim in now. The guidelines they gave me at the pet store were that turtles should have a pond that is at least 3 times as wide and long as the turtle is, and at least two times deeper than the turtle is long. WELL, that’s just not enough water, let me tell you. Bones has been swimming around and exploring his new-found space since I put him in there! Even Grimm went for a swim (as well as he could, anyway. All he knows right now is that there’s a lot of underwater stuff he can’t reach yet).

Plus, having more water means any changes to the water’s composition won’t be as drastic.

So much tank for such a small turtle!

Then, after he pooped himself out, Grimm crawled back onto his basking spot, which is now a little warmer than before, and had himself a good sleep. For all of two minutes, because Bones came up and stepped on his head. Asshole.

Anyway, Dad wanted some picture of the turtles, so I borrowed his camera. After trying to make Bones hold still for a photo shoot, I ended up with one good picture of each of them.

Ridiculously photogenic turtle (and a piece of dog hair).

LOOK! I HAS A POT!

Bones is a very happy turtle.

THE ANTIBIOTICS HAVE ARRIVED!!

The vet’s office got the antibiotic for Grimm in today, so I ran down (or, rather, walked very quickly because it was slippery) and grabbed it. They gave me this pink liquid in a tiny bottle, four syringes, and four “catheter tips”. The catheter tips size the opening of the syringe down to only about 3mm, so it was small enough to fit into Grimm’s mouth.

Novo-Trimel

Information for the medically- or scientifically-inclined:
The antibiotic they gave me is called Novo-Trimel. Basically, it’s a compound of two antibiotics: trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. As my mother (who used to be a nurse) informs me, antibiotics are effective in both humans and reptiles because all they do is kill the bacteria that’s causing the trouble. It looks like for people, it’s normally a tablet form, but for reptiles, they’ve turned it into a liquid for oral injection.

“Here’s the antibiotic you need for your turtle. It tastes pretty good, too!” – Dr. Hunter

So, here’s the routine:
0.1 mL (SUCH A SMALL AMOUNT. Think of two drops of water. That’s about what it is.) twice a day for 14 days. So, his last dose should be just after New Year’s. Good way to start 2014, I think, bein’ all nice and healthy again!

The execution:
The trick is getting it into him. It has to be administered orally. So, I got my syringe and put the tip on it, and loaded it up to the o.1 mL mark, and then I grabbed Grimm and waited. I don’t have enough hands to force open his mouth, so I had to wait for him to do it on his own. Surprisingly, once he got comfortable with me holding him, it only took a couple minutes before he opened his mouth enough for me to put the tip of the syringe in and squirt about a third of the antibiotic in there. Rinse and repeat (not literally rinse — that comes after). He did spit some of it back out, but he swallowed probably 70% of it, which is good. Dr. Hunter said if I could even get half of it into him, that would be enough, so I think I’ve accomplished that!

I’m so relieved, honestly, to have this medicine for him. I should have gotten it for him earlier, but I’d thought when he started eating again last week that he was getting better. That wasn’t the case, as it turned out, but at least I’ve got the medicine for him now and I’ll be making sure he gets it in 12-hour intervals, whether he likes it or not. He didn’t seem very happy with me.

I will crawl into your room while you sleep and poop in your mouth. – Grimm

He looked at me after I grabbed him, and then he looked at the syringe, then back at me. I’m pretty sure he was thinking, “Where is she going to put that?!” It’s for your own benefit, Grimm!

Things are looking up now. I’m hoping he should really start to improve in the next couple of days, and hopefully he’ll start eating again soon after that. He’s been such a trooper. Good job, buddy!

Maybe Antibiotics Will Help…

Poor Grimm. He ate a little bit for a couple of days last week, but this week has been unsuccessful in that regard. He’s still tired, still floaty. He’s not considerably better or worse than he was a week ago, but I worry that because he’s not eating, he’s going to get weaker and weaker and not be able to fight off whatever it is that’s making him sick.

So, I’m going to call the vet tomorrow morning. I think maybe it is time to give him some antibiotics, even if he is a tiny little turtle and I imagine that the needle will be longer than he is. I would still rather get him medication he needs because he doesn’t really seem to be able to fight this thing off on his own.

We’ll see what the vet advises, but if he does need antibiotics, I’d also rather get him started on them before Christmas hits and everybody’s on vacation.

Grimm’s gonna be takin’ another trip in my scarf! Poor little guy. Hang in there, buddy. Momma’s gonna get you well again. Promise!

He’s eating again! Huzzah!

Good news, everyone!

Grimm’s started eating again! He had a bite of food yesterday for the first time in two weeks, and today, he ate a quarter of a worm. It’s a great sign that he’s getting back on his feet/fins/paws/whatever you call that particular turtle appendage.

Bones is also doing really well. He’s become the pig that John used to be. Maybe he feels like there’s an empty role that needs to be filled? He’s really enthusiastic about eating the frozen food now, along with the worms, and he’ll nip at the blueberries, but he still prefers the proteins. I also don’t have to squeeze out the worm guts like toothpaste anymore.

Guess it’s a sign that he really, really likes his new home. I think he probably works up a pretty good appetite with all the swimming and exploring he does.

They’ve also both gotten used to their new pot. They were both huddling in it when I went downstairs to feed them. It’s like a little one-bedroom turtle apartment!

Lastly, Bones still stands on John’s head. Having the pot didn’t fix that particular problem, but I can’t be blamed for my optimism. Maybe I need to buy John a spiky helmet for his shell. A shellmet. Then again, not really sure that would stop Bones, either.

New Setup and a Christmas Present

As I said, when Grimm got sick, I decided I’d get a bunch of new turtle tank stuff to really improve the layout of their tank and make them happy. Last Friday, I took a video of it so I could show you guys, but I got so busy over the weekend with Christmas shopping that I didn’t get a chance to upload it.

Well, I’ve uploaded it now, so you can take a look at the Enterprise’s refit!

Also, Grimm seems to be feeling a little better. He’s a little less floaty, and although he didn’t eat anything today, either, he still took a good, long look at the food. Tomorrow looks promising. He seemed as if he wanted to eat, but decided not to, so maybe tomorrow will be the magic day.

Bones, on the other hand, seems to have a healthy appetite now. He’s one happy turtle! I’ve also discovered that he loves blueberries. I put a piece of blueberry in there and he attacked it right away. That’s great, though! I’ve been struggling to find fruits he’ll eat. Strawberries were iffy, but blueberries are a definite hit. Which is actually kind of unfortunate because they’re not my favorite fruit, but I’ll have to learn to like them.

I also bought the boys a present today:

That’s Grimm checking out his new pot. There are holes all around it so they can crawl in and out, and they can hide in it. They seem to like hiding, so I thought they’d appreciate this. They can also crawl on top of it for some extra hardcore basking.

Secretly, I’m trying to get Bones to stop standing on Grimm’s head. Not likely, but I can still hope.

Gettin’ a little better

Grimm’s improving. Today, he can dive for a few seconds before popping back up to the surface, and he’s got some of his old spunk back. He runs away from me when Bones does (which is quite frequently), instead of sitting there like a rock, so his energy levels are picking back up.

The vet said he’s actually looking pretty good, for a sick turtle. He agreed it was probably something digestive, but that because he was working through it on his own, it was better to let him work it out than to give him a needle (which was the only form of turtle medication they had available, as the edible meds weren’t actually proven to work on reptiles). Plus, I was scared that a needle would be bigger than he is!

“5cc per kilogram!” the veterinary assistant chimed in.

“He’s 9 grams!” I replied, vaguely horrified.

No way I’m gonna give my tiny, little, baby 9-gram turtle a needle full of antibiotics when a) that’s probably not the problem and it probably won’t help, b) he’s getting better on his own, and c) the vet said Galapagos turtles seem to have issues with the stuff, so not all turtles are okay with it.

Otherwise, the vet checked him over and said his shell is in good shape and nothing was visibly wrong with him.

So, I put him back in his little box and tucked him back in my scarf and took him back home. He should continue to improve on his own.

The vet did also say that I seemed to have all my facts in order and that it sounded like I had his environment set up well (I described the new tank to him, and what it had been before), and he said it was possible that I’d already solved whatever problem had made Grimm sick in the first place.

We’ll see! I’ll keep a close eye on him and if he worsens again, I’ll take him right back down to the vet. He’s a strong little turtle. I’m sure he’ll be okay!

Update: Never Mind

Yes. That’s his foot on John’s head.

He’s hanging in there with Bones’ help.

Grimm’s still kickin’. He doesn’t really seem too much worse than Friday, so he should be alright until I can take him to the vet. In the meantime, Bones is worried about him and doing whatever he can to help:

Turtle snuggles. 300% of your daily cute intake.