A Massacre at ATR 

Sadly, after 12 years of being cocky and exempt from the ravages of predators, raccoons hit ATR and killed about seven water turtles.  Not all died immediately, but thanks to our sweet local vet Dr. Lisa, the ones who survived were quickly euthanized.  Weeping, we buried all of them on turtle hill.  Nothing prepares you for discovering the horror of an unexpected invasion.  Our lives and the rescue will never be the same.  We are double fenced and have dogs patrolling all day and into the evening, but take a lesson from us…it’s not if, but when, if you have a pond.  The raccoon used a tree hanging over the pond to drop over into the water turtle area.

Needless to say, sadness comes first and anger comes next.  Marshall climbed the tree and took off every limb essentially cutting the jacaranda in half (L). Then we bought a HUGELY expensive horse electric fence to go around the whole rescue (that’s right – we plan to blow those suckers up into the air).  Not to lose any time, we installed it late into that same night.  Is it a good idea to handle electricity in the dark, you might ask?  No, but we had no choice.  Marshall took only one tumble, rolling down the hill.  We did not electrocute ourselves and had more than one glass of wine about 11 pm when we finished.  I dragged in a bunch of cement blocks and plastic covers to close doghouse openings in the box, boggy, leopard and sulcata yards.  So now the ritual is that we go out every night and lock everyone we can in, and let them out in the morning.  So far so good.

AFORD, the Turtle, Joins ATR

If you check our Web site www.tortoise.com every week, you’ll see a fabulous new addition.  A brand new AFORD cartoon hits weekly, and we love it!  Here’s an example of a cartoon by the talented Mr. Aaron Riddle who contributes these out of the kindness of his heart and to get a tiny bit of recognition, well deserved.

Aaron, of Pasadena, MD, has been cartooning since the age of 10.  Influenced by "Peanuts" and "Garfield," he developed a comic strip of his own featuring a turtle and some other woodland creatures titled "AFORD.”  While doing this just for fun early on, upon entering college Aaron began displaying his comic strip online at www.afordturtle.com, and it became one of the most popular strips on the Internet. AFORD is currently featured in dozens of newspapers and newsletters, including The Erickson Tribune, a publication by Erickson Retirement Communities with one million readers. Aaron, who works as a graphic designer, is scheduled to be married in 2004 to his fiancée Jennifer. Send him an email and tell him how much you enjoy the strip - afordturtle@earthlink.net.

Can’t Think of Just the Right Turtle Gift?

We’ve got it!  It’s “JUST TURTLES!” the very first half hour music video featuring none other than the turtles and tortoises of ATR!  We’ve been shooting video for 12 years (don’t forget Marshall is a professional video producer and is always crawling on the ground looking for great shots), so we have collected some of the most wonderful footage of all kinds of turtles and tortoises, of course, guaranteed to make you smile.  This is perfect for little kids, big kids and grownups who just can’t get enough turtles.  Even the dog will enjoy it.  Watch for “JUST TURTLES! 2” and “HARD DOGS” -all about sulcatas – these will be out after the New Year.   You can order all of our wonderful gifts (don’t stop at holiday buying – how about birthdays, anniversaries and showers too?) online at www.tortoise.com and click on “Holiday Gifts” on our home page (check out AFORD’s new cartoon while you’re there).  We have also set up some donation opportunities so that you can give ATR a holiday gift as well.  Click on “Please Make A Donation” also on the home page at www.tortoise.com.  If you donate to Network For Good, 100 % comes to ATR.  We also are registered with www.groundspring.org, www.igive.com and www.EarthShare.org or you can donate directly – gifts are tax deductible (consult your CPA).

For Holiday Shopping, Visit the ALL-NEW ATR Store!

It’s not to late to get your special someone a wonderful turtle ornament, apparel, baby gifts or even an ATR thong!!! at our new ATR store.  We make a percentage of all sales and you can support ATR while looking good at the same time.  There is so much to choose from that you’ll want it all!  You can access the store from our Web site’s front page at www.tortoise.com or http://www.cafeshops.com/atr_tortoise.  Happy holidays!

For Adoption

We currently have about 17 sulcatas – the flood never stops – including six in the outdoor heated hospital area that have upper respiratory infections. The newest little one named Hortise came from Four Seasons Animal Hospital in Lafayette, California skillfully cared for by Dr. Mona Miller and her staff.  They could hardly part with her little two-inch body after caring for her for months.  A dog chewed the poor little thing.  Her back legs are not working properly.  Her shell has a variety of punctures.  But they, and we with our brood, struggle on to make sure that food is getting eaten and sunshine is available all the time.  If you are interested in adopting, please do not ask for the biggest one.  That makes us think that you just want a trophy, not a life long companion and dear friend.  So if you want to adopt, do your homework on the Internet.  They get huge and do not hibernate, and they need a heated outdoor enclosure. 

The sick ones can be adopted too, but only to people who are willing to run to the vet if they have a relapse.  Four are ready, and I would like to place two together in each new home…one is also deformed.  And they are all pyramided (bumpy shells).  I have two small healthy ones that can go, and two yearlings (one born here) are also ready.  The little ones also need special care – inside at night and some sun for a few hours during the day – best to have a person home during the day.   We always have sliders – currently four from 4 – 9 inches.  We have box and Russians too. They are hibernating so they will be available next year – it’s not good to disturb them now.  Send me by mail or email a letter telling me what your situation is and if you can care for any of these guys – you must be local So Cal and provide photos of the turtle area.  Please remember, we make unannounced home inspections.  Don’t send your neighbor’s yard photo – hahahaha.

At The Rescue

Hermie, a Leopard tortoise juvenile, was rescued by No. Cal. star volunteer Karen Benzel – she (Hermie, not Karen) spent three months in the hospital after a dog chewed off her butt – see what I mean about dogs and turtles – bad bad bad.  Hermie now lives happily inside and out, but any turtle with injuries is prone to ant attacks, so we watch her closely.  She has a new friend slightly smaller than she, and the two pal around together.  We have never seen her friend’s face.  Did we say that Leopards are bashful?  Hermie cannot be placed with other bigger tortoises because they might try to have sex with her and that would rip something open – still has half her butt missing and sutures in place.  May be available next year with her friend for the perfect home.

Fluffy and Einstein, the two resident cooters that have been at the rescue for almost 12 years, survived the raccoon attack by hibernating at the bottom of the pool.  We didn’t see Fluffy for about three weeks afterwards, and so we were grateful that she popped out for one day to let is know she was OK, and then back to sleep.

Some of you have been asking about late hibernation this year.  Yes, a lot of the turtles are still running around.  Boxes are still eating worms.  Do they know something that we don’t? Check at http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/safer.html for good hibernation articles.

A huge generous thank you to NIKON for donating a Coolpix 2500 that we needed to take intake photos of the new turtles.  We attach photos to the intake form on admission but at $1 a piece for Polaroids, we were running up some high bills (we’ve taken almost 2000 turtle pics as they enter ATR.)  Yea NIKON!

People ask what to feed all the time.  It’s obvious that few people feed their sulcatas right.  So here is some advice – feed once a day or every other day or every third day.  In the wild, they eat sparingly.  No, those shell bumps that sulcatas and other captive raised tortoises and turtles get are not pretty – they are from overfeeding, feeding the wrong thing or no real sunlight.  Turtle and tortoise carapaces are supposed to be smooth.  Leopards are an exception.  If young tortoises are bumpy even a little, cut back on food.  This has long-term negative consequences and can lead to metabolic bone disease (MBD).  We have some sulcatas with severe MBD; they walk on their knees, and on x-ray have actual fractured bones.  Body parts like jaw bones have fallen off!  Eventually you can lose them to some unknown disease.  Mimic a natural environment for happy, healthy tortoise.  In the wild, tortoises do not eat green beans, shredded carrots, washed fresh spinach and dog food.  So why would you feed it to them in captivity?  The only time we ever deter from dandelions, dark green leafy vegetables and timothy and Bermuda hay is when Halloween brings pounds of free giant pumpkins, which keep for months.  If your tortoise is sick and won’t eat anything but forbidden food, okay for a while.  But please – no cookies, peanut butter, tofu, cat food, iceberg lettuce, collards and stuff that you’ll regret one day.  We suggest a sprinkling of minerals and calcium once week, at most, if your torts spend most of the year outside.  Too much supplement like calcium can eventually cause liver and kidney failure.  As for water turtles, once every other day or third day with Reptomin or trout chow is fine; they also need fish for making strong bones and getting vitamin A. So throw some little live fish in for them to chase.  They also like, and should eat, water plants.

Please check out our Web site.  We have made loads of additions and improvements.  You can find all sorts of good information about raising a healthy tortoise, and the battles we could use your help on.  Also visit www.tortoisetrust.org and www.turtlehomes.org.

And, finally, grateful thanks to Bayer for donating some Baytril to the cause – we use it like water, and it is painfully expensive.  If anyone has any tiny dental spatulas, we could use those to pry open mouths that don’t want to eat.  Many thanks to all our regular donors.  Donations are down here too like everywhere else so they are very much appreciated.  Kiss kiss from the gang – Tank, Rosie, Popcorn, Bunkle, Herbie, Lola, Ms. Thing