Many Turtle Questions.

[Jones of the Jungle]

My brother is planning on moving to Sydney from Adelaide, and has a turtle that he's taking with him. My mother is worried about the turtles welfare due to the long distance. He is driving there and plans to take the turtle is a container of water. Now we bought my step daughter a turtle this year, and in the pages of information that was given to us it says to transport turtles wrapped in a damp towel, because a container of water can cause them to develop pneumonia due to them inhaling water from the rough movement of the car. This advice was directed more at a trip to the vet, not an interstae trip. I was just wondering if anyone on here knew the best way to transport a turtle interstate.

Also I better ask if there is a license requirement in NSW for a short necked turtle, in SA they are exempt from the wild life permit.

And just one more question, he has told my mother that his turtle doesn't like the frozen turtle dinner and he is only feeding it crickets. Is that enough for a turtle to live off of? We feed ours the turtle dinner and occassionally some Whiskas Jelly Meat cat food, for vitamin A.

Sorry for the essay, but my mother keeps asking me all these questions and my knowledge is limited with turtles. Thanks in advance guys

 

[kakariki]

NO!!! Feed insects, bloodworms but NOT red meat! Turtles cannot deal with it & it causes renal failure. As for the travel, I would use a towel in about 3 inches of water. That"s enough to keep him wet without risk of inhalation, unless he is a very little turtle, in which case just use less water. Can't help with the license, sorry!

PS..The turtle dinner contains red meat so change to bloodworms. Also add some vegies and water weeds. Check this site. It has all the info you need! http://www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/index.php

 

[horsesrule]

Transport it with no water.

Just put it in a sack and keep it flat on a surface so it doesnt bounce around.

They can survive fine without water for the time of your trip.

 

[Jones of the Jungle]

Are you referring to the Whiskas as the red meat?? Just checking cos the guy we spoke to at a Aquarium petshop in Adelaide, was apparently a turtle expert, has done classes on turtle care for other petshop owners, in fact we got stuck in ther for about an hour while he stuffed as much info into our brains as he could. I'm not doubting your advice, because if thats right then i wont give him any more, that will make that cats happy more for them!
As for his size, from what my mum tells me a reckon he'd be 2 - 3 times bigger then the "fifty cent piece" size that the petshops usually sell. Is 3 inches of water still ok? Would they be better off having the turtle flown there to minimize the travelling for him?

 

[Jones of the Jungle]

Thanks Karariki, didn't see that P.S, you must of edited it while I was typing mine!

 

[kakariki]

I have recently had a crash course in turtles through the Lake Alexandrina Turtle Rescue work done at the local school, lol. I had up to 27 turtles in tanks for winter, ranging from large ones the size of a big dinner plate to tiny ones, all of which were malnourished & sickly. They have all ( with 2 sad exceptions ) now been relocated to the newly built Turtle Half way House at the Milang Campus, along with approx 300 others! We did extensive research & the first thing we found out was not to feed red meat. And whiskas comes into that category. Something else of interest, goldfish were an excellent food source for turtles.( And feeder fish sold in pet stores.) Check my thread 'Turtles of the Lake' if you are interested in the work that has been done here.
As for transport, he sounds pretty small so maybe just use a wet towel in a click clack.

 

[Jones of the Jungle]

Thanks heaps for the advice, I gave your thread a qucik read, how sad. Well done on your efforts, looks like you helped save alot of lives.

Now all I need id the licensing advice

 

[kakariki]

He will need an export/ import permit. And here are a couple of link.s Hope they are of some help.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wildlifelicences/GettingAReptileKeepersLicence.htm
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/reptileLicensingOutline.pdf

 

[Jones of the Jungle]

Cheers for that, completely forgot about the import/export licenses, now I can bomb bard him with information, because he definately wouldn't of listened to what I had to say!! Damn brothers!! He thinks he knows everything, because his girlfriend is a vet nurse, but I've taken my python to the vet's before for a burn on her tail, and the vets tore the scab off that was hanging on her tail and made it bleed again GGRRRR!!! They could of at least cut it back a bit so it wasnt hanging off as much, instead of opening her wound. They took her out the back and brought her back into the consult room afterwards, otherwise I wouldn't of let them do it if they did it in front of me.
AAAAAnyway, my point is, is not all vets/ vet nurses are reptile experts, got heaps of printing to do!! Thanks again Kak you've been excellent.

 

[kakariki]

Glad to help! How is your Jungle now? I know what you mean about vets though. When I took a turtle in, I asked if they dealt with pythons. They said " Yeah, I'll have a go" !! Didn't do much for building my confidence in them, lol.

 

[Ristof]

I have transported turtles just in those clear containers ( same thing crickets are in) with just a small amount of water in the bottom. They sat on the flour in the front seat. Not as far as your going though

As long as it doesn't dry out it should be fine, you may just need to have a spray bottle in the car with you to keep it wet

 

[Ristof]

Glad to help! How is your Jungle now? I know what you mean about vets though. When I took a turtle in, I asked if they dealt with pythons. They said " Yeah, I'll have a go" !! Didn't do much for building my confidence in them, lol.

I took our female turtle to the vets when she had a sore on the back of her neck (thanks to the horny male) and the first thing the vet said when I walked through the doorwas "Sure you do, no really what's in the bucket"
She gave me some iodine to treat it with

 

[-Peter]

Take a spray bottle of water, and mist the turtle regularly. Dont allow it to dry out or overheat. An esky or foam box with a lid is perfect. Just place the little guy on a calico bag in the container.
You may also want to join

http://www.australianfreshwaterturtles.com.au/index.php

cheers

 

[Jones of the Jungle]

Glad to help! How is your Jungle now? I know what you mean about vets though. When I took a turtle in, I asked if they dealt with pythons. They said " Yeah, I'll have a go" !! Didn't do much for building my confidence in them, lol.

She's getting there, the very end of her tail looks a little stumpier then it did before. Each shed it looks better and better. The guys at Reptile City were more help then the vets, gave us some oitment for the burn. They only reccomended that we take her to the vets, because part of the burn was over her cloaca, and they could give her some antiboitics for it. From memory I don't even think they gave her that, they just passed her around out the back (from what I gather), pulled her scab off, and gave her a shot of morphine. Poor thing probably needed it after having her tail ripped off!! They're just lucky that it was Voodoo, she's as placid as they come. Now if it had been my other female, well the vet would of needed more medical attention then the snake!!!

Thanks for all your advice guys, hopefully my brother will listen!!

 

[sambam]

i would put him in a container with damp pieces of paper towel.
yes you do need a license.
buy some fish from the pet shop for the turtle to catch and it provides calcium