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Dear Members and Friends: Our Spring meeting will be held on April 26th from 1:30 until 4 pm at the Belle Cooledge Library located at 5600 South Land Park Drive, Sacramento 95822. It will be our 33rd Club Anniversary - THERE WILL BE A CAKE - and it will be up front with me and not in the back of the room where someone could easily open the big festive container (again) obviously meant for a party, take the cake out and cut it up with a questionable knife and serve it to anyone in the back of the room…it has been 6 years since the 'event' and nobody has ever admitted their crime!! The mystery of the cake continues!! The meeting will focus on problems you may have regarding coming out of hibernation such as swollen eyes and runny noses; lumps and bumps, wheezing; limping and other things you noticed early on. Hopefully these have cleared up by now and if not, we'll help you. I had a number of turtles wake up and then promptly die with no symptom that anything was wrong. Have any of you had the same problem? It's always a mystery and it makes us feel bad but what can we do? It's all part of turtle/tortoise keeping. We do our very best but sometimes the weather is to blame. We did have many nights in the low 20's and perhaps that was the cause? I also had several small 'floaters' in the pond who appeared to be very healthy when they went into hibernation. Hibernation is cross your fingers time!! Anyway, it will be a totally fun and informative meeting; bring a pet for show and tell and if you'd like to give a little talk about your pet, or anything else chelonian related, we would love to hear about it. Regarding the meeting room at the library, there's been a little change in our usual way of doing things due to the difficulty securing the room for our events, so I had to make a change in the schedule for this year. The TURTLERAMA will be held on JULY 19th and that is from 11-4 and I'm going to have you sign up for this event at the April meeting and you'll have about ten weeks to prepare for it instead of the three or four weeks after a summer meeting which is totally exhausting. Most of the children go back to school in the middle of August and the State Fair had to move their event from August to July because of this change a few years ago. It works out better this way. (Lois, I'll set up your display!!) The Summer Meeting will be held on August 16th and the new members will be able to enjoy themselves and meet everyone instead of waiting until the end of October. I had put this idea out on Facebook and most of the responses were favorable. It seems nobody cares when we have these events as long as we have them!! I hear you!! THANK FOR YOUR SUPPORT! At the April meetings, we always have various homemade and/or commercial incubators on display and I encourage you to examine them and take pictures in the event you have some early nesting going on. Most of the home-made incubators work better than the expensive store bought ones!! There are plenty of photos of them on our FB page as well. Don't do Facebook? Let me know and I'll email you the photos. Meanwhile, take good care of yourselves and your pet, furry and shelled and I'll SEE YOU AT THE MEETING!!
Spring Hints: Go over your yard with a fine tooth comb. Dangers are everywhere so start by cleaning up all of the debris that blew in over the winter months. I'm pretty careful and yet I stepped on a needle last summer. Ouch. Was I that careless? I guess so! I was glad the needle stuck in my big toe and not in one of my tortoises eyes. I'm not going to tell you to crawl around on all fours looking for 'things' but just be aware that dangerous objects pop up, blow in or are carried in on the feet of visitors too. I hate to say this but sometimes the friendliest dogs will become aggressive towards your turtles and/or tortoises so try never ever to leave them alone together. Children can harm them too. And do everything you can to protect them from raccoons and other predators. Feel free to make up your own list and let's read it out loud at the meeting. Keep us posted on Facebook as well if you come up with additional warning. The list is endless. We haven't even touched the subject of poisonous plants! Pick up a list at the meeting.
AT THE BUNKER:
THE IDEAL HABITAT FOR A TORTOISE: (NATIONAL T&T SOCIETY NEWSLETTER (NOW RETIRED) Bermuda or dichondra grass area large enough to provide grazing and an arid dirt area so the tortoise can regulate temperature and humidity levels. Little or NO gap between fence or gate and ground Solid fence that the tortoise cannot see through. If the tortoise can see beyond the yard, it can injure itself trying to get through the fence. Shaded areas must be available at ALL TIMES of the day. Shelter from weather; the shelter should also provide the tortoise with a sense of security. Bushes and shrubs should be available for shade and/or food. Roses and hibiscus are a favorite. Poisonous plants must be removed or fenced away from the tortoise area. High ground should be available in case of flooding. Be sure the tortoise will not be trapped by flooding while in their den or hiding place during the night or during hibernation. The tortoise pen should not be located under an overhang or other place where water run-off may occur. The pen should not trap water; it should have good drainage. Different species of turtles and tortoises MUST be kept separate from one another. Dogs MUST be kept separate from the tortoise. (Felice adds her 2 cents - Protect from predators at all times.)
FOR SALE: Lisa Burton has 4
Pancake hatchlings @ $150 each; 1 Redfoot baby $75. Please
call 707-319-5380 |
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