Thursday, June 07, 2007

She No Likey

We are well-meaning, we really are. But our critters don't care.

Case in point, our female turtle, Edamame. By all general measures, she has thrived. She has grown to large, may we say giant-ass, proportions, has her own 90 gallon tank (since she evicted Aubergine, the boy turtle, by repeatedly biting chunks out of his butt), a nice, hard shell, a good diet, etc. But the one thing she will not do is lay eggs.

"But Nator," you ask, "why should that turtle lay eggs if she doesn't want to, much less hasn't even been fertilized by a male turtle?" Well, I'll tell you, you ignorant slut. Like chickens, lady turtles produce eggs whether they are fertilized are not. Also like chickens, they like a dry, warm place to lay their eggs. Unfortunately, unlike chickens, lady turtles spend most of their time swimming in water, or basking on hard surfaces. In the wild, they would find a patch of loose dirt or sand not far from their pond, dig down a ways and let 'er rip. But in a captive environment, you need to furnish them with some sort of nesting area, because if they don't lay, the eggs get all calcified and hard inside the lady turtle, taking up space where, say, lady turtle organs should be. Not good.

In our case, constructing some kind of land/water hybrid terrarium was an overwhelming prospect. So, we figured we'd do as some other folks do and get Ms. Eddie a box full of loose earth where she could spend some quiet time laying her eggs. Of course, it can't just be any box of dirt. It's got to be big enough to hold her giant ass and then some, so she can turn around, and full of enough loose dirt that she can dig down all the way the length of her giant-ass shell. And the dirt has to be the right texture, plus free of outside organisms that might put an indoor-raised turtle's immune system into a frenzy, so you have to buy some kind of special amphibian dirt from the pet store. The most common and economical kind is not really dirt at all, but blocks of dehydrated coconut husks, which you soak in water and then dry out to form a loose, dirt-ish, fibrous substance that turtles can dig in. And that's what we done done. Done dood. Whatever.

The problem is, Eddie hates it. She doesn't like being taken out of her tank (and her giant ass is matched by a giant, bitey mouth on the other end), she doesn't like going in the box, she doesn't like the coconut husks and she most certainly doesn't like staying in the box. So, rather than relaxing and laying her eggs, Ms. Eddie tries repeatedly to escape, almost succeeding, until we put something heavy on the top of it. She then gets quiet - ominously quiet - until you think something's wrong in there, like she suffocated herself or something. So you go and check on her and she just glares at you, like she is the most abused creature ever and you are the worst being in the world. Then if you seal her up again she tries to escape some more, until you give up, rinse the coating of coconut husks off her and put her back in her tank. Results? No eggs, no how, no doin'.

Also? After a few days sitting around? Rehydrated coconuts husks smell.

Meanwhile, Aubergine has just gotten used to having her big tank to cavort in (where he's gotten play time, since he's normally confined to the small tank, away from her bitey mouth), but now you have to go scoop him out and confine him again, making him fear you like the giant, mammalian, probable turtle-eater that you are. All in all, you are a Bad Mommy, and whenever the turtles get to the turtle afterlife, they're going to tell on you to St. Peter or St. Francis or the Keymaster of Gozer or whoever and generally make sure you become a shish kabob when you arrive, yourself.

But, there's nothing for it. For now, we have to keep on trying, to see if maybe she gets used to it eventually and squirts out some huevos. If that doesn't happen, at some point we will have to haul her into an "exotic" specialist vet to get some x-rays taken, to make sure that she hasn't gotten impacted. And if she has? Extremely expensive and risky turtle surgery, or probable death. Hooray!

So all y'all out there who feel for critters, please send us wooOOOOoons of egg-laying, now and then, to encourage Ms. Eddie to freakin' save her own life. We hate to scare her by putting her in the box - fear is not good for turtles' immune systems, either - but we don't have much choice.

Unless anyone out there has a nice, clean home pond they'd want some turtles for? Anyone? Bueller...?

7 comments:

Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener) said...

When the coir gets too stinky and you want to get rid of it, it makes an excellent soil additive.

Heather said...

There's a pond behind our property that is just teeming with critters, from herons (or pteradactyls as the kiddo calls them) to Canadian geese, ducks, a beaver couple (who get busy on the shore at a frightening rate) and even a bunch of turtles! (Giant-ass ones, too - one held up traffic on the road around the corner for over 20 minutes 'til someone called the cops who came and moved him ((her?)) to the side of the road.)

So, not a sanitized, "water feature" type pond, but definitely a thriving ecosystem next to a lovely copse filled with bunnies and deer. (But I hates me the bunnies these days, as FooFoo as been sneaking under my fence and eatin' all my garden up....)

And you know how things love to lay eggs around our house - the latest petunia basket nest update has the count at FOUR.

Just saying if you need a Turtle Relocation Program, we've got a spot right here, upstate! :)

In the meantime, WOooooOOOOOOoooooon for Ms. Eddie to squirt out some eggs.

Anonymous said...

And this is why I love you.

Funny, committed to your animal pals, and always educational. You make me want to adopt more animals in my life, instead of just the two. Good luck with your gal, hope she gets those out before they hurt her girlie parts.

Glad her male counterpart was granted a little wide open R&R.

Pink said...

I think your turtles are protesting for being named after foreign vegetables. Unless of course, they're foreign turtles.

Good luck with the breedin'
xx
pinks

BigAssBelle said...

can't you let them go? it is telling that she keeps trying to escape . . . i love turtles too but i can't stand to see them confined. i hope you find a solution and hope it has something to do with freedom. poor little pumpkins. you two and the turtle. what a dilemma.

Corn Dog said...

Ha..hilarious. Oops was it supposed to be? Okay, informative. We kept chickens as a kid and every once in a while we had one get impacted. Not pretty. Good luck with the big butted Turtle.

Anonymous said...

Can't remember if I ever told you this story. (I tell it every time the subject of red-eared sliders comes up.)

In my first novel, the one I never finished and never will finish, there's a scene in which one of the main characters visits a BBQ smokehouse/luxury resort on another planet. One of the attractions is a small zoo containing critters from various other planets. The main character's guide is an abductee from Earth forced by aliens to tend the critters and fix good St. Louis style (or name your style) ribs.

Anyway.

The guide shows our hero one of the scariest creatures, a toothy serpent with powerful jaws. Looks scary, but no big deal. Loves to be scratched below the chin. When they pass the red-eared slider exhibit, our hero stoops down to stroke one on the head, and the guide tackles him. Says something like, "What were you thinking? Last guy did that pulled back a bloody stump!"

Cuz, ya know, they're just that NASTY.