Turtle Rescue and Rehoming

08/11/2024

All animal rescues rely on volunteers, and Turtle Rescue couldn't function without them! :)
Lisa is a regular volunteer who helps out with general tank maintenance fortnightly, on a Sunday afternoon. Dan had just started to do the same.
The post winter pond and filter cleaning is an essential task and takes several weeks to juggle all that needs to happen. Here's a few snippets of the past couple of weeks.
I'd known Joseph about 10 years ago and he'd helped out Turtle Rescue back then. Recently I sold a fish tank, which he bought, and then he offered to sort out the permanent fence I needed around the new Reeves pond. Legend!
Madi had seen some of the neighbourhood Facebook posts and made contact to spend a few hours helping out.
Isabelle is a microbiologist at ESR. Staff are given a paid day a year to do voluntary work and she chose Turtle Rescue! Amazing help! Karl and family owned 2 female turtles which we had swapped for a male to live in their large tank. The females will be adopted from here to live in a pond. They adopted Whero, a wee stray found in the Red zone. Whero had been back here for a week while they were on holiday. Karl had offered a days voluntary work as payment....incredibly helpful!
Aubrey and Adele help out as they can, and Katie and Dana (under 16 yrs old), help out at Animates and other displays.
If you can offer a one-off, or regular voluntary hours, there's a wide variety of tasks needing to be done. Come and visit and have a chat about volunteering :) Check out the pics....not in order of tasks being completed. Donna: 021 2020 185 if you can help. (Based in Christchurch).

28/10/2024

URGENT help needed. Can you rehome an adult female RES, found as a stray in Hamilton. She had stopped the traffic on the main road from Hamilton to Raglan. Please contact me and I'll give you the cell phone number of the finder.
NB/ the finder doesn't use any social media.
Turtle is currently in the owners bath waiting for someone with a well fenced pond. :)
Pic for attention, not the actual turtle....I'm still waiting on a photo of her.
Ta, Donna, Turtle rescue, 021 2020 185

17/09/2024

I was so excited to get my power bill today! It's only $772.21! 😁
The last 3 have been over $930.... 🙄I'll be pleased when I can turn off the heaters in the turtle tanks and move at least 27 turtles outside into ponds again 🙂

14/09/2024

The Eastern Long Necks are known as the clowns of the turtle breed. They certainly love to be in the limelight lol :)

10/08/2024

We had a great time at Animates Tower Junction today! Thanks heaps to those of you that had seen the earlier post and came down to visit the turtles and learn about their care and needs. Also had a lovely bunch of staff who were taking in as much information as they could, so they can be better informed when talking with customers about turtles. The 7 turtles were happy to return home to their tanks/ponds for a swim after their busy day entertaining the crowds. NB/permission was given for pictures of children in this post :)

09/08/2024

Animates, Tower Junction. Katie and I will be at Animates tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am until 2pm. Come and say Hi to us and the turtles :)

25/07/2024

Wasn't it nice to see some sunshine today! I popped home from work in my lunchbreak and the turtles were certainly making the most of the warm weather. I snapped a few pics of some happy turtles basking. It was the first time I'd seen all 4 Reeves turtles together since they went into brumation in their new pond, so it's great to know they have all survived winter so far. Some turtles are in brumation for winter, but were awake today in the sun. Others are in heated and covered ponds, so they're not exposed to the cold air and so they are fully awake, eating etc over winter, and others are in tanks in the garage. Apparently there'll be a polar blast next week....so it's great they can make the most of these warm days at the moment :)

26/06/2024

UPDATE: It appears that we've found the owners! The fantastic thing is that she's been missing for 6 years! Also the pics the previous owners had are from 10 years ago....and there's been a change in size and subtle changes with her shell shape and skin pattern....but it's 99.9% sure that it's Martha! :) :) :) She'll remain here until a purpose built turtle pond is created for her in summer :) I wonder how many native flora and fauna she's consumed in 6 years..... they're very resourceful!
Stray female RES turtle found near the Pegasus Golf course. The brown colouring is generally caused from tannins in the water she's been living in. It won't harm her. Often stray turtles are coloured like this. If you think she might be yours, please contact me ASAP. Currently under SPCA hold for 8 days.
She's currently named 'Jeff' :)

31/05/2024

Running an animal Rescue of any kind is hard work, mixed with both positive and tragic stories. Here's a few snippets about some of the turtles that have arrived here over the past 4 to 6 weeks. WARNING there are some sad pics amongst the happy ones.
If you want to contribute towards the $182 vet bill for Danni, please pay to ANZ, Turtle Rescue 010798 0096119 00 Ref: Danni.
It's often difficult to keep doing all this, mostly on my own, so I appreciate any help in any way :)
Also, I need a fence built around a new turtle pond. If you can help, sing out! :) :)
It's now 3.30 am! Time I finished this post and grab some sleep before another busy day at Turtle Rescue :)

24/05/2024

Turtles can be at risk of serious injury or drowning. Sadly too many turtles are injured or killed by getting a limb or their head caught in the intake pipe of a canister filter. Turtles are inquisitive and can easily knock the strainer off the intake pipe of a canister filter. The suction may not feel very strong to us, but a small head can quickly get sucked up....the type of injuries leading to death are too graphic to explain here. :( Even a fully grown turtle can get a part of its foot caught, preventing the turtle from being able to swim to the surface to breathe air, causing it to drown.
I place a prefilter sponge over the intake strainer of all my turtle tanks to prevent turtles being able to dislodge the strainer. This is incredibly effective.
It also stops heaps of muck getting into the filter itself! I remove the sponge every week or so and rinse it well in buckets of water. It's incredible how much stuff comes out of them!
Please be aware of this potential risk for your turtle and ensure they are not able to dislodge the strainer on the filter pipe. :)
I get my pre filter sponges from Redwood Aquatics here in CHCH :) They also do shipping! :)

07/05/2024

Hey people, I've included 3 more 'What Now' videos in the comments below. There's some repetition in the videos... (especially the bits of me talking lol), but it's great to see the way the film crew took the natural movements of the turtles and created an Olympic themed story around it :) Check out the videos! :)
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Here's the first segment from filming that was done for the Kids show "What Now". :)
No turtles were hurt in the filming and they basically were just doing natural things, like running or swimming, but on pieces of cardboard or the grass. We spent a LOT of time retrieving racing turtles from the fern garden lol :)

In this new epic series, watch turtles Poppy, Pippy & Parky race to decide who is the ultimate turtle. Remember though, adopt don't shop. ...

02/05/2024

38 year old Rocky was my first turtle. I learnt a lot about turtle care from him and his now deceased brother, Pebbles. We didn't have computers, Google, cell phones.....and turtles were a new pet on the pet trade in New Zealand. So l had to figure things out for myself, try and find information at the library and follow the advice from pet shop staff...who also had no knowledge of turtle husbandry. I had him in a tank that was too small, so his shell is stunted and a bit deformed. His front feet were bitten by Pebbles as we didn't know that turtles were territorial reptiles and don't need friends, especially another male. We didn't have quality turtle foods ( or any turtle food really), and so his diet was not good...blood worms, ox heart and frozen shrimps from the supermarket. None of those should be fed to a turtle! At least l gave him plenty of garden and pond snails, garden worms, aquatic plants and feeder fish, so it wasn't all bad. Over time l learnt from my mistakes and l now spend as much time as l can helping other turtle owners to give their pet the best life possible! Red eared slider turtles darken as they age, especially the males! Rockys shell is shiny black except for a few small dark yellow patches on his plastron. His skin, and even his eyes are now totally black! He's my very handsome old boy 🐢🥰

18/04/2024

Valetta is such an amazing turtle and I love her basking poses! Her deformity is caused from living in a tank that was too small for her and wasn't set up properly with correct UVA/B lighting etc. She was passed from person to person via Trade-me until she came here in 2015. X-rays revealed very poor bone density. She was so weak, she was initially unable to swim. Her scutes had built up over many years due to her incorrect set-up and were incredibly hard and thick. She looked very different once they shed. She had a growth on the side of her head which we left as didn't feel she'd survive the surgery. During 2017, it started to grow and so it was necessary to remove it. After the surgery it didn't heal well...until I was unexpectedly able to remove a very hard, twisted up piece of tissue. In 2020 she had built up her calcium reserves enough to lay eggs, although that was also problematic, requiring x-rays and injections due to the large, deformed eggs inside her deformed body. She's required x-rays, followed by oxytocin and calcium injections each time she's ready to lay eggs since 2020, but they are a normal shape/size now. She has a wonderful, cheeky personality and will remain at Turtle Rescue and Rehoming as a permanent resident :) Here's a few pics of her journey here with me :)

11/04/2024

Turtle Rescue and Rehoming continues to be busy working with different parts of the community in order to educate the public around turtle care and well-being.
There's also been a couple of disasters causing heaps of work....firstly, I accidently unplugged the freezer for 5 days, defrosting LOTS of frozen Hot House turtle food and human food.
Then, after tidying and cleaning the garage, ready for the Open Day, I turned on a hose to refill a turtle tank I'd cleaned....and forgot about it for 1.5 hours! The garage and contents were under about 5 cm of water (uneven floor slopes to BACK of garage!) What a disaster. Took me 2 weeks to pull everything out, dry, sort, and repack it. But it looks amazing now lol, so tidy! 87 people came through in the 2 hours I had for the Open Day, and wrote very positive comments in the visitors book.
A TV crew were here last Monday to film for the kids show 'What Now'. It won't be on for a few weeks. Turtle Olympics!
Check out these pics from the Open Day, TV filming and the display at Petstock Adoption Day in Northwood.
Always lots happening here, especially with visitors coming to learn about adoption, to surrender turtles, or to get advice on turtle care. This year I've dropped a day at work (nursing in Community Based Mental Health), partly due to the ongoing Turtle Rescue work. It's great having a 3 day weekend! :)

16/03/2024

Come and see Katie and l at petstock Northwood with turtles today!

20/01/2024

Katie and I will be at Animates, Tower Junction with a few Turtle Friends between 10 am and 2pm today (Sunday). Come down and say Hi! :)