31 July 2003

There were turtles at this meeting. One was a charming softshell. I've not seen one since I was a small child. Some lived in the river near our house, and I remember catching a couple babies and trying to keep them as pets. Didn't work well at all.

See the webbed feet on this little guy! Claws too.


Leave my belly alone! I'll bite you!	Fancy camouflage back pattern.

There were some rescue turtles too, a box turtle and a yellowbelly. They were waiting in boxes for Charlie. Both have been badly injured and need much meds and TLC.

back injury split shell

This looks like an automobile injury. The whole shell is cracked. See the horrible split at the neck? Charlie may patch it with fiberglass.

fish hook injury hunger

This injury is from a fish hook - which has already been removed. There is infection. The whole face and mouth of the turtle are badly swollen. The turtle cannot eat because of the injury and is very thin. The picture does not show how thin but we could see: there was only a skinny little turtle body inside that shell. :(

This evening we met a wonderfully large Pine snake and a beautifully colored Bull snake. Al, the keeper, talked about these snakes and their care. He said they were very much diggers, and enjoyed having a substrate they could tunnel through - especially the Pine snake. He also suggested terracotta flowerpots as hideboxes. To keep the pot from shattering when you hit it with the hammer, you can stuff it with towels which helps to absorb the shock. Sounds good to me, LittleSnake has outgrown his tiny terracotta hidebox. :)

head markings

BIG pine snake! Close to six feet long. Very tame and friendly! Didn't hiss much at all. ;) Beautiful patterning on his head. He lives at a camp during the summer and is very used to being passed from hand to hand.

bull snake face

Look at the lovely color of this bull snake! He's dog-tame too, and so beautiful!

And of course we had a few of our own animals there:

boa beardie

Chris's beautiful redtail boa, Raven's handsome Beardie,

ball python

and Pantera, pretending (unsuccessfully) to be a GTP.

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3 August 2003


This looks like an automobile injury. The whole shell is cracked.	See the horrible split at the neck? Charlie may patch it with fiberglass.

This injury is from a fish hook - which has already been removed. There is infection. The whole face and mouth of the turtle are badly swollen.	The turtle cannot eat because of the injury and is very thin. The picture does not show how thin but we could see: there was only a skinny little turtle body inside that shell. :(


BIG pine snake! Close to six feet long. Very tame and friendly! Didn't hiss much at all. ;)	Beautiful patterning on his head. He lives at a camp during the summer and is very used to being passed from hand to hand.


Look at the lovely color of this bull snake!	He's dog-tame too, and so beautiful!