Pet Life Magazine, New Zealand Pet Life Magazine Issue 5 Summer 2017 | Page 23

car outside with the whole family in it, a
turtle in a box. “We have no home left,
can you help?”
I photograph the underneath of turtles
so people know which is theirs. It’s
turtle ID. The underneath pattern is
unique to every turtle. I get a piece of
paper, put the turtle’s name on it, the
date in. I also photograph their backs
and face, so that if people say they have
lost a turtle they have to prove to me it
theirs.
I won’t just give my turtles away to
anyone. When I adopt out my turtles
people have to sign an agreement that
they won’t sell them on Trade Me – they
must come back to me. Only a small
handful come back because I vet them
so well and make it very clear you have
to be committed to this.
My biggest turtle is about 26 centime-
tres long and weighs 2.5kg. Heffalump
is her name. They all have a name,
most I can recollect, and with that
name I remember their story. It’s usu-
ally a road or a street name.
I have long necks, red-earred sliders,
Reeve’s and three painted turtles – they
are new in the trade, have only been
around for about three years. They are
very bright underneath. They are lovely,
have a pretty face, but are quite vicious.
All the turtles I have, their shells are to-
tally different because of time spent in
tanks. Some of the shells have rotted. If
the tanks are too small that causes the
shells to turn up. It’s all caused by the
humans that look after them, and just
because they didn’t know. Didn’t have a
clue. It’s a real problem – people don’t
realise this turtle is going to need care
for 30-50 years.
I encourage people to think, what
would the turtle be eating in a natural
environment? Fish, oxygen weed, water
snails, watercress … Kale is completely
wrong for a turtle. Sil