Saving the Reptiles
By Alice Felts
“They are energetic, friendly and make adorable pets.”
If you see this ad for a red-eared slider turtle, pause before pulling out your wallet. Turtles may not be great pets for your children.
First of all, these cute little turtles grow up to be quite large, eating up to a half pound of food pellets a day. They are also able to give a painful bite.
The care of the red-eared slider is quite involved; if not done properly, the turtle could experience serious illness or death.
Amanda Gonzci, a noted expert in reptile rehabilitation, is currently treating three of these turtles who are suffering from massive fungal infections in their shells.
Gonzci, with a master's degree in herpetology, is also a science teacher for 6th and 7th graders at Wakefield School in The Plains. She volunteers with the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, which does not have an wildlife rehab specialists on location. Amrit Daryanani, commissioner on the shelter's advisory board often makes rescue arrangements for Gonzci to take on the treatment of the turtles which the teacher does both at school and at home.
While the three reptiles were in a relatively small tank, soaking in liquid medication, Gonzci said that each turtle requires a 50 gallon tank for adequate living space. The tanks must also have proper filtration.
A common mistake in keeping these turtles as pets is that the owner does not take the amount of time for their care or provide the proper environment for them.
While these three reptiles developed a fungus from being in dirty water, another possible problem is metabolic bone disease. This is also the result of an improper environment lacking the right balance of light.
The turtles need UVA and UVB light sources so that they can convert calcium to bone. Their shells become soft and break off, causing bleeding and probable death.
One of the turtles that Gonzci is treating has humps on its shell where its spine is pushing up into the shell. If this continues, the turtle could suffocate. It will certainly never have a normal shell. Gonzci said that it could probably survive in the wild, but that would present more problems for environmental balance..
Gonzci notes that the red-eared slider is an invasive reptile to Northern Virginia. This species is native to the southeastern part of the country, mainly from Florida to South Carolina. Gonzci has made plans for the red-eared sliders to be returned to a caregiver in South Carolina, a more conducive environment for survival.
While the pet trade ads may call these turtles energetic, Gonzci describes them as aggressive. The red-eared slider actually disrupts its surrounding natural freshwater habitat, eating almost everything available in its diet, including other turtles.
The turtles can live up to 40 years and grow to about 12 inches in length. The females can lay up to 70 eggs per year. Their eggs develop early and the offsprings grow faster than other species of turtles, becoming a dominant figure is its natural element.
According to the Tortoise Trust, many commercial farms, mostly in the Louisiana and Mississippi areas, have overcrowded artificial ponds containing up to 13,000 breeding turtles. There is a high mortality rate due to stress, disease, nutritional problems and low levels of water, often contaminated.
The turtles are not the only reptiles rescued by Gonzci. Her classroom has several others which her students are able to observe and study.
There is an European legless lizard, over three feet in length, which has a probable life span of 50 years.
Also living in the classroom are a dozen corn and garter snakes, one with abrasions, another blind with a broken jaw.
Not only is Gonzci fulfilling her goal of “making the reptiles better,” she is demonstrating to her students our roles and responsibilities in our environment.
E_mail the reporter: afelts@timespapers.com