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I have a red-eared terrapin and it _loves_ to have it's carapace scratched. It dances and wriggles and pushes up against your nails. Then it follows you looking for more. Trust me, this is very unusual behaviour for a turtle. The problem is that after a while I get bored.
I want to build a gentle
turtle scratcher. It's a gentle (as gentle as you'd feel safe using to sctatch a young child's back) scratcher appendage that is at a fixed height off the ground and is sensor activated.
Turtle walks underneath and scratcher operates until turtle moves away, (or max time limit is exceeded).
Terrapin Station
http://64.95.118.51...6632-resized200.jpg
[thumbwax, Oct 05 2004]
My Terrapin Jetta
http://www.michaelk...snet.co.uk/orb1.htm
It always starts the same way... [calculust, Oct 05 2004]
Terrapin or Slider? YOU decide.
http://www.geocitie...y/redearturtle.html
[FloridaManatee, Oct 05 2004]
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This must be grounds for a children's book. + |
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Give your terrapin some fresh apple from me and have a croissant for your elf. |
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Hehe, I'd like to meet this turtle. It'd be interesting if you did actually build one, to see if it is indeed the scratching it enjoys, or just the contact with you. |
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would it be the noise it makes? or the vibration? |
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I'd hate to be around when you're at work, and he's *all* *alone*. |
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implying that he is a pizza eating, teenage ninja? |
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Hmmm...now how'd that lamp get broken? |
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You know, turtles aren't malicious, needy, etc. To guage their intelligence, imagine a chicken with a shell and not enough sleep. |
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So, I doubt the terrapin can even recognise me when I come home. At first, the terrapin looks at me with a who's this human look, and only gets friendly after it's had a scratch. He reacts exactly the same no matter who scratches him. |
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Actually, I have two terrapins. Both are pushing 30 (teenagers in human years). One (female) has a perfect shell and the other (male) has a less than perfectly smooth shell; looks a little wrinkly, but otherwise he doesn't seem to notice. The female enjoys scratching a bit but the male goes ga-ga. So maybe he's got itchy scales and lacks a suitable surface to slough them off. |
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If I get round to building the scratcher from a shoe polisher and a light gate, I'll see if it's human contact or a scratching post he likes. I'll post the results here. |
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In the meantime, if any of you have a turtle, give him a gentle scratch and see how he reacts. |
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We had two red-eared sliders, Max and Melissa, who both absolutely hated being touched, let alone tickled. (Don't worry about the "had" - our baby sitter was lonely when she moved, so my son gave her the turtles to keep her company.) |
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Sorry to hear about your experience, [DrCurry]. I'll provide a link to care tips. I think red-eared sliders and red-eared terrapins are the same. |
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Over the decades, they do get used to human contact. In fact, our female prefers our attention to that of the male, who invariable tries to chew her eyeballs out in a perverse act of love whenever they are permitted to meet. By comparison, when my brother was a kid, she locked onto his finger tip and it was touch and go to see if his flesh, her neck or the bite would be the first to go. |
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No doubt your babysitter's grandchildren will have themselves a lovely pair of turtles. |
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In the meantime, they'll be like a combination between a pair of scalpel blades, a mold-grip and a Tazmanian Devil with laryngitis. |
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Thanks for the links [Steve DeGroof]. I'm also considering a cut-out made from a 555-timer and a latch. |
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He's never, ever been the one to want to break off the scratching first and I don't want to let him wear through his carapace. |
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Manatee: our turtles only ever nipped, and then usually because they were just missing whatever we were feeding them (they especially loved earthworms). But I'll tell you my uncle's story: he grew up in Africa, where the local turtles were no bigger than a few inches at most. When the family moved to America, he went to the nearest stream to find some new pets, doing what he was accustomed to doing in Africa, taking off shoes and socks and wading into the water. He was puzzled that he couldn't see any turtles swimming about, until he realized that the boulders on the bottom of the stream were not boulders, but (alligator snapping) turtles. He was out of that stream as fast as he could jump. |
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Wow, you see those type of
terrapins alot in florida. Every
small pond has atleast 10. Many
do not like contact and will try to
bite anything that gets near them.
The soft shells will allow you to
pick them up atleast to put them
over the curb or into the nearest
pond with out any trouble. The
soft shells being almost
completely aquatic have the most
problems crossing the roads
including getting over the curbs. |
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I'm happy you have made good
pets FloridaManatee. |
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Dag, you saw an snapping turtle.
It's not a popular pet by any
means. Yet, some humans make
them into pets. Go figure. I don't
know
where you live but in Florida
snapping turtles
can be bigger than ones from
other areas. |
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It sounds like an alligator
snapping turtle or atleast the size
of one. If so it would have bony
plates on its head. Yes, I believe
you, those suckers are powerful
and your story can be backed up
by thousands of other people.
You are really lucky to still have
your toes. |
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