This is a serious post…very serious.
I don’t know whether I have ever told you this or not, that Kurome is my favorite out my three turtles (although I still consider Kame as my most favorite one but among the ones still alive, Kurome is)…However, it seems that my other turtles hate him so much…or maybe his black color makes him hated 😦
I have shared how Kroten doesn’t like Kurome (here) because she always wants to bite him and sometimes even chases him just to bite his tail. I have fixed the problem by rotating them, when Kroten is on the floor, Kurome is in the tank and vice verse.
However…things doesn’t stop there 😦
When I took Kurome home, I knew he wasn’t perfect. Another turtle had snatched his tail. This is how a normal Reeves turtle’s tail looks like :
Borrowed from gopixpic.com
Kurome had lost his long tail since I met him.
In my care he has turned into a caring and spoiled turtle. Always chases and smells me. I love being chased by him.
I have noticed that sometimes, Kurome and Papoe’s tank was a bit too noisy but I never really caught what really happened. One day, I finally I saw what happened…Papoe was chasing Kurome. Nothing serious happened…till Last week!!
I came home from work and saw Kurome on his basking area sulking. I picked him up and saw what was wrong with him. His tail was badly injured.
Here’s another clearer angle:
And also on the other side
Papoe had chased him all day and bitten his tail…his already crippled tail 😦
You know, honestly if I don’t love Papoe as much as I love Kurome, I would have thrown him away… fortunately, even though Kuro is my favorite but I love all three of them equally.
Being a parent, I have to think of a way for the two to live together as I can’t have more tank. I live together with a roommate, I still have to consider her if I want to add extra tank…If I live alone I would instantly add new tank. So, I divided the tank like this:
Kurome gets stressed easily. When I moved here, he kept his distance for 2 to 3 days before he finally recovered and started playing with me again. When the biting happened, after I cleaned his wound and apply ointment on it, he was once again hid away from me 😦
I called him again and again and he was still hiding till I fetch him from his hiding place. It went on for three days. Then he got over his stress and began showing his face around…not hiding anymore but still kept his distance from me.
I consider myself lucky because Kurome’s stress doesn’t make him lost his appetite (always a good sign when turtle is still eating)…and since two days ago, he had acted normally again. This morning he had shown his usual ritual again…chasing and smelling me 🙂
This pics are from two days ago
His wound had healed but the skin hasn’t grown again to cover the wounded tail. Sorry for the bad quality photos.
I am so happy that Kurome is his normal-self again now…love him to bits.
According to someone at redearslider.com, it’s probably something about the darker color that triggers the territorial instincts. Time like this, I wish I can read turtle’s mind (sigh)
Underneath The Shell 
I’m so sorry with you and I’m so sad that Papoe bit poor Kurome… I think it could be true that the animal instinct of Papoe is the reason to attack Kurome. I send a big hug to Kurome… and one to you too…
Thank you Easy.
I thought Papoe wouldn’t do the same think as Kroten 😦 maybe black turtle is considered as a threat or maybe something else.
I’m so sorry to hear Kurome suffered a bite from Papoe and that they’re not getting along. He’s so lucky that you take such good care of him and that you fixed the tank to protect him. Many hugs to you both!
Thank you daisy ((hug))
The divider was not properly set today and things got worst 😦 I will bring him to a vet tomorrow
Ohhhh!! It’s terrible to know that your babies are being like this!! I know you love each of them in your own special way… and it must hurt you to think they could ever be so mean to each other. It must be some instinctual thing… not that that is any real consolation. 😦
I guess you’ll have to separate them when you aren’t around to keep Kurome safe… he shouldn’t have to suffer such attacks constantly. That tail looks painful!
My old kitty Goober could be a nasty lil’ killer when he caught something smaller than him… and he always acted surprised when I’d be dissapointed to find one of the little corpses he would leave here and there. I would tell myself it was simply how a cat was…. but there were times I’d find one and just cry. But instincts are instincts…..
I know…maybe I should have kept only same species but maybe it’s not even the main problem.
It gets worst this afternoon. I will take him to the vet tomorrow so that he can get proper medicine or ointment. I need to fix the divider too.
Poor Kurome that is just so sad that they do not get along. We are glad you found the problem and took care of it and sweet Kurome’s tail is healing and he is getting back to acting himself. Hugs and nose kisses
He was healing…now it gets worst 😦
Will take him to the vet tomorrow and write things up as soon as I can
Good idea to divide the tank. I haven’t had a turtle since I was a child, but at one point I had two mice. They seemed to get along fine, but then one of them bit the other one to death. I felt awful, not realizing just how bad the competition between the two of them was.
animalanarchy.blogspot.com
Oh…sorry to hear that.
I hope such thing don’t happen to my baby.
hello turtles its dennis the vizsla dog hay yoo all hav to liv together so yoo must be gud to eetch other!!! do not be like the cichlid fish in mama and dadas tank wot spend all there time beeting eetch other up!!! ok bye
Hi Dennis, I wish it could be that simple 😦
Awww whee are so sad and sorry this happened. Paws crossed they all feel better soon
Thank you Hucth ((hug))
Wow. What a depressing day for me. Angel is sleeping at a pet store overnight because she getting taken to the vet tomorrow because she acting very very strangely and is making me hesitant to say she has respiratory infection. Now I go one my favorite blog to look at and Kurome is hurt. Hope both of the babies ( mine and yours ) get better soon! ;( ❤
Amien!
I hope Angel doesn’t have RI. I am taking Kurome to the vet too tomorrow
Did you take Kurome to the vet or do you even have a vet you can take them to? One thing that could be the problem is that they know Kurome is your favorite. You told me that he was your favorite on IG when we talked about our turtles. They can sense that!
I love all 3 of mine too, but I still have a favorite. My Eastern Box that is a little boy is my favorite. He stole my heart because of the way he immediately attached himself to me in the very first hour he came to live with my ex and me. He was all over me, hanging onto me, and nuzzling my neck. He snuggled right up to sleep with me in bed the first night. I always try to show them all equal love so they don’t feel slighted, but they can still sense that another is your favorite. Especially when they hear you talking to or playing with the favorite one and the voice you use with that one.
You can’t be sure that another turtle took Kuromes’s tail either. He could’ve gotten it hurt. All 3 of my turtles have different tails than they should have! My female 3-toed Eastern subspecies Box Turtle, an endangered species, was all alone in her living area and her tail just disappeared! She has a cute little nubbie now. 🙂 We have no clue what happened to her tail and we never ever found it either. She was in one place all alone and there was nothing in her living area that could have hurt her. That will always be a mystery. My male Eastern Box Turtle’s tail stands up like a little antenna because he had a cloacal prolapse and had to have surgery. The way the vet had to sew him up it caused his tail to stand up like a little antenna! I always call him antenna tail. 🙂 He likes that! My RES had the very tiny pointed tip of his tail separate from the rest of his tail for some reason. He’s very active and rambunctious and I don’t know if he caught it on something or what happened. It was barely hanging on so I gently removed it and he has a rounded end to his tail now. It had already separated enough that it was not getting any blood flow to it and it would’ve ended up falling off anyway. I just didn’t want him to catch it on something and end ripping the good part of his tail too. I always talk up their differences they lost that make them more “Speshell”! I’ll look them straight in their eyes and tell them all the cute and different things about each of them. They all 3 seem to really love that!
Thankfully all of my turtles get along quite well even though all 3 are different types and only one is aquatic. My male and female box turtles have always gotten along. She did let him know she was the oldest and she was the boss! They snuggle up and he’ll lay on top of her as if he’s protecting her. It is so sweet! 🙂 When my RES was a tiny baby they both accepted him right away. They know and they can feel who is the favorite, no matter whether you say you love all 3. Every animal and human has instincts.
You should really get him to a vet for that tail though. I would if it was my turtle. With the skin not having all grown back, and bacteria that could possibly be in the water, he could get a blood infection that could cause poisoning to his body, seizures, and possible death. I’m not trying to scare you Novroz but I have had experience with taking care of turtles for 17 years. I am disabled and have spent more time with turtles than I have with people in the last 17 years. That’s the flat out truth too! I know more about turtles than the rehabber in our area does. I was testing her and asking her questions I already knew the answers to and she couldn’t even answer them at all. This is a woman who is supposed to be able to save sick turtles too! The things I was asking had to do with sickness and definciencies. She told me she had 2 dead turtles that she needed to send to Purdue University here in Indiana for autopsies.
Our first turtle, a RES, was very sick when my ex and I got him, we got him well, and he lived happily with us for 6 years. He was very old when we got him from someone who he had been passed off to and she had no clue how to care for him and she was just going to let him die. He was a full grown RES and she had him in a dog’s water dish. 😦 He was SO sweet and gentle! I would sing to him while I held him and rocked him and he would make noises in his throat like he was singing along with me. 🙂 He would make barking noises at our cat when she was pestering him. It was so funny! All he wanted to do was bask and play in the hallway without being bothered. She didn’t know what to think when he barked. He was very “Speshell”! He would get sick sometimes and anytime he had any problem he went straight to the vet! He and my female Eastern Box Turtle were best buddies and she would ride on his back. She had little tears in her eyes so many times after he died when she looked at his picture. For the 3 I still have, their vet now makes house calls so I don’t have to go anywhere. He’s at a new place and they didn’t allow him to do that when he saw them at the old vet place he worked for. That is such a huge blessing! I will keep Kurome in my prayers! It made me feel SO sad for him seeing his poor tail. 😦
I didn’t take him to the vet because it was already dry…however I will take him to the vet tomorrow as something happened this afternoon. The divider was slightly loose and kurome’s tail got worst. Now I am afraid of infection. I can’t afford losing another favorite of mine. I’ll take an early leave from my work tomorrow.
Oh Kurome, you poor thing. 😦 I am so glad he is feeling better, and you have managed to keep them apart. I hope he can be stress free from now on! x
He is already stress free…but I guess he will be stress again soon because I am going to take him to the vet tomorrow…and the trip there will make him hide away again
Oh no! But if it is necessary, I’m sure he will be glad when it’s all over, to be healthy. I hope he is alright at the vets x
He was great at the vet 🙂
I am going to write his progress today 🙂
It’s a pity you can’t have third tank, since Kurome needs a different water level anyway. Whether you could read their minds or not, you’d still have to separate them.
He can swim swiftly now, he can adapt really good…but yeah i have to separate them somehow
Maybe your other turtles are jealous. Or maybe there is something about Kurome that aggravates them. In every family, there is always some sibling rivalry and infighting.
Mary did say it might be jealousy.
Kurome never bothers anyone, he enjoys himself…so it’s other his colour or jealousy
Hope they can sort out there turtle beef.
I don’t think they will, I am the one who have to figure out how to keep them separated…for both their sake
Oh poor Kurome. Hope the divider works and hope his tail is better soon xxx
The divider weren’t set straight the last time and it caused something bad on Kuro’s tail 😦
I will update his condition soon
Hi!
I currently have one four month old baby turtle named Shroeder. Here’s my question. He won’t crawl on my hand. He lets me pick him up for a short time but then he starts kicking and scratching hard. Any advice? Anything is appreciated
I answered your question here> Q & A page
Poor little guy.. So glad he is back to his old self. I hope his tail heals up soon.
It’s healing but I still keep him away from water when I am not around.
Thank you Christine 🙂
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