Sad News

Becca267

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We went on a 3 day camping trip this weekend and when we got back on Sunday I couldn't find two of my ornate babies and Tulip (one of my gulf coast box turtles). I wasn't too worried about Tulip since she is really good at hiding (I have though I lost her a few times), but was concerned about the little ones.

Monday after work I methodically seached the entire enclosure that the ornates were in and still couldn't find the missing turtles. After I put my daughter to bed I decided to relocate it from our greenhouse to the patio near the house so I can keep a better eye on the one I still had. Once I got everything moved I found the carapces of the two missing turtles under a pallet on the greenhouse floor. Totally heartbreaking.

This made me very concerned about Tulip. So we went out with a flashlight and searched for her. No Tulip. Today after work with daylight we ripped apart her enclosure and still can't find her. I assume she is gone too. Not sure if I should keep putting out food/water in her enclosure just in case or just accept that's she's gone.

We've moved Bubba closer to the house into a more secure container since he is also small and now I'm freaking out about everyone eles. We are all feeling terrible and I'm trying to decide the how to proceed and make sure everyone is safe.
 

Becca267

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So very sorry. Do you know what happened to them?
The two babies were clearly eaten by something small enough to leave their remains under a pallet. Tulip is just MIA. No idea what happened to her. I weighed her Friday afternoon and she was missing Sunday afternoon from her enclosure.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Sorry for your loss
 

AJK Aquaria

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Sorry Becca. Just terrible.

So their enclosure was in a greenhouse? How difficult would it be for critters to get in there?
 

Becca267

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Sorry Becca. Just terrible.

So their enclosure was in a greenhouse? How difficult would it be for critters to get in there?
We had them in there due to some cooler night weather we had a while back. The plan was to move them out this weekend. This time of year it gets pretty hot during the day, so the door is propped open 99% of the time. Typically most larger animals won't go in since there isn't an escape route. I'm really thinking rats were responsible. Not sure what else would hang out under a pallet to eat. Obviously, we should have moved them out when we had to keep the entire door open (it's a Dutch door). Tulip was across the backyard in a totally different area. She was also significantly bigger.

Now I'm trying to decide what to do since rats get into things really well. At a past house we had to deal with them in our chicken coop. It was a battle we never completely won. I'm also nervous about our camping trip next month.
 

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