General Care Discussion :: Spike is missing :'(

[RunninWideOpen]

Some of you know we gave Spike away to a family last week on "loan" for them to take care of him until he gets to big for the tank he's in. I went over there yesterday to check on him and he was doing great. His water temp was a bit high and the level was a bit low, so I adjusted. I guess I raised the water level too high though. They came home tonight and he wasn't in the tank . We went over there and spent a couple hours looking for him and couldn't find him. I really thought we would find him, we turned the whole house upside down.

I feel terrible. I let Spike down. I don't understand, he's never ever showed any interet in climbing out, and I've had the water level higher than that before. And their 10 year old daughter was getting really attached to him too. She's been the one taking care of him and doing a great job. I hope he turns up. We left some plates with water and pellets out overnight in every room.

Anyone ever lose a turtle indoor for multiple days and find him? Where and how did you end up finding him?

[cole]

I have lost turtles, snakes, iquana's and many other various creatures in my homes before. The first few times it happened, it took a couple years to find them. We would get a new refrigerator or appliance, and there would be the dried up carcas under the old one. After finding several dead pets under my appliances, I began making that the first place I look. Soon after I lost a 6 foot snake and a 1 foot Iquana. I looked immediatley under and behind the appliances with a flashlight and there they were.

I don't know if its the heat being put off under them, or if its the fact that insects can hide under there and they go in after em... or maybe they just like the security of being hidden under something thats nearly impossible to look under or behind at times.

At any rate, my first suggestion would be under the fridge.

Good luck!

Cole~

[octpusgirl8]

Oh wow that's terrible news, i can't imagine how bad you feel. When my turtle got out i totally wasn't expecting it, he never seemed to have any desire for escape. Thankfully my roomate found him pretty quickly, when she found him he was heading for the basement! It would have been really hard to find him down there, not to mention the trip down the stairs could have been pretty traumatic. Don't overlook the basement if there is one, and i don't recall how big spike is, but it couldn't hurt to check any upstairs areas there might be too. I'm so sorry, but don't give up hope. Good luck!

[RunninWideOpen]

I did pull out the fridge and look behind it, as well as the washer and dryer. I was really hopeful looking there, but no such luck. We didn't look UNDER the fridge. I'll tell them to check there today.

Spike's only 2.5" so he's not that easy to find. And he's super fast. That's why I NEVER let him out, I was afraid I'd lose him. There aren't any stairs in the house. He's kept in the living room, which is very open and connects with a very open kitchen and dining room. Right next to his tank is a hallway that leads to 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. I figured he had to be somewhere in there, but I turned all those bedrooms upside down.

I hope he gets hungry and comes out today . My fear is that he'll never come out; they have a couple of young rowdy boys that are really noisy.

[DavidY]

Did you try looking inside any bundles of clothes or blankets or sheets that may have been on or near the floor? I think someone else here found their lost turtle hiding in some sheets. Also look under everything, even the seemingly unlikely areas. They are very good at squeezing underneath things. Most likely he didn't go too far as they usually head straight for the darkest area around. Try getting down at floor level next to the tank and look around for the nearest most visible darkened area (were the lights on when he first escaped?). I hope you guys can find him.

[steve]

I agree, look everywhere, block off areas, keep an ear out, look everywhere again.

All of my tips are here: www.redearslider.com/lost_turtle.html

Good luck!

[berkleykc]

Sally escaped twice. First time (at the time the tank was in my son's room) and 2nd time she was found under the bed cold and covered in dust bunnies (I swear I vaccum but we have ALL hard word floors they get dusty QUICK) both times I put him in slightly warm water with a light on her and after 30 she was fine. Not once did she come out both times I had to find her. Once she got cold she (sorry I say he and she I don't know which yet) retreated into her shell.

[RunninWideOpen]

The only lights on in the house were his basking lights. The rest of the house was dark.

We looked under everything we could think of. Picked all blankets / clothes up off the floor and put them on the couches / beds.... we didn't block off anything, I will call and tell her to do that.

Unfortunately the immediate room he was in is very open and no good hiding spots. even the couches are on tall legs and open underneath, so I don't expect him to have stayed in the living room (although we checked), which leaves the whole rest of the house....

thanks for the suggestions.

[DavidY]

Did you look inside the clothes/blankets? He could've crawled inside the folds or pockets.

[RunninWideOpen]

Yeah, shook and patted everything. Looked inside shoes too.

She's sectioned off parts of the house and is looking room to room right now.

What was kinda funny, but got pretty annoying last night, is they have a bunch of fake map turtles for the boys to play with. Exact same size as spike. I found 3 of them myself yesterday around the house thinking it was spike, but it was a stupid rubber thing.

[Andrew7769]

put a dish of water out on the floor and maybe some tuna with it over night....u might get lucky

[RunninWideOpen]

She found him!!! Woo hoo!!! It was after she had already checked all the rooms and given up. She went into her daughters room and he was just walking across the floor. I'm so happy!!

I'm gonna go over there after work and give him a good look over to make sure he didn't hurt himself, and then make sure he can't escape again.

Thanks for the help and the concerns everyone!

[Pokey]

glad u found em

[DavidY]

Yay! That's great news! We were all rootin' for ya'!

[octpusgirl8]

Oh that's wonderful!