Meet Jordin

Jordin is the newest member of our family. One of TJ's coworkers gave him to us--Jordin is a red-eared slider, and he loves the water! I say "he" because Aliya says he is a boy. Niah, however, claims Jordin is a girl. Supposedly the shape of the claws, the length of the tail, etc., determines whether the turtle is a boy or a girl. It is NOT as simple as just lifting up the tail like you can for other animals.

Thankfully we still had the fish tank and all the fish stuff, so Jordin had a home within a few hours. Jordin has been so much fun because we get to see him swim around and climb on things, and he doesn't require all the intensive care and tank cleanings that fish do.

A few weeks ago, Aliya and I had picked up another boxed turtle on our neighborhood street. Once again, Niah said the turtle was a girl, so they named her Sarah. Sarah was with us less than a week--she dug a hole out of our yard and through the neighbor's backyard. TJ and the girls went over there, and everybody searched for Sarah, but she couldn't be found. Samantha still is with us. In fact, it seems that she is very content with our backyard as a home. She has never tried to dig out--she knows that Niah will feed her! I think if she could talk she would tell us that she really loves our backyard and is more than happy to call it home.

So for now, we have 2 turtles and one beta fish. I have told the girls (and TJ) that we are not a turtle rescue mission, and we will not pick up every turtle that we find on the road. However, we still somehow have to stop and help the turtles get off the road so they won't get ran over.

A Tale of a Tail

Last week I caught Aliya's hands in the fish tank. I asked her what she was doing, and she said "Nothing". I looked in Martin's tank (Niah's beta fish), and noticed something wasn't quite right--the tank was murky. I asked her again, but she gave the same answer. I looked closer at Martin, and that was when I realized that his fins were gone and half of his tail was missing! Martin looked like he had been butchered! It was then that I noticed the "evidence" on the place mat by the fish tank. There lay Martin's missing pieces. By this time Aliya was crying and was rather upset. I know that she didn't mean to hurt him--she just wanted to "pet him and hold him", but Martin didn't want to be held!

I wasn't sure if Martin would make it. I wasn't sure how much "loving" he had received. Later that night I cleaned out his home (finding more Martin pieces in the process) and gave him some food to eat. He didn't feel like eating, but he was thankful for a clean tank.

It has been a week now, and it looks like Martin has survived! It even appears that he is growing a new fin and a new tail. Hooray for Martin! Martin has survived one child...will he survive another one?