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.