Once again, I've been asked to do a program about turtles for a Girl Scout camp. The theme is water conservation, so I'll be teaching them all about turtles, their habitats and the importance of protecting those habitats.
In the past, I've always brought along Dandelion, my red-eared slider. Unfortunately, she passed away last year, so I had to find a substitute. Luckily, it wasn't very hard to find these 2 little guys out in our garden, munching on what's left of our tomatoes.
They are young Eastern Box Turtles. I have them in a huge tupperware tote, filled with a few inches of dirt from the garden, as well as some leaf litter from the woods for them to burrow in. Jake and Elwood
both seem to love sunning themselves under the UV light. When they get too warm, they can take a dip in the terracotta dish swimming hole, or crawl under a cardboard box for a bit of shade. They have been dining on nightcrawlers and various fruits and veggies. Oh, and they get misted twice a day with water from our spring. Jake and Elwood are quite pampered! Hopefully, they don't mind being displaced from their home for a couple weeks until the presentation.
3 comments:
Oh Aiden would be so happy to have turtles in the house! We had a squirrel in here once (the kitty broke his spine). Aiden saw a turtle at the beach this year and was quite impressed when he touched it!
My oldest wants me to let her have a turtle. I'm not sure about it though. Are they easy to take care of? She is 9.
I've always wanted to put a low fence around my pond and add a couple of turtles. I have a friend who has two sliders and they actually mated and now she has babies.
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