The kids were thrilled and obsessed with the turtle. We did some research and found that turtles LOVE to eat anything red. Our turtle chowed down on quite a few tomatoes.
Allen and I were in a quandary about what to do with Luna (what the kids named the turtle). It was clearly a pet turtle that had either been abandoned or escaped from some one's yard. We asked several of our neighbors but no one was missing a turtle. Some friends in our ward and neighborhood have pet turtles so I picked her brain about turtle habitats. We realized that turtles are really easy pets - they will live in your backyard and hibernate for 6 months of the year as long as they have a place to burrow. They can find their own food but will eat if you leave food for them. The only thing we would have to do is provide water, shade and enclose the backyard. Al and I are totally NOT pet people but this seemed pretty doable and our friends had us pretty convinced at the low-maintenance of turtles. Our only issue is that we have an all-dirt backyard with no landscaping and no shade (never mind that the home owners have been promising us landscaping for 2 years). In the end we decided to take the turtle to live in our friends turtle habitat in their yard (she was their 5th turtle). The kids were quite sad but we promised that we can take her with us when we move and build our own habitat.
I got some cute pictures of the kids with Luna:
This was as we were walking up to our friends house to drop her off. Everyone wanted to carry her so they ended up doing it together.
The kids were sad but we were really proud that they realized that it wasn't fair to the turtle to try to keep her in our yard for now. Our neighbors have a great set up for their turtles and the kids realized she would be happier there. And mine and Al's hearts have softened considerably to someday having a pet of our own.
7 comments:
I showed Connor this post and he is swooning over here... this is totally something he'd find/do (cue memories of him bringing a live prairie dog into the living room and just last week carrying a snake in his hands and asking if he can have it for a pet); a turtle would be such a nice option! We are no-pet people too (too many allergies), but we had a frog before and I would consider a turtle. Maybe. Someday. But it does soften the heart to see how much they love and care for little creatures. Fun post, great pictures!
Every boy needs a dog!
Mom
Love the turtle. My kids found a tiny lizard yesterday that they were determined to keep . . . I'll post pics on my blog sometime this week of it sitting in Eva's hair. I love that my kids love little natural animals, but I never know what to do when they want to keep them. You found the perfect solution!
So fun! We are no-pet people too, but a turtle seems like a good option. :)
We had a turtle...only it was an indoor turtle. Bad idea. They stink. Really bad. But the outdoor one seems like a great option. I love that they all wanted to carry her over...ha. True life!
we found a turtle on the side of the road in kansas once and brought it home as a pet for the summer. Named him Hershell. He was a great pet, except every time we would try to put him in the water he would get sick and throw up! after asking a vet friend about the problem, he told us it was because the turtle was a LAND tortise and not meant to live in the water!! uh oh. good memories. fun memories for your kids to have too. my kids beg us every day for a dog. jared promised them on in our 'next house'....uh oh~
Ah well, that's longer then my kids have ever had a pet...I'm glad they enjoyed Luna while she was there!
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