Bobbinwinder

I've been a tender of box turtles for quite some time. I have an outdoor pen for some adults and an indoor dry aquarium for some that are too small yet for the pen. The outsiders are still waiting for warmer weather to get here. These photos are of some of my homegrown babies.

Maride

Your boxies are so cute!. I got two three toed from a woman in Texas a few years ago. she had a lot of them.

Bobbinwinder

Thanks, Maride, they're quite the characters as you know. I'm just thankful to keep them going...I stop to gather the adults from the road to keep them from getting smacked...and folks bring them to me because they know I'll keep them happy and safe. I don't foster aquatics...or snappers...but I still get them off the roads to safer locations. How'd you get started with torts?

Maride

I had one red ear slider that I got already grown up and lived only 5 years. I was so upset that DH got me two sulcatas. One died and he then got me a bunch of Russians. One turtle followed another, people gave them to me to keep safe, and before you know I have a painted, 2 Razor Back, one Aligator Snapper, two Soft Shells, two Russians, and the latest, an Eastern Box that someone needed to get rid of, and I got it with the tank and stand. I am trying to adopt that one out because I will be moving in the summer and don't have the space for it and want to do it before we get too attached.

Chasing Hawk

In Native American lore......

Iroquois:
The Iroquois trace the beginning of human life to a time when Skywoman fell to an island created by a giant turtle.
"In the beginning, people lived beyond the sky, because deep waters covered the entire earth. Then, a pregnant woman fell from the Sky World toward the water. Ducks and geese broke her fall with their wings and carried her to the Great Turtle, master of all animals, and set her on his back. The Turtle ordered the other animals to bring earth from the bottom of the water and cover his back that she might have land to live upon.
The island grew in shape and size and became North America. There, Skywoman gave birth to a daughter whose children propagated the human race."

Lisanne

I like turtles, in that they brighten my day when I happen to see one somewhere. For some reason, there were some huge ones where I lived and worked in Massachusetts.

There is a turtle store here in Central PA. When I first moved here, someone told me the store had a two-headed turtle. I never did go to see it, but the person said it wasn't the first time the store had had one, and that they sell for a pretty price.

I would have thought they would be very rare, front page news stuff. Guess not.

Maride

They used to be, but not any more. Like everything, the first few are a novelty but after that, no big deal. They don't live long. They do sell very expensive, almost like albino turtles, and those breed purposely with no eyes(Is a recesive genetic trait that can be manipulated).

Lisanne

No eyes? That seems horrific to me.

bodie358

My son's girlfriend collects them so I am always on "turtle watch" for gifts.

I had turtles when I was a kid. They have been outlawed (in Calif for sure, maybe national) because they apparently can carry salmonella. They were about 2 inches wide and lived in little water habitats. I loved them!

tweety

I collect turtles. Don't know how it really got started. But they are very were now.
Linda