Would you believe the PRICE???

The photos here are lifted from an internet turtle pet and supply store. I about fell out of my chair when I scrolled down and saw the price tag on this lovely little hatchling that is a dead ringer for our own...$249.95. Never, ever, in a million years would I have imagined that was the price range for hatchling ornate box turtles. (Adult ornate turtles are half that price...most likely they are ones that grew up wild and were later captured (since it takes 10 years to reach maturity) and as such are not likely to fair well in captivity...hatchlings being much more adaptable and much less likely to already be sick or infested with parasites or severly stressed adjusting to life in captivity.) The cost of an ornate box hatchling absolutely floored me though! Our land is crawling with the cute little tortoises. Don't worry, we aren't about to go out live trapping them and selling them on e-bay (though DARCY was tempted in that direction!). I am glad our land is such a haven for so many mature turtles who are obviously reproducing at a nice rate. It takes over ten years for a turtle to reach reproducing age...and they live up to 100 years. I had read else-where, a very long time ago, that turtles and one particular species of fish do not die from old age. Something about their cells not degenerating with age like most living things. Rather, they die from predators or diseases...but, never from simply growing too old. Interesting. I wonder if that is really true. (Can't believe everything you read...especially not in the age of internet urban legends!)

This will be the first hatchling we have ever kept indoor...and it is the first one we have ever INTERACTED with on a regular basis. Always before, we have kept them outdoors in a circular 'garden' enclosure with stone walls that they could eventually scale. Knowing they would one day be on their own, we never handled them and, though we put food (sprinkled with turtle vitamin powder!) in the enclosure for them, they really lived very much as a wild turtle. We had planned the same for this little one, but, then the turtle garden had been so sorely neglected in its past two unused summers that it was going to take a lot of time and effort to get truly turtle-ready and, also, Doug had shown such an afinity for this little turtle. He hasn't really had much of a connection with any of our other pets, but this little turtle really drew him and he was so good about being happy just to WATCH her without touching her. It just seemed like a good thing for Doug to let him have this little one in his room where he could spend time quietly watching her.

Because we have had this one inside, behind glass walls where we can see her so much better (and she can see us!) we have gotten to know her a lot more than we ever did our previous two hatchlings. It has surprised me how distinct her personality is. She seems very intelligent and inquisitive and has a bit of an attitude. At first she always hid from us, but, lately, she has taken to staring US down...even moving in for a closer look at us. She loves the deep soil in her vivarium. She spends part of her day completely buried...totally undetectable! (This causes Doug a great deal of anxiety. He keeps worrying that she has buried herself and died! I think he is finally beginning to understand, though, that she just likes burrowing down out of sight sometimes. She also has a little 'hide-box' cabin that she likes.) There are worms to be found by her, too, which rewards her digging proclivities.

Today, she was more interactive than I have ever seen her. We placed a heating lamp over one end of her vivarium (the watering hole end) and she was thrilled. She genuinely seemed happy. It was fun for myself and all three of the kids to watch her exploring about today. She likes the watering hole and she likes climbing up through the leaves of the row of impatience plants that seperate the watering hole from the rest of the vivarium. It still catches me off guard the way she will suddenly stop what she is doing and cock her head and lock me in the steely gaze of her golden eyes...as though watching me is as interesting and intriguing to her as she is to me! I can understand why Doug enjoys watching her so much!

I have read several places now that ornate box turtles are a poor choice for pets...being of a more resistant temperament (fiestier and less friendly) and having more stringent environmental needs than, say, a three-toed box turtle for example. Yet, the absolutely sweetest, most interactive, friendly, sociable pet turtle I have ever seen is a mature ornate box turtle that some friends of ours rescued off a busy highway. The nine year old twin boys kept her and made a pet of her several months ago. I think that surely she must have been someone else's pet before, because she is just so very SOCIABLE and friendly. The two boys carry her around everywhere and she stretches out her legs and head happily holding on to the material of their shirts with her claws...relaxed, looking around, enjoying the moment. Recently, their dogs got left with a dog-sitter while the family took a vacation to the East Coast...but, their turtle came along with them! After all, she needed freshly dug worms! One hundred years...that is a pretty long life. You could have one turtle your entire life...especially if it was as sweet and well adapted and engaging as the one our friends have! Today, when I went looking for pet store food for our turtle, I struck out the first place I went, but they referred me to another little store in the old part of town. As I discussed my questions about hatchling care with the store's owner, I knew I had come to the right place as she began telling me about her own little hatchling that she acquired in October of '71. Her box turtle is still with her, 35 years later--happy and thriving.

How MUCH personality our little hatchling has surprises me...but, I guess it really shouldn't! Over the years we have crossed paths with so very many turtles out here on our land and they each have been distintinctive...in their looks, yes, but, even more so in their response to us. Some are just plain hateful (well, wouldn't you be if some one was rude enough to interupt your progress?!) while others have been exceedingly shy and still others have been very laid back. Some of the turtles we have seen transversing our land have battle-scarred shells. Most look to be healthy and not ancient. Most are ornate box turtles. (Well, and tons of snapping turtles...I don't like them at all.) There was one very unusual turtle that we found when we were putting in our lateral field before we built our house...it was a HUGE turtle with a very steep caraprice of a lovely pale shade of luminous jade green. I wonder what kind that one was. I've never spied it since. It looked like it was very old, indeed, but still quite strong.  ¶ 5/30/2006 06:37:00 PM