Gardening? No / Turtles? Yes!

It is still too cold to garden but the turtles for the pond arrived today! They are indoors in an aquarium, swimming in 78 degree water and basking on an 85 degree rock. Jealous? I am! lol

They are still a little shy but here they are: in the packaging as they arrived overnight from Florida ---- on the basking rock, recently unpacked and still "hiding" and last ---- a close up of Maude, the yellow belly slider. Maude is the biggest at this point. The Mississippi Map turtle, Maxwell, is the most outgoing - very inquisitive and first to try everything out, so far. Little Matilda, the Southern Painted turtle, is really cute and seems to follow Maxwell's lead. The fun has begun.

The (Pond) Turtles are Coming!

Having determined that the "livestock" of desire for my upcoming stream and pond are turtles I set out on a journey of research and inquiry. Now, they are coming, next week!

After reading extensively I called the turtle specialists and chatted about the various options. Since I was not in the market for any of their rare and gorgeous offerings, Sara, helped me think through the options for some of their more common but still colorful offerings, as well as ones which will not get bigger than 6-8" since I do not have a huge indoor habitat for cold months. Also, I want to put them outside in June (or when it ever gets warm here) so, I did not want hatchlings (the size of a dime or nickel) but I also did not want full grown turtles (less fun to experience and considerably more $$). Sara arranged for my new babies to be hand picked for me, so that they will all be at least 2" but still at the lower cost. That was so wonderful.

On Tuesday of next week I should be the proud Momma of a baby Yellow Belly Slider turtle, a Mississippi Map turtle, and a Southern Painted turtle. All three types have a reputation for being very sociable. I can't wait to see them.