Meanwhile, in Turtle Town...

Today I'm sharing a bit about our habitat where our two box turtles live.

♥ ♥

Casper with a little crusty dirt on her face. Also, ice plant starts I set out last week that are taking root as I type.

You can see what this space used to look like by clicking here and taking a peek at the first photo on that post. That was last September when we were just starting to clear this space for our shelled friends.

So, that photo above is a sight we see quite often when we look into our turtle pen. Rex on top of Cas, though usually not in a side position. Eh-hm. On this particular morning I gently moved him off of her and this next picture kind of makes me laugh. Cas looks happy - she's off and running - Rex looks annoyed. If you can read turtle expressions, that is...

As soon as she was free, Cas headed my way and went straight for my toes...

 

Just checking out whether the red was strawberries or toes. For the record, our turtles have never bitten us. They do this little thing with their nose where the push against potential food to smell it first and maybe to test the texture? I'm guessing. Anyway, she did nudge my big toe and then made her way on to other things once she discovered I wasn't food.

If you look closely, you can see dichondra grass sprouting in the photo above. I've sprinkled seed on the little hill where their food hut is, and also around their pie plate water saucer. The dichondra I planted several months ago is really taking off now that there's a regular watering schedule from the drip lines Doug and I installed.

I also have a few sunflowers sprouting and you can see a couple of them in the photo below. I'm going to have to do something to protect these sprouts from being plowed over by clumsy turtles. Need to protect them until they're big enough to make the turtles go around them.

The turtles do climb through the hollow log on occasion, but they really prefer hiding behind and slightly under it most of the time. It's a fun piece that Doug found on a wood-cutting road trip we took last year.

The little saloon building used to be a birdhouse before I dropped it and the bottom fell out. Then I repurposed it as a mess hall for the turtles. There's a little turtle plate inside where we put their food every morning. Sometimes that keeps the birds from seeing and taking their food before our turtles reach it. And yesterday morning it was covered in ants, aka live turtle snacks.

The deer antler is a shed that Doug found years ago. It's dried out from being in the sun - Casper loves to nibble on it. And those little red marbles serve no other purpose but to make me happy. ;o) I do love when the sun hits them just right and they light up.

Rex on the move

It's so fun to have this space arranged for our turtle pets, and I'm so excited to watch it fill in and take shape. Rex and Casper seem to enjoy it too, as they are out and about more often, strolling around and checking things out. Plus, now that there's a regular watering schedule, there are more bugs for them to scavenge. I think they love it here. ♥

PS: If you're curious about why I love turtles, I did write a blog post several years ago called, "Why the Turtle." You can read it by clicking here.