Mom misses you...

Well, Haji has been with Dad over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

I never realized how much I would miss her. Maybe it is for the best that she spends some time with her father.

I can't wait to have her crawl around the TC and dorms again though. But shhh...don't tell anyone.

Growing Up

Well, since Megan is playing absentee mother, I'll post this time. Things have been going good with Haji.

We're slowly learning more and more about her. She's very curious. Just yesterday she discovered the steps that lead downstairs from my room. She walks up to edge of the step, cranes her neck to peer over, and makes a judgement call as to if she can take the fall. She seems to know her limits, but I still get nervous when she's over there.

A constant concern is the heat. I know that turtles like it hot and humid, but can it get too hot? Or, how cold is too cold? With my house how it is (temperature bi-polar), it's hard to keep her environment regulated. Does it affect sleep patterns? When should we turn on the light? All of it creates a sort of panic. I really don't want her to die. I love that little green rock-with-legs.

Her natural instinct when she goes to sleep is to burrow. Before this, the most that we knew of that was that she would find a corner when she was tired and just lay there. Or else, if we were outside, she would burrow under our legs to find a dark space. She did this "find a dark space" thing the other day. Except we were in the living room and didn't know what dark space she had chosen. We searched for a long time before discovering her. Now she burrows into the substrate in her cage when she goes to sleep. She seems to sleep better if she's gotten a bit of excercise. So, I plan on taking her out at least once a day for fifteen or more minutes. Maybe we'll discover more parks around Madison for her to enjoy.

She doesn't like bananas. If she eats too much she poops and pees everywhere. Typically, she waits for you to pick her up, then she lets loose. Now we only feed her once a week. She seems fine with that. We still have to buy some sort of meat product for her - thus far it's been only strawberries and spinach leaves. We'll get you some worms, yet, Haji!

Other than that, we've been working on getting pictures up. I have to buy some film, take some pictures, get the film developed, scan it, host it, and link it. So, it might take a while, but I really want to see her face on the internet, for all to worship.

Thanks a lot, Ajay

When we bought her, the man who helped us out was Ajay. Ajay seemed a bit young, a bit rushed, and a bit uninformed. Maybe turtles are his hobby, but they aren't his pets. I think that he didn't really know how to help us, much.

He convinced us to buy 6 "Fancy Brown Crickets" for her to eat. He said that typically she'll eat once a week, about, but that she can go longer without eating. He assured us that she would love these. We were to sprinkle some calcium dust on them so that she can get the proper amount of calcium in her diet, which is very important for a growing little turtle-wurtle.

So, when Megan got off work, after I picked her up, we went to feed her. We took the bag of crickets and added that bad smelling calcium dust to it, and then we shook it up. Now instead of Fancey Brown Crickets, we had Fancy White Crickets. We took them upstairs and dumped the bag into her room.

She's afraid of crickets! The creatures hit the ground, and she took off. She looked distressed and afraid. Those have to be the dumbest creatures alive. A couple of them started jumping around her, and she hated that. Eventually, most of the crickets drowned themselves in the water dish we have for her. It was not a pleasant way to start our first feeding time. She just stared at us, looking betrayed, that we'd attack her with these creatures. We made a note to try again after supper.

After supper, we grabbed Haji and took her outdoors. We had bought strawberries and spinach leaves. Setting her in the grass, we set the food in front of her. Of course she took off, being the little sprinter that she is, but we grabbed her and forced her to confront the food. She pecked at the strawberry a little bit, and then started eating it.

She ate most of the strawberry. I was so happy to see her eating something. She's been half-eating a lot of things she finds in the yard or on my floor. So, we knew she was hungry, we just didn't know for sure what she would eat. She didn't nibble any of the spinach leaves, but we left a couple of leaves and a strawberry in a dish in her bin. And then we officially crossed "Fancy Brown Crickets" off her eat list. Then I had to dump 4 dead crickets down the sink.

Early to bed...Late to rise? I wish I were a turtle...

Sweet lil Haji hit the hay tonight at about 8 PM. She's an early to bed kinda girl. I guess I am starting at the end when I should be starting at the beginning:

Well, this morning Haji slept in...lucky gal. But before heading to work I turned her heat light on. Last night Miles and I added a bowl of water for her, and I guess while I was at work Miles witnessed her bathing. Apparently it was really cute...blah blah...he likes to rub it in. Yeah, I missed it, only because I was making money to support her!!! Miles is a lazy pile.

Today Miles picked me up from work and we went and bought her a much larger tub to live in. She likes it loads better then the aquarium, and I don't blame her. After setting up her new home we headed to church, followed by Chinese.

Upon arriving back at Miles' we decided...more like I, decided to let her run around while we ate. After climbing and scurrying she became tuckered out and crashed in a corner of Miles' living room. Needless to say, when Miles' retreived her she was covered in cobwebs and dust. Boys are dirty. Ick. Poor Haji. She grumbled while I cleaned her up and took her upstairs to her tub. She hasn't moved an inch.

Until next time, Haji sends her love.

Haji

It started with Megan saying that we were going to Sioux Falls for a surprise trip. We had planned on going on Friday, to see Spider-Man 2 again, and to do some shopping she needed done. This was only Wednesday, though. I was immediately wary.

It actually took a lot of mind work to get that out of her. Then she got irritated with me for a while. I tried to get out of her what I wanted, but she wasn't having it. She used the guise that it had been our 9 month anniversary on July 4th and that she was taking me out to celebrate.

If you know Megan, then you know why I was suspicious.

There was much drama about where to eat. She wanted me to pick. I wanted to eat at HuHot. The problem with that is that the last time we ate there, she had the flu. So, no when she thinks of HuHot she feels sick. We finally at at the Olive Garden, which was actually very reasonably priced. I thought it would be much more than it actually was. And best thing: she payed.

She still hadn't told me the real reason for coming to Sioux Falls. She simply stressed that it had to be our last stop. Hmm... I tried my best to get it out of her, but she wasn't having it. I kept bugging here throughout all the stores we went to. Through the mall, the drives, and finally in front of Best Buy she let a hint slip. I said, "Why won't you tell me?" She said, "Because if I tell you, you'll try to stop me. You don't think I'm responsible enough."

That was it. Ever since Jeff almost got a kitty Megan has been lamenting the dorm's "No Pets" policy. The policy pretty much limits your pet selection to fish or crabs, neither of which are very cute or cuddly. I had never said that she wasn't responsible. But if she were to get a pet, like a kitten, it would have to stay with me (assuming my new place allows pets). That would mean that I would probably end up being the sole care provider, and I don't have time for a kitten.

I knew it was a pet, but I didn't know how she was planning on keeping it when the school year came. Megan never ceases to amaze me, though. We finally get to the pet shop. We look at the puppies, fish, birds, bunnies, and people. Then she shows me the kind of pet that she wants, and its perfect. Megan wants a turtle.

The hitch at this part is that a turtle was quite a bit more expensive then she had wished for. In fact, the kind we were looking at was $50. The problem is that Megan doesn't have $50. She gets paid next week, but that's not going to help her now. With a sad heart we headed home. I started a surprise plan of my own.

The next day we went to Sioux Falls again, and picked out the turtle. I knew that I would end up playing with and holding and loving this turtle, too, so I decided to pay for half of it. So, I decided to become the proud co-owner of a new turtle. I know what you're thinking, some of you (mom), but a pet is not like having a child. And Megan and I co-owning a pet isn't like getting married and having kids. It's just a turtle! Calm down already.

That having been said, there have been problems when a couple buys a pet and then breaks up. But Mike seems fine now, so everything worked out great. And we'll even bring Haji to work sometime so he can see her.

Anyway, back at Mini-Critters we talked to this guy named Ajay for about an hour. I don't think he gets a lot of customers (turtles aren't a hot commodity) and so he wanted to tell us everything he absolutely could before we left. The total cost came to about $120. I figure, I made over $1,000 on my last paycheck, I can afford $60 startup cost on a turtle.

So, now she lives at my place (a much better environment than Megan's cold, cramped house). Her name is Haji, which is Japanese for "hold". This isn't as in, "Hold me, I'm just a scared turtle". It's more like, "Hold onto her or she'll leap out of your hands." She's spunky and really active. She also gets grumpy if you come home from lunch to see how she's doing, and you think she's dead because you've never seen her sleep before, and you go to rub her leg. Then she'll hiss at you.

Haji is a three-toed box turtle, Terrapene caroline triunguina. She is native to places like Missouri. Hence, she loves it humid, overcast, and warm. We let her play outside, and she loves it. She's always moving, unless she's in her aquarium. I think we should have done some research before we bought her, because now I'm rethinking living quarters, and I could have saved us $10.

She eats crickets sprinkled with calcium. So do I.

As soon as I can, I'll have pictures of her up here. I'm sure Megan will steal them and put them on her site, too. What a copy cat. I had this post written first, but she wrote less so she could get done faster. She even tried to say that Haji is "all hers" and not "half hers". And I say, "Then you can get your dirty turtle out of her before I cut her open." That shuts her up. In a hurry.

We Got a Turtle

I have a new someone special in my life. No, Miles and I are still dating.

Haji. My new three-toed box turtle. She's a doll. Well, not literally a doll...she's a turtle. I mean she's a doll in the descriptive way, ie: personality and temperament. Anyways, totally off subject. Haji means "hold" in Japanese.

As soon as I can, I'll post some pics of her.

She's the new love of my life...oh yeah...and Miles...*but only cause he'll probably read this* Just between you and me: Haji is way better;)

Miles seems to think he is co-owner of Haji, but alas, he's wrong. She's mine. I have full custody, so if you go to his site, and he says he is the proud co-owner of a turtle, just know that he's lying. After all, you read it here first. He also says he is getting help for his heroin addiction...he lies.