Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Hey ! father of 4

Drop a post to say hi. Please ask care questions in the forums below.

Post Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:29 pm   Hey ! father of 4

Hi I am Henry
I presently have 4 boys, Fred of 28 years best $3.99 I ever spent, adopted/rescued twins Poke-a-dot and Lumpy (25) and the baby, Scooter (22 & Painted). All are Smarter than a dog and more affectionate than a cat.
I hope I can contribute tips to help others and make you laugh with some stories.

(Skip O'Lippers was or first, a Painted Female)

Image

Image

Image

Image
Children that fit in the palm of your hand.
User avatar
skipolippers
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Feb 24, 2016
Location: Eastern Eastern Ontario
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 4:37 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

Welcome to the forum!
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2016 10:17 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

They are adorable!!!
manders0716
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Feb 22, 2016
Location: New Jersey
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 10:54 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

Cuties..

I have questions since I am a new pet turtle owner..

Do you have them altogether in one tank?

I have a midland painted, not sure if male or female yet. But how big is yours so I can get an idea what to expect?

Love the pic of the one Sunning herself on your slipper.. We had a wild RES would do that on my shoe after she was done eating.. So cute..

Welcome to the group!! :)
Midland Painted--Philbert--SIP :(
1-2 1/4" Mississippi Map Turtle(Male)--Atlas
1-2 1/2" Western Painted Turtle (male)--Titan
40 gallon tank
User avatar
unclejoe
 
Posts: 315
Joined: Dec 7, 2015
Location: sw VA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2016 9:16 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

we used to have our first 4 together in the water and they shared a bed.......... until someone bit off half of Baby Snap's tail. Now everyone has their own bed and water.
Our biggest boy Poke-a-dot (was in the worst shape when rescued) is 7" shell, but Treveena was like wet pasta when we got her (size of a quarter) we loved her, she slept on me every night for 2-3 hours while I slept then was put in her bed. I am 6' and she would put her toe on my jeans and could touch her nose under my chin. She was big.(cancer)
Lumpy actually chases and bites slippers.

Fred when he was younger would chase any Chipmunk that came in "his" (our) house, luckily they were far enough away that they would sprint as he ran for them. Any 'munk closer than 6 feet he could have caught, he was fast. Now when he suntans outdoors they sniff his face ans he just ignores them, old and content. (video on you tube user skipolippers)

Thanks we love them, the only kids we will ever have along with the 'munks
Children that fit in the palm of your hand.
User avatar
skipolippers
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Feb 24, 2016
Location: Eastern Eastern Ontario
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 6:40 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

So I have only one, and he/she is still very young. Where we are living right now, not sure we will have the room to house two turtles separately in the future. Would you say just stick with one then?

Also I love how much you handle yours, I haven't done as much handling of mine since it got cold out.. I would take him outside and let him walk on the driveway an in the grass. I let him out a couple times in the house.. But he had a horrible time trying to get his footing on the bare floors.. He didn't seem to enjoy the indoor walks I think he was more scared.. Also, I do suspect he may be a he, and I agreed with one of your other posts that females are more sociable. What would you suggest I do with him, at his size to kind of help to tame him.. He does swim up onto my hand in the tank,, We hand feed him and I take him out often to just dry him off and give him a rub down with a paper towel since we have hard water.. Trying to prevent hard water build up.. But he does just spend the whole time trying to get down..lol no hiding in his shell for him.. haha
Midland Painted--Philbert--SIP :(
1-2 1/4" Mississippi Map Turtle(Male)--Atlas
1-2 1/2" Western Painted Turtle (male)--Titan
40 gallon tank
User avatar
unclejoe
 
Posts: 315
Joined: Dec 7, 2015
Location: sw VA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:38 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

I am no expert on co-habitation. I did not want fighting so I separated them. maybe 15 years ago everyone would pile on my chest as I lay in the sun with not fighting. I think as they age (puberty) they start to try to assert dominance.
They occasionally will meet each other and most of the time they know amongst themselves who is the boss (Fred, the oldest)
2 small ones could learn to grow up as buddies. In the wild they do share basking spots ( instinct of safety in numbers)

Skip (our first female) was the boss, and Fred knew it........ she told him daily.

They are comfortable with routines and if you plan on holding him daily forever enjoy him.

Fred runs to "mom" when there is thunder or he falls and scares himself.
They are extremely smart and we can only recognise this after years of interaction.
I have a million cute stories.
Children that fit in the palm of your hand.
User avatar
skipolippers
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Feb 24, 2016
Location: Eastern Eastern Ontario
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:48 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

Oh I agree with you whole heartedly that they are extremely smart. I would never have known this, if when we moved to our place in Florida that the Park Manager told us that people feed the turtles and Ducks pond pellets.. Well that was all she wrote.. We originally were just interested in the ducks.. But the turtles, ended up being the smarter better choice.. lol I am not a fan of ducks anymore.. haha But over four years of interacting with them every morning and evening for feeding time.. We were forever amazed at them. They are definitely not boring animals if you interact with them on a daily basis. But since they were wild we never pushed the hand holding thing.. We had three that would allow us to pick them up just for a few seconds.. We never pushed it till they got upset.. But in mid summer feeding times we had up to 14 at a time.. And different species.. (RES,YBS, Soft Shells, Red Bellied and a Florida Snapper) That was the fun part.. they would all stand in line wait their turns and get their portions..lol And yes we fed them all by hand except the 3 large female Soft shells, who were at least 24" in carapace length.. Those girls were a bit intimidating.. haha.. They would eat off a metal spoon though.. No problems.. But yeah, We cried when we moved out of state and had to leave them all behind.. So after months of waffling on getting into a the stuff you need to keep a pet turtle happy, I finally decided I have to have my turtle time back..lol I would love to have a back yard pond with several species again.. But unless we can find a home with a natural pond I don't think it will happen. So for now we just have our little 2 1/4" Painted, we will see how he/she turns out..
Midland Painted--Philbert--SIP :(
1-2 1/4" Mississippi Map Turtle(Male)--Atlas
1-2 1/2" Western Painted Turtle (male)--Titan
40 gallon tank
User avatar
unclejoe
 
Posts: 315
Joined: Dec 7, 2015
Location: sw VA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:49 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

Oh and please share your stories.. I love hearing about turtles and what they do.. :)
Midland Painted--Philbert--SIP :(
1-2 1/4" Mississippi Map Turtle(Male)--Atlas
1-2 1/2" Western Painted Turtle (male)--Titan
40 gallon tank
User avatar
unclejoe
 
Posts: 315
Joined: Dec 7, 2015
Location: sw VA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:38 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

I will try to tell the stories in chronological order.

I was a salesman on the road and a client told me he and his son would go fishing on the weekends and the son would bring home a pail of turtles for the week to play with and then return them the next weekend.

I told my recent bride and she told me she had turtle when she was young, it was named Skipper.

I told the client that and I received a message one that he had to see me. ( I had no idea)
When I arrived there I instantly fell in love with this tiny little girl.(1" shell)
I got home and put her in the bath tub and waited for my wife to find her.
We giggled and oogled and we were in love. We would rush home from work to play with the baby.
We lived in an apartment and would go out at night with tweezers and a flashlight looking for bugs.
After a few weeks we decided we would let Skip return to the outdoors. We tearfully placed her in the stream and she looked up at us in bewilderment, I motioned with my hand for her to swim but she just followed my hand with her eyes. After 10 minutes I placed my hand back in the water and she promptly swam over and climbed on. We all returned home.
---------------
She was a tiny queen with a gigantic attitude. We were her subjects.
My wife would hold her at night while watching TV, she would cover the baby in her blanket and Skip would force her way out. She would watch the TV, eyes getting heavy but refuse to get under the blanket. When and only when she was ready she would climb off my wife's lap, proceed to climb on the arm of the sofa, look over the edge, climb down, saunter across the sofa and over me (coming through !!!), look over the edge at my end, return to my wife, climb up her chest, climb in the blanket and take one hand and pull the blanket over her head.
She did that for quite a while.
-----------------

My wife went away for a week and I was the care giver. Upon returning my wife went to Skip and called for her. My wife placed her hand in Skip's water, she swam over, sniffed, climbed on her hand, stared up with her golden eyes, waited a few seconds, reached down, gave a good bite to the heel of my wife's hand, let go and swam away. (do not leave me again!!)

stay tuned.....final chapter of Skip
Children that fit in the palm of your hand.
User avatar
skipolippers
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Feb 24, 2016
Location: Eastern Eastern Ontario
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:41 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

skipolippers wrote:She was a tiny queen with a gigantic attitude. We were her subjects.


Such a great way to describe her :D
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:09 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

awwww so cute.. who would have thought Turtles like blankies..lol Was Skip a RES??
Midland Painted--Philbert--SIP :(
1-2 1/4" Mississippi Map Turtle(Male)--Atlas
1-2 1/2" Western Painted Turtle (male)--Titan
40 gallon tank
User avatar
unclejoe
 
Posts: 315
Joined: Dec 7, 2015
Location: sw VA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:48 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

(Sorry I've been away for so long)

Skipper, her final story but not the only.

She was not eating, everyone else was. The doctor looked at her and told us to leave her overnight for treatment. She was there a week, sluggish and not eating. The doctor told us she had stomach cancer. She gave us meds. When my wife went to pick her up, she perked up when she heard mom voice. The doctor said she had never seen that or heard of a turtle recognising their parent. She was cuddled all the way for the hour drive. My wife sat on the sofa to hug her upon arrival home, she looked up at mom, closed her eyes and went limp.

Fred sadly would run from hiding place to hiding place looking for her in our living room. After a few days we could not bear to see him do it anymore so we kept out for years. They were buddies.
Children that fit in the palm of your hand.
User avatar
skipolippers
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Feb 24, 2016
Location: Eastern Eastern Ontario
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:57 pm   Re: Hey ! father of 4

I have to share this.

Fred will be 30 this summer.

He loves to be cuddled. If mom hugs him and I try to get a kiss (he is a one parent per day cuddler) he first looks me in the eyes and slowly turns his head away with a snub. If try again I get nose to nose contact with a slow strong push away. If I try again I get a head butt (nose butt) not giving up, I go again and I get a hand on the nose and a push away. Then it goes to a slap on the nose and lastly when he has had enough he turns around and jams his nose in moms neck. He never opens his mouth. He is so relaxed.
Children that fit in the palm of your hand.
User avatar
skipolippers
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Feb 24, 2016
Location: Eastern Eastern Ontario
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 9:59 am   Re: Hey ! father of 4

Sorry to hear about Skipper but thank you for sharing so many stories.
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male


Return to Hi! Introduce yourselves here.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests