Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Tuck Lovebug Ramos Carlos aka the tiniest turtle




So the other day, Mayah went to her friend Ashley Johnson's house to play. Her mom had found a tiny little painted turtle out by Lake Zorinsky on the outskirts of Omaha and brought it home to show her kids and maybe keep it as a pet. It was literally the size of a quarter. We can tell she really got into it, because she was telling us all about the type of habitat it needs, the appropriate water level, how to avoid chlorinated H2O in the tank, what it feeds on and how to tell it is a boy (because the underbelly is concave). The Johnsons make an annual trek to Utah each summer to see family and they stay for nearly a month. They are leaving soon and didn't know what to do with the turtle.

After Mayah went to their house, she kept hounding Amie to go to the pet store and find a small turtle she could bring home. In "typical Carlos fashion", we were tough and held out. Then, the tides turned with a single phone call from Ashley's mom, Pat. She called us tonight to say they had reached a crossroad and needed to decide what to do with the turtle. They would either let it go in the wild, or turn it over to Mayah for ownership, since they couldn't take care of it while they were on their trip and couldn't commit to ownership after they returned. Mayah was ecstatic. In "typical Carlos fashion", we were soft and caved in to Mayah's request. So we now have a tiny pet turtle. He kicks some serious butt. We fed him a worm today and although it was about 6 times as long as he is, he absolutely devoured that thing. There were worm gut floaties drifting around in the water afterward. Now he's safe at his new home in a plastic bowl with some rocks, some turtle vitamins and a piece of lettuce. After a dismal search for an aquarium at Wal-Mart (it was the only place open when we got home), we'll resume a search for the proper habitat tomorrow. Petsmart here we come.

We had to go through quite the debate as we chose a name. Mayah had already settled on Mr. Lovebug (with Grandma Brenda's help), before we really started the conversation about a name. Ava happens to love watching WonderPets! so of course we wanted to name him Tuck (it's the funniest thing, if you ask Ava what works, she always says TEAMWORK in a loud energetic voice)... After a 3-1 vote, Mayah lost, but continued to pout. So we gave in. I told her Lovebug could be the last name if Tuck could be the first name. Then she said, well its last name is Ramos (which is Mayah's father's last name). So again we compromised and settled on Tuck Lovebug Ramos Carlos...the tiniest turtle in the world. He's pretty cool looking and Mayah's stoked to have a pet.

4 comments:

Lacie said...

Love the turtle!!! What happened to the dog?

Unknown said...

Great pet - but who is taking care of him for the month of July? What a good Daddy.......

Christen, Doug and Dillon said...

I can't wait to meet him! And good job for stickin to your guns! You show those kids who's boss! ;)

Anonymous said...

That really is the tiniest turtle I've ever seen!! It's so freakin' cute! I'm excited for you guys!! I totally didn't know that turtles ate worms. (Justin just informed me that there is a frog that eats mice at his shop!) Lol! Congrats! :)