Saturday, September 1, 2018

Loki’s Animal Stories: Betty the Turtle Climbs a Wall

Today in Loki’s Animal Stories, author Toi Thomas recounts a true animal adventure as told from the perspective of Loki, A Small Gang of Authors mascot. So, it’s a fake true story. Enjoy!

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I think reptiles are a little scary, even the small ones. Still, scary or not, I also think they are pretty cool. When I found out that Our Author Gang member, Toi Thomas, had a pet turtle, I just had to meet her.

Her name is Betty and oh boy, is she feisty. Just so you know, land turtles are actually called tortoises, but not many people use that terminology anymore. In any case, one really special thing about Betty is that she’s an ornate wood turtle. Other than being really pretty, that also means that she’s a climber.

When Toi and her husband, at the time fiancĂ©, first brought Betty home, they put her in a homemade habitat with fence netting and intertwining foliage as the walls, so she’d feel like she was out in nature. Well, Betty certainly felt at home; so much so, she was often found hanging by her claws at the top of her small enclosure.

While being able to climb around freely seemed like a great idea, the vet soon explained that there was a risk of Betty falling and cracking her shell. So, the old enclosure was replaced with a large glass tank. Betty still has lots of room to move around and climb up and down logs and shorter objects, without the risk of falling from too high. Who knew? Some turtles are true blue climbers!


If you liked this and want to get back to nature, try The End of the Growing Season...Almost.

Find out more about Toi Thomas, her work, and her inspiration at the following links:
Amazon | Goodreads The ToiBox of Words | YouTube | See a list of my other posts here.

Click and browse our blog posts
#truestory, #funnyanimals, #ILoveTurtles
COMMENTS

Eva Pasco

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I hope Betty lives to a ripe old age in her cage--cute story.
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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today on #OurAuthorGang, author Toi Thomas recounts the story of Betty the Turtle, as told to her by Loki, our mascot.
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Joe Bonadonna

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
This is so cool, Toi. That Loki -- he's a treasure of great tales. (Pun intended.)
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Lol! I like it.

Joanne Jaytanie

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Cute story about Betty.
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Thank you.

Joanne Jaytanie via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Another adventure with Loki, and the turtle, Betty. #OurAuthorGang
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Ruth de Jauregui via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Toi Thomas shares the sweet story of Betty, from the #OurAuthorGang mascot Loki's point of view. Oh, and I love tortoises!
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Chris Weigand

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a fun story. I like reading about animals other than dogs and cats.
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Thanks. I've had Betty for a long time. She'll probably out live me.

Chris Weigand via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
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Nikki McDonagh via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
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Nikki McDonagh

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Betty is lovely, and so is her story. In the UK we use the term tortoise for those reptiles that use the land and save the term turtle only for the ones that like the water. As a child we had quite a few tortoises over the years and they really can climb.
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That's so interesting. When I use the term tortoise around here, people usually say, "Oh, you mean a turtle, right?" I just go with it.

Grace Au

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Loki, you tell some good tales!!! So glad you're our mascot! Oh...and Bou says "Great story!" =^.^=
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Loki says thanks.

Lorraine Carey

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Love Loki's take on tales of the turtle. And I had no idea turtles can climb so well.
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View all 4 replies
 
+Lorraine Carey Not a bad idea.
 
+Toi Thomas Yup! Kids love animal tales. xx

Erika M Szabo via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Loki tells the story of Betty the turtle with Toi
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Erika M Szabo

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Yes, I can imagine when these type of turtles in their natural habitat climb trees and fall, they fall on a thick carpet of decaying leaves and soft dirt. Climbing up on the curtain and falling to hard floor could seriously injure them.
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Yes. It's quite dangerous for an animal like her in captivity. But I think we've finally made her safe and at home.

Toi Thomas via Google+

5 months ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today, I​ team up with #OurAuthorGang mascot Loki to share the story of wall climbing turtle.

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