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 fiancé, 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:
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#truestory, #funnyanimals, #ILoveTurtles
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