The Time Tucker Escaped (The First Time, Anyway)

It was about three years ago, and I was right in the throes of student teaching. I got home from a long, not-so-great day. My lessons all went pretty well, but there was a tripping-down-three-steps-in-front-of-25-students incident (whoops) that wasn't so terribly pleasant, and my kids were chatty that day, no surprise.

In college, one of the very first things I did after I get home from student teaching was feed Tucker Turtle. 

Anyways, my plan for the day was to get home, feed Mr. Tuck, then work on my lesson plans, my homework, and then make something for myself to eat (namely, Ramen Noodles) before heading to my 6:00 class.

But when I went to feed the little guy, I couldn't find him! Now, this is unusual. RES (Red-Eared Sliders) are notorious for being a lot like dogs in their eating habits... they're always hungry. Always. Usually as soon as I walked in the door, Tucker was swimming around like a madman, er, madturtle, following my every move and practicing his "I'm STARVING!" act. He still does this, but in the morning now. On this particular day, he was nowhere to be found.

So I looked behind his sunning rock, thinking maybe he was sleeping and hadn't noticed me coming in yet. Nothing. Hiding in the rocks? Nothing.

Now I started thinking that maybe my roommate was playing some kind of sick joke on me and had taken Tucker out to mess with me. Or show her to friends. But that wasn't like her. She was messy, but not mean.

Right about then, I started freaking out. I'm super busy this week! I have way too much going on! Searching for a missing turtle in my (dump of an) apartment is not on my to-do list!

I called Zeke. He "reassured" me that Tucker would be fine for a week if he had gotten out of the tank and was roving around my apartment somewhere. I freaked out more. My little Tucky Turtle, out there on the mean streets of Chicago? Never! And besides, how could he have possibly gotten out of the tank? For some reason, I felt like the possibility of him simply disappearing into thin air was greater than him getting out of his tank.

It would not be an easy feat for him, for sure. See how far the walls are from his sunning rock? At that time, he was in a ten gallon tank- he couldn't just crawl along the bottom and hop out. He would have had to jump from the sunning rock to the side of the tank, then pull himself out. And he was super tiny then!

Impossible.

Well, apparently not. I found him, wedged between my dresser (the turtle tank was sitting on top of it) and the wall. There was fabric underneath his tank to protect my dresser, and the extra was hung off the back of the dresser, between the dresser and the wall. He had gotten caught up in the extra fabric, and when I pulled it back so I could shine the flashlight down the back of the dresser, out he fell.

And I freaked out even more.

He was fully tucked into his shell, and didn't move when I picked him up. He is pretty comfortable with us, so he never really tucks his head all the way into his shell anymore, and didn't even then. I hadn't seen his head tucked in so far in a very long time. I was so worried he was dead! I put him on his sunning rock, his back half in the water, to see if that helped anything. I called Zeke again to tell him that I had found our little prodigal... and to cry...

But I never got to the crying part. Tucker untucked his head from his shell and was looking around. When I walked toward him, he lept into the water and swam like mad. Like nothing had even happened.

I added something to the top of my to-do list that evening: Rearrange Tucker's tank. Have a stern talking-to with him about appropriate tank behavior.



It's happened only once more since that first escape, but with his new tank set up, he hasn't been a run-away in a while. Silly turtle.

{Seven Quick Takes/Five Favorites} Marshmallows, Chuck, and Impossible Pie

Linking up with Conversion Diary and Moxie Wife! 

(and can I just say, I've had so much fun linking up with other blogs this past month. Omigoshsomanynewblogsonmyblogroll.)

1

So, last weekend (was it only last weekend? Feels like longer...) we had a Marriage Retreat here at Camp. Poor Zeke wasn't feeling so great, so we didn't go to as many of the sessions as I would have liked. 

(I was pretty disappointed... and then crabby at Zeke... and then understanding.... and then got a sore throat myself and wanted him to make me tea. These are known as the Four Stages of Being Cranky With Your Husband Because He's Sick and Is Preventing You From Doing Something You Wanted To Do.)

Aaaanyway. 

I did help out with the activity on Saturday evening, and my goodness. Hilarious. 

Okay, so the couples played "Minute-to-Win-It: Couple's Edition." There were, of course, the golfball stacking challenges and the moving M&M's challenges... 

Funny, and sweet to see couples all focused and working together. 

But then. Oh, but then. 

The couple who planned this activity modified one of the games... and oh my goodness. 

Okay, so here's the premise. The couple had to try to eat as many marshmallows as they could- alternating who ate the marshmallow each time. The challenge was, they had to start with the marshmallow between their foreheads, getting it into their mouth without using their hands. 

So, so, so funny. The couples either looked like they were very, um, amorous (cough, cough), or like they were trying to bite each other's faces off! The pictures are priceless. And proooobably shouldn't go on Camp's Facebook page. 

Try it. It's so funny. Minute-to-Win-It? Best party game ever.

2

Sweet heaven- Impossible Pie. 

I found a recipe for this on a blog that I now can't remember the name of and can't find. (I totally freaked out in a comment on said blog, so if it's yours, let me know and I'll link to ya.)

So, I live at Camp, right? We've determined this? 

Well, we get lots of leftovers- and I try to use leftovers as much as I can so I don't have to actually, you know, buy food.

I love this recipe. Love love love love. 

3

We've been watching lots of Netflix (we don't have TV, because we live at Camp, as we've previously established)- and we have really been loving "Chuck." 

Minimum wage computer geek suddenly thrown into the CIA? Priceless. 

4

Simcha's probably one of my favorite people to read- I've been wasting way too much time on the internet by looking through her archives. And Haley's, too!!

A couple oldies, but goodies...

So Long, and Thanks for All the Intersex Fish 

My Unplanned Pregnancy, Or Why We Stopped Using Birth Control for Good

5

I've been in an "I'm-lost-and-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-next" stage lately. You know, like, my husband has no clean underwear in his dresser, but there's like 78 pairs in the dryer! My planning binder is collecting dust, I've had no idea what's for dinner this week... ugh. Gotta get out of this rut! 

So I cleaned the toilets today (because that's what Confident Mom told me to do today- planning binder back in service) and man. I love cleaning toilets. Is that strange? I dunno, it's just so... satisfying. 

6

A not-so-favorite?

Here's what it's doing outside today.

Snowing, then sorta-kinda melting. 

It's going to get cold again tonight, which means ice. Lots and lots of ice. <Sigh>

7

And we'll finish up these quick takes with a Tucker Turtle comparison...

Two years ago, at our wedding

Yesterday

Oh my goodness my cutie is HUGE!

Happy Friday, friends. Hope it's a good one!

Turtles are Great, But...

 That's right. Two Tucker Turtle posts in less than a week. You're welcome.


Now, don't get me wrong. I love me my Tucker Turtle. He's easy to take care of, fun to watch, I don't clean up his poo, and he prefers to be neglected- except when food is involved.

"Leave me alone. I'm grouchy."

But some things you see about pets just don't apply to turtle-parents, you know?

Like...

Um, yeah, no. I'm pretty sure Tuck will never sleep on me. When I hold him, I'm pretty sure the last thing on his little reptilian mind is sleep. He does not like being held. His "unspoken rule" is more- shove his head in his shell until he feels it's safe, then run for the nearest thing to hide under.

 Nope. Tucker really doesn't leave the house much. He's more of a homebody. Or, a tank-body, I guess.

And he's not very good for excuses, either. Just the other week I tried, "I have to go home and feed my turtle, since we've been gone all weekend," to get out of looking through vacation pictures (endless, I tell you) and my husband said, "Oh, he probably doesn't need to eat for a week or so..."

Forget those five minutes of Facebook time, I guess... And sure, I would love to have you explain every detail of this picture to me.

 Well, Tucker does wait for me, but it's more about waiting for me to feed him. And he definitely doesn't make that face, all longing and sweet. It's more like... well, you know the face you get when somebody turns on the light when you haven't woken up yet? Pure grumpiness tinged with hatred? That's the one.

 Oh man. I'm picturing Tucker sliding down this, all tucked into his shell. He'd HATE it. I'm pretty sure it would be considered turtle endangerment, for that matter. Or animal cruelty. Turtle torture! (Sidenote: How fuzzy is that dog? Cuuute)

A couple of issues here. First, where would an emergency tag go on a turtle, anyways? And even if we could get him a little tag like this, his would say, "If I'm alone, I ate ALL the fish!"


I think I need a puppy.

{Theme Thursday} Catching "People" Unawares

Linking up with Clan Donaldson for Theme Thursday!

I've been sneaking around all day trying to get a good Theme Thursday picture. It was a total bust. Speaking of busts...

The office was in an uproar today. Not because of the sneaking, but because we spent the morning saying, "The scene is safe.Annie, Annie, are you okay? You, go call 911. You, go get the AED." 

Really, though, what quality of life does a torso with no arms or legs really have, even after we've performed chest compressions and rescue breathing? 

Yep. Staff CPR training day. 

Anyway. 

I got home and perched in the entryway closet, camera in hand, waiting for a certain Hunky Husband to appear. 

And then I realized that, even if I got an awesome picture of Zeke's shocked expression (because, as we know, he's so very expressive- not!), I probably wouldn't be able to get it across with all my face blocking around here. 

Well, and there was a small chance that I'd scare him and instinct would kick in and I'd end up with three broken arms and a concussion. Thank goodness he's not jumpy. 

So I went to Plan B. 

Tucker. 

He was sitting and sunning his introverted little self, paying me no mind... 

Click! Got a picture!

Look at that surprised and indignant look on his face!

His naptime sunning session ruined, he jumped back into his tank and glared at me from the bottom. 

Five Things Friday: Wonderfully Miscellaneous Edition

First Friday in October, everyone! We have officially made it to pumpkin spice candles, candy corn, and falling leaves! Which leads me to number one...


1. LEAVES. ARE. EVERYWHERE. This is my front yard. It doesn't seem like the leaves even changed color this year. It's like they had a conference and *poof!* On the ground.

Yes, I know... the picnic tables make my yard look a little like a scene from some classic summer camp movie.

 Camp- and therefore, my house- is surrounded by oak trees. So in addition to leaves, we've also got......

Acorns! And tons of them! They make a super satisfying crunch under the wheels of Hunky Husband's work golf cart.

2. Tucker Turtle. I haven't written a thing about my little butterball of grouchy greenness in a while, and I haven't written about his new roomies!

First, here's my guy. He was actually cooperating for pictures today! Rare. Very rare.

His red "ears." Hence the name "Red-Eared Slider."

 In these pictures, he's sunning on his new platform. Well, it's not actually that new... he's had this tank set-up since April. If we remember, April was busy over here, so I never wrote about it... until now.

Here's what his tank looks like now- complete with his fishy friends. Zeke's goldfish, which somehow survived seven years and five moves, now share a tank with Tuck. Tucker generally leaves them alone, but every once in awhile I'll find a little chunk of tail missing from a fish. The fish don't seem any worse for the wear (besides the tail trauma), and aren't afraid of him at all. I saw one of the fish take a food pellet from Tucker the other day- sucked it right out of Tuck's mouth.

To accommodate the fish, Zeke made Tucker a platform that sits on top of the tank. It has a ramp going up to it, and is enclosed on three sides with clear plexiglass. It took him about three weeks to get used to the new digs, but he's up there all the time now.


3. Skirts. I've started wearing skirts. I have an awesome Goodwill not too far away, and I found a couple of cute skirts. Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but I'm... well... I'm what you'd call... fashion-challenged. I've always been a jeans and t-shirt girl... and mostly t-shirts that are neutral colors and have very simple design. Skirts are way out of my fashion-docket.

Um, skirts rock! How did I not know about this? Definitely loving skirts.

4. Church! So, during the summer, my Hunky Husband and I typically go to the church service that's held here at Camp. It's really great to be a part of those services, but it's hard to make connections with new people when... well, the people at the worship service are the people who live here, who are the people we work with ... you get it. We started attending our "off-season" church again, and I'm really enjoying the fellowship. I even volunteered to make cookies for fellowship time!

I'm hoping (and trying not to put too much pressure on myself, but whatever) that some new friendships will start through involvement in church. It's wonderful to be part of a Camp family, but sometimes I feel like Camp people are the only people I see. It would be great to branch out a little.

5. It's almost the time of year for Butternut Squash Lasagna! And let's be honest, that's always a good time of year.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Pet shaming

 I thought Tucker Turtle could use a little shaming...

Maintenance Man Noir...

I'm working on a quilt! Isn't it pretty?!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Here's a peek into my house and life lately...

 My winter theme is gray and yellow... here's my centerpiece.

 I had so much fun making little fabric flowers that I decorated the TV, too.

 It's cold out there! We've gotten quite a bit of snow this winter, and the lakes are frozen over, too.

Repost, I know.. I just love this picture of the Tucky Turtle by our frosted window!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I couldn't help but smile when I walked past Tucker's tank and saw this...

Sure, his window may be covered in frost, but he's on a tropical island. In his mind, at least. Reminds me of myself....

Stay warm out there!

How to Clean a Turtle Tank

We love our Tucker Turtle.

Our little Tucky Boy.

Tuckman.

The Tuckster.

Tucky Tucky Turtle.

We’ve had Tucker for about two years now, and in that time, I've learned a lot about turtle care. Tucker is a RES, or a red-eared slider- an aquatic turtle. He currently lives in a ten-gallon fish tank. We usually keep the tank filled up with about 8 gallons of water.

Turtles are a lot more fun than fish (in my opinion... Zeke might disagree), but they're also quite a bit more work than fish, and they get into more trouble than fish. And they're much dirtier than fish.

Note: You'll see two different types of substrate (the stuff on the bottom) in this post- larger rocks, and the blue gravel (like above). There is some research that's been done to show that small gravel, if ingested by your little turtle friend, can cause impaction of the intestines! And that's not good.

Tucker does have the blue gravel in his tank, after we spent a while making sure that he wasn't going to eat it... and he hasn't, but it's worth noting that if you're just getting a turtle or you're planning a tank set up, larger rocks is what is recommended for Red Eared Sliders and other aquatic turtles.

What you'll need:

-A couple buckets, clean ice cream containers... something to put water and rocks into. I use two gallon ice cream containers and two industrial-sized salad dressing containers.

-A small tank or container to hold your turtle while you clean.

-A tank vacuum. You can get one of these nifty things at most pet stores.

-A sponge (one that is ONLY for your tank)

-A toothbrush (again, ONLY for your tank)

-Start Right or another de-chlorinating solution to make the new water safe.


Start out by taking the turtle out of the tank and into a smaller container. Make sure that there's a little water in there for him. He may give you dirty looks for putting him in turtle jail... ignore those.

If you have other living things or decorations in your tank, you'll want to get those out, too. I have a couple of fish in the tank with Tucker, so I just move them over into Zeke's fish tank. The decorations get in the way, so I take those out, too.

Use the vacuum to suck about 2/3 to ¼ of the water out of the tank and into your buckets. Catch as much of the “gunk” as you can by moving the rocks or substrate around the bottom of the tank. Make sure that you’re paying attention to how full the buckets are getting… or you’ll spill all over the floor. Like me.

Ewww...

As you're watching the yuck float around your arm in the water, think happy thoughts about your turtle. You love him. You don't mind that you're elbow deep in his poo. He's wonderful. He loves you back, even if he doesn't show it in socially acceptable ways.

When you have most of the water drained from the tank, take out the rocks or substrate. I usually put them into an ice cream container. Then I wash my hands. If I have time, I like to spread the rocks out on the porch in the sun for a couple days to dry out completely- it’s the best way to kill the algae. (Tucker’s really mad then. TWO DAYS IN JAIL?!?!)

Otherwise, I skip that step and put the rocks straight into old pots. I fill the pots with water so it covers the rocks, and then boil the water over the stove for about 15 to 20 minutes. This is the best way to disinfect the rocks and kill any bad bacteria that may be living on there, just waiting to harm your turtle baby.

Meanwhile, fill one of your buckets with warm, clean water. Use your tank sponge to scrub off any algae or nastiness growing on the walls of the tank. Use the warm water to rinse your sponge. Make sure you slide your filter and pump over to get the algae growing underneath- that's usually the dirtiest spot on my tank. I then wash my hands.

I put a Christmas bow around Tucker's tank!

At this point, I usually think about how much time I have left to complete my mission. If I've got some time (or if the tank is really dirty), I fill the tank up with about 4 more gallons of clean water, then vacuum back down to 1/4 tank again. That sucks up more of the nastiness, but it's not necessary.

Why don't I get rid of all the water every time?

It's a hassle. To get rid of all the water, I'd have to dump out the tank (ie- lift it up, carry it outside or to the bathroom to dump it down the toilet... deal with slippery glass, drips on the floor...). I usually only do partial water changes. Every once in a while (like when we move), I will do a total water change and dump the whole tank. Otherwise, if you're using a good filter and you do a partial change pretty often, your turtle will stay healthy even if you don't change all the water.

After I've scrubbed the tank down, I check the filter. Zeke always cleans the turtle filter when he cleans the fish tank filter, so this usually isn't very dirty (thank you Zeke!). Then I use the sponge to clean the tops and sides of the filter casing.

Next, I tackle the decorations. I like to use a little toothbrush to clean these off- I've found that the toothbrush works great for getting in all those crannies. I wipe down the leaves of my bamboo plant with a damp cloth- they can get a little dusty. I wash my hands.

Then it's time to fill 'er back up! I start with the rocks. They're usually pretty hot from their boiling, so I rinse them in cold water before I put them in the tank. Then I fill the tank back up with clean water. I don't pay too much attention to the water temperature (no thermometers, here!), but I make sure it's somewhere around room temp.

The water in the tank will probably look pretty yucky yet. "But I just cleaned it all!" you say. Don't worry- you did a good job. Promise. Give your filter some time to work- the water will clear up after about an hour, tops.

Use the Start Right in the water to get rid of the cholorine (the bottle should have directions on it). This step is important for your turtle's health, but if you have fish in the same tank, you'll want to be doubly sure not to skip it! 

Then I go and take a nice, hot, soapy shower. After all that yuckiness, I like to feel clean. More importantly, most small turtles do carry salmonella, so I make sure to wash my hands a lot during this whole process. The shower also gives the water in the tank some time to come to the same temperature, and gives the Start Right a chance to really spread around before the animals are reintroduced (for fish, you'll want to wait about 2 hours before reintroducing into the new tank- the change in water temperature could kill them).

After my shower, Tucker gets to return home. He typically looks a little crabby for a while ("What did the human do to my MESS? I worked so HARD ON IT!") but even if he doesn't realize it, he's a happier, healthier little fellow!

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Can't get enough of this little green fella? (I know I can't!) Want more Tucker updates? Click here!

I've had Tucker for more than four years now! Crazy. If you have any questions about turtle-ownership or care, I'd love to (try to) help. You can follow me on Facebook, or send me an e-mail at alittlewifeshappylife (at) gmail (dot) com.

A Turtle Homecoming

Wow! What a busy weekend it was for us! I'm sure we're not the only ones! It seems like everyone I've talked to had a busy and fun-filled Labor Day. I'm sure that the beautiful weather played a big part in that.

We found out on Friday that we'll be staying in our little home for the long haul. For a while, the camp wasn't sure if this would be our home past this summer, so I kept a ton of boxes for fragile stuff (in my poor, poor storage and craft room), and we didn't do any improvements on the actual physical space of our home.

Now we've got lots of projects to perhaps accomplish! Like...

-Putting in a new shower!

-Changing around the entryway of our home so it's more winter-clothes friendly

-Updating the windows (camp has had this project in the works for a while, but we'll be the ones really benefiting from the improvement!)

-Adding a couple of shelves or storage units into the kitchen

And... best of all... my baby is back in my home again!!

TUCKER TURTLE!

Our little Red Eared Slider turtle has found his way home once again! Tucker has been living in the basement of Zeke's parents' farm house, under the diligent care of Zeke's little brother. I've missed him lots. He's really enjoyed eating the farm bugs Zeke's dad caught for him. We didn't want to move him to and fro as we figured out our living situation, so Tucker has been "visiting his grandparents" out at the farm since May. Now that we know we'll be staying here, he's home at last.

We're still figuring out the tank set up in our little home... Zeke also brought his fish home this past weekend, so we now have a ten gallon tank for Tucker and a twenty gallon tank for the goldfish... our house is starting to look a little like an aquarium!

But I don't even care. Because I have my husband, a home, and my little Tucker Turtle. Who could ask for anything more?