Turtle!

Wow! We are having the best summer! Our new pet turtle arrived on June 8th. Thank you Friends of the Library and Corners Pets & Grooming for making it possible for us to have this wonderful new pet! Our turtle is a three toed box turtle. We had a bit of confusion at first about whether it was a boy or a girl but a recent visit to the vet enlightened us. We have a BOY!

Of course we are letting our summer readers vote for our new turtle’s name. The choices are: Booker, Dash, Myrtle, Pokey, Slugger and Yertle. There is also a place to “write-in” a suggestion. Since we found out the turtle is a boy, Myrtle is probably not a great choice. Oops! The turtle’s name will be announced at the 4th of July Parade so be sure to watch for the Library Entry. I can’t wait for him to have a name. It is hard having a pet without one.

Some of you might wonder why we had the turtle at the Veterinarian. When our turtle first arrived, Corners Pets helped us set up his habitat but he just would not eat. After one week, Corners Pets came back and helped us add more heat to his habitat. Two days later he started to eat! But then he was rubbing his left eye and keeping it closed. It was also a little weepy. After a week of this we visited the vet and found out that he has a Vitamin A deficiency. We can correct it with supplements and diet and we are working on it. So when you visit our turtle take a peek to see if his left eye is open. The vet said that turtles tend to get sick very slowly and get well very slowly too. We will just have to be patient.

Susie Draeger-Anderson, Children's Services