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Bios

• Name: Sonny
• Species: Midland Painted Turtle
• Size: 2 14/16 inches Sept. 2005, 2 12/16 inches in Jan. 2005, 2 8/16 inches July 2004
• Sex: we're not sure yet...he/she is too small
• Date: came to us July 16, 2004 (from Eden, Wisconsin)
• Pictures: Bottom-Side, In My Hand

• Name: Henry
• Species: Midland Painted Turtle
• Size: 5 1/16 inches Sept. 2005, 5 inches Jan. 2005, 5 inches Aug. 2004
• Sex: male, he has big claws, big tail
• Date: came to us August 29, 2004 (from Chicago, Illinois)
• Pictures:Bottom-Side, In My Hand

• Name: Tommy
• Species: Hermann's Tortoise
• Size: ...
• Sex: ???
• Date: ...
• Pictures: ...

• Name: Meanie Jr (Returned to the wild 10/16/2005)
• Species: Snapping Turtle
• Size: 1 1/4 inches Oct. 2005, 1 3/16 inches Sept. 2005
• Sex: male, he has big claws, big tail
• Date: came to us August 27, 2005 (from Wautoma, Wisconsin)
• Pictures:Bottom-Side, In My Hand

Chronology

• Sunday, October 16th- Meanie Jr has returned to the wild (Supple's Marsh in North Fond du Lac). Here's the long story of why ... A few days ago Meanie Jr. decided he would start eating. Apparently he got too curious, and he tried to get our big Apple Snail. Well, the exact opposite happened of what you would probably expect. Meanie Jr. apparenly tried to bite the snail, and the snail quickly slid back into his shell, catching Meanie Jr's head in the process! When we returned home that day, we found a snail, with a turtle's body sticking out, no head to be seen. After prying the snail out of his shell a bit, we found out, Meanie Jr was not latched (like you might expect), he was just plain caught, his head squished, and he had a bloody nose and everything. Good news is, both the snail and Meanie Jr were ok after a few hours of recouperating alone ... but we decided, in order to prevent such an incident again, we would release Meanie Jr early (we were going to keep him till next summer).
• Thursday, October 13th- Meanie Jr decided to eat something! That's 48 days before he ate! He decided to munch on some lettuce! Sonny didn't eat for 13 days when we got him! Henry didn't eat for 20 days after we got him!
• Sunday, October 2nd- So far, so good ... all three of the turtles get along just fine. Meanie Jr. is very scared, and not agressive at all ... therefore, there have been no problems with the arrangement of 2 painted and 1 baby snapper living together so far.
• Monday, September 19th- Instead of keeping Meanie Jr. in a seperate tank, we decided to experiment and place all three turtles into the same tank (2 painted turtles, 1 baby snapper).
• Saturday, September 3rd- Thanks to the kittens at the Dake home, we now have a new member of our turtle family ... and Micky has named him "Meanie Jr." ... he's a baby snapping turtle, about the size of a quarter!
• Saturday, May 7th- Only 2+ weeks after the Pleco has arrived, you can already tell he's doing the job. The tank has virtually no algae, and it's really nice looking!
• Thursday, April 21st- Micky went to a pet store looking for more snails, but instead came home with an 8 inch Pleco!!!
• Saturday, April 16th- The tank just got a good cleaning. The turtles have been eating lots of worms lately, and the snails have been out romaing a lot.
• Friday, April 8th- We are down to 2 snails (1 apple snail, 1 golden inca) cause the rest died off. We found a nightcrawler outside today and sonny & henry shared it.
• Monday, March 21st- Sonny started loosing his shell sometime around this week! Spring is coming/here!
• Sunday, February 20th- Surprisingly enough the snails and turtles coexist well. The snails come out at night when the turtles sleep.
• Sunday, January 30th- Sonny and Henry actually have new friends (3 snails, 2 golden incas and 1 ramshorn) that live in the tank with them!
• Sunday, January 16th- Sonny and Henry got a new huge 55 gallon tank!
• Tuesday, January 11th- Just making the observation that Sonny is getting bigger (he was 2.75 inches instead of 2.5, and he's a lot thicker too!)
• Sunday, January 9th- Sonny and Henry just got their tank cleaned, and they're excited because there's a rumor they get a new tank soon!
• Monday, December 27th- Sonny and Henry are still doing really good...Sonny has grown to 2.75 inches (from 2.5)!
• Wednesday, November 24th- They must know Thanksgiving is coming up because they are really hungry, analyzing and nibbling at everything.
• Tuesday, November 23rd- It's getting really cold outside so we've decided to move their tank away from the window to an inner wall.
• Saturday, November 20th- They still seem real happy. They are currently basking, but last night they had a fish feast!
• Friday, October 29th- They were starving, and we got a coupon for 25 free crickets from Petco, so guess what
  they ate today! We also got some fish for them. Henry favors the fish, and Sonny the crickets (they're slower)
• Saturday, October 2nd- They seem happy. We put flowers (weeds) in and they bite at them. I think Crickets are their fav!
• Sunday, September 19th- I think they like the new tank arrangement. They've both been on the dock basking!
• Saturday, September 18th- They also really enjoy crickets!
• Friday, September 17th- The wait is over...feeder fish did the trick...Henry & Sonny ate and ate! Also, the tank got a new look!
• Thursday, September 17th- Unfortunately Henry hasn't eaten yet...Sonny didn't eat for 13 days, It's been 19+ for Henry
• Friday, September 3rd- Henry is acting much better after the tank cleaning & re-arrangement. He even basks!
• Thursday, September 2nd- Henry still freaks out whenever he sees us. Sonny is almost always calm.
• Sunday, August 29th- Henry came to our home, Sonny is very concerned with his new roommate
• Thursday, August 12th- Sonny definitely knows when he's about to get fed! He'll nip at your fingers!
• Sunday, August 8th - Sonny continues to loose little pieces of his shell. We think he's growing!
• Sunday, August 1st - Sonny eats in a seperate container to help keep tank clean.
• Wednesday, July 28th - Sonny chows down on some Tuna for the first time, he's hungry!
• Tuesday, July 27th - We've tried turtle food & lettuce, Sonny won't eat :-(
• Friday, July 16th - Sonny came to our home

Images

• Franklin, the new friend! [1] [2] on Feb 8th 2008
• Meanie Jr on his release day in Supple's Marsh in North Fond du Lac ... [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] on October 16th
• Henry, Sonny, and Meanie Jr all [1] are living together now in the same tank. Sonny and Meanie Jr [1] get along, and Henry [1] is doing well too. Sonny and Henry [1] still enjoy each other the most though on October 2nd
• Henry, Sonny, and Meanie Jr all [1] [2] [3] are living the good life in their tanks [1] on September 5th
• Henry [1] and Sonny [1] both [1] [2] [3] seem to be scared, or concerned with the new arrival of Meanie Jr [1] [2] [3], so Meanie Jr. stays in his own smaller tank, while Sonny, Henry, Pleco, and the Apple Snail enjoy their tank [1] on September 3rd
• Henry and Sonny both [1] [2] are doing good in their 55 gallon tank [1] with the Pleco, Golden Inca Snail, and Apple Snail on May 7th
• We have a thriving aquarium now! [1] We have sonny [1] and henry [1] [2] [3] both [1] doing well. We have 2 snails (apple & golden inca) [1] [2] [3]! We also now have a new member, an 8 inch pleco [1] [2] [3]!!! on April 22nd
• Here's the cleaning process ... we empty the tank [1] of all the rocks, etc. , put Henry [1] and Sonny [1] in the bath tub, leave the snails [1] in the tank, empty the water out of the tank, put the rocks back into the tank, [1] and let henry [1] and sonny [1] back in on April 16th
• It's been a while since pictures, but Henry [1] and Sonny [1] both [1] [2] are doing good in their tank [1] [2] on April 8th
• Henry [1] and Sonny [1] both [1] like swimming in the tank [1] [2] on February 20th
• Henry [1] [2] [3] and Sonny [1] [2] [3] enjoying their clean tank [1] on January 30th
• Henry [1] [2] [3] and Sonny [1] both [1] [2] [3] pretend they are turtles on January 26th
• Henry [1] [2] and Sonny [1] [2] both [1] enjoy a Saturday afternoon on January 22nd
• Henry and Sonny [1] [2] are really really cute! Just check out these good pics [1] [2] and see their tank [4] on January 20th
• Henry [1] [2]and Sonny [1] [2] enjoy the new tank...and yes, they're still friends! [1] [2] [3] [4] on January 19th
• Both Henry [1] and Sonny [1] [2] [3] love the brand new 55 gallon tank! [1] [2] on January 16th
• Both Henry [1] and Sonny [1] are always either hungry or sleeping, see both [1] [2] [3] [4] on January 13th
• They are still very happy, Henry [1] runs things around here, but they both [1] [2] [3] [4]have fun! Henry watches Sonny sleep [1] on January 9th
• Happy New Year! They both [1] are piling up [1] [2] [3] for some fun! on January 1st
• Sonny [1] and Henry [1] love their clean tank on December 31st
• Sonny [1] and Henry [1], [2] both [1], [2], [3] had a great Christmas on December 29th
• Sonny and Henry swim around [1] on December 23rd
• The nice clean tank with stuffed animals surrounding it [1] on December 19th
• Sonny [1] and Henry [1], [2], [3] both [1], [2] are are loving it in their tank [1], [2] on November 23rd
• Sonny and Henry both are basking [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] on November 20th
• Sonny [1] [2] and Henry [1] [2] are doing very good! on October 16th
• Sonny plays it lazy on a Sunday afternoon [1] [2], in fact, they both [1] hang out. on October 10th
• Micky took a nice pic of them relaxing together [1] on October 8th
• Relaxing together, they're good friends now [1] [2] on October 3rd
• Just after feeding, Sonny [1] and Henry [1] [2] both [1] swim around. on October 2nd
• They're piling up on eachother! Are they trying to escape? Nope, they're just relaxing. :-) [1] [2] on September 19th
• New tank look [1] (w/ air pump, turtle dock, live plants), Sonny [1] & Henry [1] love it on September 18th
• I think they're friends! [1], [2] on September 3rd
• Sonny rests while Henry moves around [1], [2], Henry won't stand still! [3] on September 2nd
• Sonny Welcoming Henry [1], [2], [3], [4] and Henry swimming [1], [2], [3] on August 29th
• Some good closeups [1], [2], [3] and Sonny swimming around [1] on August 27th
• Sonny swimming Thursday evening [1] on August 19th
• More action shots of Sonny swimming [1][2] on August 18th
• Sonny ready to jump in [1] on August 17th
• Sonny sleeping monday afternoon [1] on August 16th
• Sonny is enjoying [1] his freshly cleaned, newly arranged tank [1] on August 13th
• Sonny snoozing on his rock [1][2] on August 12th
• Sonny enjoying his monday evening [1] on August 9th
• Sonny eating [1] while the tank [1] is cleaned, and after he relaxes [1], on August 6th
• Action shots of Sonny swimming [1][2] [3] on August 3rd
• Sonny basking, just after eating [1] on August 2nd
• Sonny basking [1][2] on July 28th
• Sonny's tank [1] on July 28th