Happy Valentine’s Day

We have new babies!  This was part of my Valentine’s Day present from my darling hubby.

Their names are Stelo (left) and Cupid (right).  Stelo was named after the shop where we got him (in Zuid Limburg, approx 2 hours from here) and Cupid because of it being a Valentine’s thing.

Aren’t they adorable, seriously?  Cute overload!

They are both turtles species that I’ve been itching to get for quite some time, because I think they are really beautiful.   They are not all that common here in the Netherlands so we got very lucky to find them when/where we did.  I, of course, was lucky to have a husband who would travel that far (2 hours each way) just to pick up a Valentine present for me! 

Stelo is an Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta Picta) and can be recognized most by the red markings on the edge of his shell and the four large white markings on his head. 

Here are a few other photos:

Stelo is a bit bigger and stronger than Cupid at the moment, so he swims more and has actually caught a guppy already!  Not fun to watch but a great sign in a hatchling.   It’s always good to see a good appetite!

Unfortunately his being a stronger swimmer and more on the move makes it much more difficult to get photos of him!  He gets away from me every time.. little bugger!

Cupid is a Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta Bellii) which is easily recognized by the amazing patterns on their bellies and red markings on their shell.

Cupid is still very small, 1-2 weeks old at most and you can still see a small white spot on his belly where his yolk sack was attached when he hatched out of his egg.

He is not as strong a swimmer so he spends more time on the basking area, taking short swims when he has the energy for it. 

Due to his age he’s not as quick and doesn’t really care much if I hover over him taking photos… so I’m taking advantage of it while I can.   In a few weeks he’ll be dodging me at every chance.  

This is one of my favorite photos of him. He fell asleep under his heat lamp and was sound asleep as I stood over him snapping photos.

 Here are some others…

I know there must be women reading this and thinking turtles are a bit of an odd thing to get for Valentine’s day but for me it’s perfect.  I couldn’t be happier with them.  

I did get roses too though, two dozen yellow roses (my favorite) with a long stick in the middle with a heart on it.   They are really beautiful!  I’m so lucky to have a man who understands me so well and knows what I love…

I hope he knows I love him most of all!