Making A House For the Newly Hatched Baby Turtle

25 July 2024

"Amidst the vastness of nature, the tiniest creatures remind us of the intricate beauty in simplicity."

Being close to nature, specifically close to a river and a mountain just a few minutes walk from our place, we often find or see tiny, pretty creatures. Just recently, my brother found an egg near the river that he thought was a snake's egg. Curious as he was, he brought it home and put it inside a jar with soil and a piece of cloth as a warmer. A few weeks later, the egg hatched, and we were surprised to see a cute, small turtle rather than a snake. At least it wasn't a venomous creature, but rather a cute one.

Look how cute it is!

My little niece just woke up at that time, and she was happy to see it. She got a baby turtle!

We decided to build a house for it because it seemed uncomfortable in its surroundings. The newborn turtle seemed to want to be in the company of his mother turtle. But he has no choice. He has a new home now.

We considered using our aquarium, but it cannot survive long in a tank full of water. We built him a house using things we found in the backyard. We found a container and gathered some soil. Turtles are reptiles, thus they do not spend their entire lives on land. They also spend time in the water. We decided to create something with a small pool in the center.

We spread the soil inside the container and let the turtle walk around. He seemed uncomfortable at first and wanted to escape from it, but eventually realized that it'd be his new home.

My sister gathered more materials that we could use. We found this plastic cover, and she put it in the middle. It will serve as his pool with water.

He seemed to like staying there.

I asked my brother and sister to collect some sea shells, stones, and plants that we could use to decorate his house to make it look like a natural habitat for the little turtle.

Another plastic cover was used to put his food.

And here's his new house.

He was scared at first, but eventually liked his new home.

My sister thought of collecting snails so he wouldn't be alone. Turtles eat snails too. But he's still too tiny to eat them.

I thought of putting something above his eating area that would serve as his shade. It's easy to make something; we just have to be creative and make use of available resources.

The tiny turtle is learning to navigate his new house. It would sometimes hide in the plants or under the seashell, as if afraid to be found.

This will serve as his temporary home while he is still tiny. After which, he'll be freed by the river to find his real home.

After making his DIY house, we were rewarded with the yummy snacks made by Mom.

It's a Filipino snack called turon. Wrapped banana slices with added jackfruit inside are fried in oil with sugar. Yummy! We made snacks from newly harvested fruits from our farm.

That's all for today.

Thanks for your time.

---

_•••

---