Amazing Grace (Box Turtle Autobiography) Chapter 2

Amazing Grace! A Box Turtle Autobiography

Chapter Two of my story is
dedicated to

Do YOU believe in Divine Intervention?

I do. It came to me in the form of a little gal in a pet store in Agoura, CA. Her name is Jodi Diamond and if she ever comes across my story, I want her to know that she saved my life!!

Try as she would, Toni could not get me to eat much or do anything and she and I became very concerned that my lifespan was going to be very very short! And then she found Jodi...

Thank you to the Big Turtle above!

Jodi was a reptile specialist and she had the answers to all the important questions that Toni could not find on her own. The first thing she told her was to get me OUT of that horrendous corncob bedding immediately! She then told her "Turtles need an environment-- space-- dirt-- terrain! Get her out of her 10-gallon cubicle and give her some room to roam!" Then she sold her a book called THE BOX TURTLE MANUAL written by two veterinarians that actually know how to take care of turtles! Finally she sold her a wonderful little moulded soaking tub, several kinds of food (I refused to eat them, I know cantalope when I see it!), a couple kinds of vitamins to add to my food, Vitamin A drops for my eyes, B vitamins to enhance my appetite, and the coolest reptile heating pad available!

Toni flew home in a couple days and got right to work! She looked all over the valley we live in for just the right terrarium, to no avail. This is a rather small community and reptiles are just not the thing! So....persistant as she is, Toni went to a cabinet maker and had a 2x3 foot glass terrarium on a wooden base built for me. She filled it with several inches of topsoil (mixed with peatmoss) in one end, orchid bark in the other, added some rocks (no jagged edges) for good measure (toenail trimming), put my little tub in the middle, threw in some fresh grass and tree branches, the heating pad with a basking light above it, and a willow lean-to that she made herself from the tree in the backyard.

Well, Well, Well! Suddenly life looked interesting again. I had DIRT to burrow in, places to wander and explore, lighted areas, shaded areas, warm spots, cooler spots (very important)...Yes, yes, yes....

My appetite picked up, my activity level went up, my alertness increased, and I began to gain weight and grow. I decided that life was worth living after all!

Bless you Jodi Diamond, bunches!