#amboinensis

#phalaenopsis #tetrapsis x #amboinensis #tetrasambo looking so fine in the morning light, give me #orchids and #islandlife

Phalaenopsis amboinensis var common

Yuhu... It's a new sand. It's a beach sand. #turtle #amboinensis #asianboxturtle #cuoraamboinensis

The Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Sulawesi #turtle #conservation #cuora #amboinensis #sulawesi

Stripey is a Southeast Asian Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis) found in our backyard in March 2010.

Stripey the Turtle was found in the backyard pond of my parents' country home. We don't know how she got there, but apparently she's the culprit behind the mysterious disappearance of several tilapia being raised by our caretaker. Secret Natives Last week, I was surprised to know that our neighbor had recently asked that we adopt 2 other turtles which they had also found wandering around in their area a couple of years ago. Our family has owned that four-hectare woodland property for close to 30 years now, but in all that time, I had never heard of its native wild population of turtles. Before now, I had merely believed Stripey to be someone's escaped pet, previously purchased from the exotic animal trade. Vulnerable Species Intrigued, I looked it up and (though I'll need expert verification) it seems Stripey is a Malayan / Southeast  Asian Box Turtle or Cuora amboinensis, which is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. I'm very excited about all this, and will be looking into possibly turning some part of our Agape Springs property into a sanctuary for Philippine semi-aquatic turtles. It shouldn't be too difficult, since some of them have actually been thriving here unnoticed. Small Turtle, Big City Turtles aren't ideal pets for young kids, because of potential salmonella poisoning. But I decided that the advantages of bringing Stripey home with us as a temporary summer pet far outweighed the risks both to my daughter & the turtle. Lilo gets to feed & play with Stripey, and I get to observe them both. We wash our hands thoroughly after each contact. Stripey's city home is our warm, sunny balcony where she has two large plastic tubs --one for rest & recreation and the other for meals. We've placed large rocks in them to serve as a basking area and a dining area. But Stripey stays in the water most of the time. ...And a Side Order of Chicken Wings To see what she likes to eat, we've laid out bread, lettuce, raw chicken wingtips, pineapple, and vitamin-enriched turtle food sticks from the pet store. She snubbed everything but the chicken. Which leads me to believe she's an older juvenile or young adult, because her kind tend to prefer more protein while they're young, and go vegetarian as they get older. Not much different from us, as I see it. Countryside Gourmand This Holy Week, when we bring her back to where we found her, Lilo & I will be netting some waterbugs, duckweed & guppies from the pond, just to see if Stripey will like them. Thank God she was found by us, and not by someone who would've turned her into soup! Happy Easter to everyone! My other blog entries on our pet turtles: A Boyfriend for Stripey

A Nice Surprise Soon after Stripey came home with us, I remembered my friend Lara mentioning that she often took in unwanted pet turtles. I contacted her & was surprised to learn that she had an 8-year-old male Malayan Box Turtle that I could adopt. An Escapee from the Pet Trade The people who had given him to Lara said he had been found on the street. I'm pretty sure he was captured from the wild for the pet trade, because he has a perfectly round hole in the rear of his shell that's said to have been made by pincers used to haul them in. Stripey's new boyfriend Oogwei, with a carapace 5.5 inches long, is an inch bigger than her, and has a tail thicker than my little finger. He is quite dignified, like his cartoon namesake Master Oogwei in the movie "Kung Fu Panda." I often find him basking on the rock platform I placed in their new & bigger home. She Likes to Tease Both turtles are quite active, and seem to get along rather well. I often catch Stripey 'investigating' her new friend, poking her nose at him and nuzzling his face & neck. But she quickly retreats when Oogwei shows any interest. Playing hard to get, maybe? The Turtle Cafeteria I've been offering them different kinds of food, whatever is available fresh. Both turtles like banana, papaya, squash, kangkong (swamp cabbage), chicken, dried shrimp (known locally as 'hibe'). They don't seem to like the vitamin-rich turtle sticks I got from the pet store, but now I just mash it in with their fruit. While Stripey is a very dainty eater, Oogwei has an especially large appetite & eats very quickly, likely from having lived for a long time with Lara's two huge 15-year-old red-eared sliders, who are several times his size. I'm hoping they'll soon feel comfy enough to mate. See my other blog entries on our turtles: The Secret Native: Stripey the Turtle