Roommates

Can anyone guess what gift my in laws arrived with when they visited this weekend?

A roommate!

Count 'em: one, two.

When the children arrived home from hiking, we met them outside and Pop-Pops said casually, "I'd like you to show me this new turtle of yours!"

We walked to the back yard, peered inside the enclosure, and John saw not one but two turtles (the new one being much larger than the one we found yesterday). He exclaimed innocently, "Our turtle must have had a baby!"

Decisions will be made about whether we keep this second box turtle. We think the new (bigger one) is definitely female. We think the smaller one is likely female, but we're not positive. (Its shell, claws, and tail look female, but its eyes look male.) We read up and learned that box turtles can be housed together happily, but one must watch. The best grouping is one male and several females, next best is one male and one female. Two females need to have good personalities and we must separate them if we see any fighting. They might need a larger enclosure if we keep two (I will be reading up on this and more) and I know how much that prospect would excite my husband (ha ha ha).

If nothing else, it has been very fun for the children to watch two turtles and they've had a lovely weekend visit together.