Once upon a time, a mother and her two young boys were walking along the streets of Chinatown.  An old Chinese woman on the street had a bucket-ful of baby turtles for sale for only $4 each.  The little boys begged their momma relentlessly to please let them have a pet turtle.  The beautiful young mother gave in and let the boys have this new wonderful pet. They said, "Let's call her Jade" and they took their new baby turtle home.  Momma started doing some research and learned that baby turtles could carry dangerous Salmonella germs. She worried about her little boys holding the turtle and putting their fingers in their mouths and getting sick.  She panicked and didn't know what to do, but she knew he had to get rid of this little turtle.  

Meanwhile, about a year prior, Terra started being attracted to turtles.  She remembered having pet turtles as a child and always loved them.  She read that the Native Americans believed Turtles were great protectors and represented Mother Earth. There are 13 sections on a turtle's shell, representing the 13 moons per year.  There are 28 smaller squares, representing the 28-day lunar calendar.  The Chinese believed that all of life could be explained by the markings on a turtle's back.  Terra purchased a small Turtle totem, carved completly out of Jade.  Terra took this Jade turtle with her on long journeys as a totem for protection.  She loved this Jade turtle, but longed for a real one.  

About the same time that Momma and her two boys purchased Jade, Terra went to the pet store looking to buy a pet turtle. She was disappointed that all the turtles were really big and not like those cute little ones she had as a child. She was disappointed and went home.   A few days later, the phone rang.  Terra's friend was distressed about what to do with this little turtle named Jade.  Terra's heart soared!  It was fate, "Baby Jade" had found her true home.

 

 

Terra learned that Baby turtles can miss their Mommas so she held Jade in her hands each day sending her loving, nurturing energy.  A fake Momma Turtle and a little Jasper turtle were placed just outside Jade's tank, so she would feel like Momma was nearby.  Jade would often put her little nose right to the glass next to the Momma turtle's nose, and sleep there.

 

Jade loves her sunning rock and special reptile sun lamp.  The light gives off special UV rays that make turtles happy.  She likes to stretch her legs out for an even tan!  

 
The little turtle totem that was made from Jade has been in Jade's tank ever since she moved in.  Jade obviously likes her little Jade friend.  

 

Jade's favorite toys are a plastic cup and a ricotta cheese container with the bottom and 1/3 of a side cut out.  These are her own little Turtle Garages!  She climbs on top of them, jumps off and swims under it.  She has so much fun!  



Here's a great couple shots of Jade smiling as she poses for the pictures!  



Jade is now a happy two-year old and enjoys eating shrimp and spinach.  She likes to run around Terra's house, when Momma lets her.  Jade now has an extra large outdoor play tank to enjoy the sunshine and summer breezes.  




2006 Update!   In September Jade travelled across the country with me in the back of my car, along with my cat Fluffy and Jade's pet fish, Little Fishy.  All made it to Arizona just fine but after the third day of being in Sedona Jade decided to eat Little Fishy, after having kept her around for almost a year!  Go figure!  That one day Little Fishy just looked too delicious to pass up.  I was at a yard sale in Sedona during the last weekend in October.  A nice man named Chuck was selling his pet turtle named "Oscar."  I thought Oscar was very cute (close to the same age and size as Jade, just a little bit smaller) and wondered for a moment about having two turtles.  I talked myself out of it and went home.  I then dedided to do some research to see if two turtles would get along.  Jade is a Red-Eared Slider and "Oscar" (I was told) was a Red-Bellied Slider (although he looked an awful lot like a Yellow-Bellied Slider to me!)  The research indicated that sliders should get along fine but a male and female might get along better than a pair of same sexed turtles.  Hmmmm..... So I was pretty sure Jade was a girl and Oscar was a boy, but let's see.....  Well I then researched gender identification of turtles further and it turned out, much to my surprise, that JADE IS A BOY and OSCAR IS A GIRL!!!  Well, that was too perfect.  I asked all my psychic friends to "tune in" and see if Jade was calling forth a mate.  Only one friend felt Jade might feel some competition with the other turtle, but everyone else felt it was meant to be. The next day I had a channeling session and I took the opportunity to ask ONE about the turtle.  ONE was VERY enthusiastic about it and instructed me to call Chuck immediately after the channeling and adopt Oscar.  I did and got an answering machine, and never received a return call.  Feeling desperate I drove all over West Sedona trying to find the right house... I had been to several  yard sales the day before but I eventually found the right house. Chuck was home but said I was too late - another family had adopted Oscar a couple hours ago.  I went home disappointed and surrendered it to the Universe that if it was meant to be that somehow another turtle would show up.  Oscar kept haunting my thoughts.  Well, Universe answered the call and 2 days later, on Halloween, Chuck called me to tell me that Oscar's new adopted family decided they did not want to keep her.  I was estatic with Joy and immediately drove over to pick up our new addition, Oscar... which I have lovingly renamed "Amber."  I knew this was meant to be.  Maybe some day they will mate and have lots of baby turtles...  stay tuned. 

 

 

 
Here's Amber giving a love bite to Jade on their first day together!  She was trying to show him who is boss!  Now they mostly climb over each other and hang out.  

Jade thanks you for visiting his webpage (Amber say Hi too!).  Please feel free to write to Jade and Amber at terrasonora@msn.com .