[ESP/ENGL] Temporada de tortuguitas

Today I extend a big greeting to the Amazing Nature community. And yes, as its name says, nature is incredible, surprising, fruitful and diverse; and I wanted to talk about one of those expressions of diversity today in this post, and it is precisely about some incredible animals known as morrocoyes or tortoises land.

Morrocoyes (Chelonoidis carbonaria), are very common animals in Venezuela. I don't know if they will have that custom in the rest of Latin America, but in my country, it is considered good luck to have morrocoyes in houses, since it is believed that they protect the inhabitants, and the houses themselves, from bad influences, and At the same time, if the morrocoy has a shell with 13 pints or more, then it will serve as a magnet to attract prosperity to the home. Previously I have talked about these incredible and long-lived animals, since I have several on my backyard, and every year they reproduce regularly, starting the egg hatching season in the month of May; however, in this year 2022, it started during the first week of June. If you want to read other posts related to these tortoises, you can view them below:

• [ESP/ENGL] Bebés morrocoy (Actualización)

Last Wednesday the 8th, as usual I went out to the lot, and there I found the first tortoise or baby morrocoy of the season. Unfortunately he was dead. I saw it in the middle of the road, and its stillness surprised me, so I picked it up to examine it, noticing its absence of life. Everything was dirty, something that does not happen when they are alive, since they are always free of dirt. Turning it on its side, I noticed that five scales or bony plates were missing from its shell; which allowed me to infer that he had been attacked by a rodent, (in the lot there are rodents, rats, mice, although the family of opossums that live there control them and my cats too). Then we proceeded to make a hole in the ground and deposit the little body inside, to bury it. I hope this little dead animal is not a bad omen.

A week later, on Tuesday June 14, I found two more hatchlings. These were healthy and beautiful, one larger than the other, so I presume that one was born before. I placed them in a rubber with plants so that they were protected and not accidentally crushed

By Monday the 20th, I found another morrocoy baby, also alive and rosy, eager to live, tiny but perfect, as you can see here. I still cannot say what sex these animals are, because they still do not have the anatomical characteristic that distinguishes them, which is that males have a sunken or concave abdomen, which allows them to copulate with females, while in females the abdomen is absolutely flat.

Quería hacer hincapié en algo que considero importante: Si bien es cierto que en otro post (que ya corregí y edité), he dicho que estos animales a esta edad comen de todo, es un error y lo pude verificar el pasado año, cuando perdí dos bebés morrocoy por alimentarles con pasta y con masa de maíz, pues murieron reventados. A esta edad su sistema digestivo es muy joven, y no tolera nada más que pequeñas hojitas y vegetales picaditos o rallados finamente, ya que no tienen fuerza en sus pequeñas mandíbulas para cortar el alimento, así que es preciso darles porciones de vegetales y hojas, menudamente picados o rallados por el lado fino del rallador. Este régimen debe durar al menos unos seis meses. Luego se les siguen suministrando vegetales, pero en trozos más grandes. Es recomendable darles lechuga, alguna fruta suave, hojas que les agraden comer, como por ejemplo las de amaranto (pira, bledo blanco) (Amaranthus viridis), entre otras, que sean suaves y aceptadas por ellas.

I wanted to emphasize something that I consider important: Although it is true that in another post (which I have already corrected and edited), I have said that these animals at this age eat everything, it is a mistake and I was able to verify it last year, when I lost two Morrocoy babies for feeding them pasta and corn dough, because they died of blown away. At this age their digestive system is very young, and they do not tolerate anything more than small leaves and finely chopped or grated vegetables, since they do not have the strength in their small jaws to cut the food, so it is necessary to give them portions of vegetables and leaves, finely chopped or grated on the fine side of the grater. This regimen should last at least six months. Vegetables are then continued, but in larger pieces. It is advisable to give them lettuce, some soft fruit, leaves that they like to eat, such as those of amaranth (pyre, white pigweed) (Amaranthus viridis), among others, that are soft and accepted by them

• Son animales de sangre fría, reptiles, por lo cual puedes verlos llevando sol para calentarse corporalmente.

• Es un mito que no toman agua, sí toman a diario y mucha.

• Son animales con una memoria bastante buena, pueden recordar cosas luego de más de una década.

• Pueden reconocer personas y atienden llamados, al igual que un perro.

• Caminan rápido, es incierto que son lentos.

• Se ayudan entre sí, pues he visto morrocoyes que están patas arriba y otro se acerca para ayudarlo a que pueda voltearse.

• Una vez estando grandes, su dieta es amplia, pueden comer gran variedad de alimentos, son omnívoros, pero también tienen sus gustos particulares, cada individuo puede tener preferencias alimenticias.

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I wanted to point out, from my personal experience, some general characteristics of tortoises or morrocoyes, and they are the following:

• They are cold-blooded animals, reptiles, so you can see them wearing sun to warm their bodies.

• It is a myth that they do not drink water, they do drink daily and a lot of it.

• They are animals with a fairly good memory, they can remember things after more than a decade.

• They can recognize people and answer calls, just like a dog.

• They walk fast, it is uncertain that they are slow.

• They help each other, because I have seen morrocoyes that are upside down and another approaches to help them turn around.

• Once they are big, their diet is wide, they can eat a wide variety of foods, they are omnivores, but they also have their own particular tastes, each individual can have food preferences.

Bibliografía / Bibliography

• Salvat Editores, S.A. (1976). Enciclopedia Salvat. Tomos 1, 3, 5, 8. Barcelona, España.

• Chelonoidis carbonaria

• Amaranthus viridis

• Phyllanthus acidus

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Fuentes de las Imágenes / Image sources

• Todas las fotos de este post son de mi autoría y fueron tomadas con mi teléfono Xiomi REDMI 8 A // These photos are my own, and were taken with a Xiomi REDMI 8 A phone

• Los divisores son cortesía de @eve66 quien comparte bellos diseños que embellecen el maquetado de nuestras publicaciones. // The dividers used are courtesy of @eve66 who shares beautiful designs that embellish the layout of our post.

• En caso de que se requiera utilizar el contenido o las imágenes de este post y de mis otras publicaciones, agradecería que se hiciera referencia a mi autoría (Fabiola Martínez) y se citara el enlace correspondiente. Gracias. // In case it is required to use the content or images of this post and of my other publications, I would appreciate if you could refer to my authorship (Fabiola Martínez) and cite the corresponding link. Thanks.

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