Not A Morning Turtle

Generally, I am a morning person - under certain conditions. First, I need to wake up when I naturally wake up. Nothing sudden. If given the opportunity to wake up without alarms, etc. I am usually in a great mood. Either the first or second thing I do after waking is head down to the gecko room to water all the geckos. Its just routine.

Having all the turtles in for the winter makes going to the gecko room a real treat. Seeing them brings a moment of genuine joy to me. I believe that genuine joy can be elusive when one is real honest - at least in my life. But seeing my turtles is very joyous.

Even grumpy Frankie. Sometimes when I get downstairs, he is already awake. He has turned face out of his box and looks at me as I enter the room. But, a lot of the time when I enter he is still deep in his box, face inward. Usually he will hear me and turn around. When he does he just looks plain grumpy. When I say "hello" he retracts his head slightly and blinks almost as if to say "not so loud" sorta like someone who has had too much to drink the night before. He is just not ready to come out of that box. He will sit there until he is good and ready (awake) before he steps forward. This is usually around 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Box turtles are not like this at all. They are early risers. This seems to be a natural behavior. They are up and ready for food and water way before I get in the door. They must wake up at the first sign of morning light. Maybe I should consider feeding them first thing in the morning when I water geckos. They would probably like this. Now why hadn't I thought of this until just now?

In an hour or so I will be back downstairs to feed geckos. Frankie will finally be his regular self ready to head outside for sunshine, grazing and some serious walking.