I am proud to say that little Veronica has finally come out of her hatchling shyness. At first she'd dive into the water every time I walked into the room when she was basking and it would be like an olympic game trying to get her out of her main tank into her feeding container.
But now when I come into the room she just basks away with her little legs spread out in the air. And as soon as I go over to her feeding container to get it ready she swims over to me at the top of the water level of her tank and just stares until I reach in to put her in her feeding container.
I've noticed that Veronica feels the most secure when handling her when I use my left hand with my thumb on the top of her shell and a finger or two holding her on her belly. When she's picked up out of her tank like this she doesn't fight or struggle. She just rests calmly in my hand until she's place in her feeding container.
I was really worried about her when I first got her. She had a bad back leg where the skin was pink from wearing off on the underside of her paw and I was really worried about it. Plus her general shyness was worrying to me. But luckily her foot has healed completely and she's completely comfortable with me now. Sometimes I get on my laptop and sit in front of her tank. She'll just crawl into her plant and stare at me the whole time.
I'm glad I've been a good enough mom for her to feel safe. A lot of you have older turtles so I'm sure you remember what it was like when they were hatchlings and just started to feel comfortable.
This site and forum has been such a great place this last month, really helping me in learning how to properly take care of my RES. You guys are great.
