New members of the family.🐢

Hi, guys! I hope you are doing well. A few weeks ago my husband had been told that he was going to get a pet, and so he told me. The truth is that I was a little nervous about Nana (our dog), we had already tried to bring another dog and she almost got eaten alive, a kitten and ran around all over the place. Anyway, I had already resigned myself to have another pet, Nana's anxiety and territoriality is impressive. But when the day came for the blessed "pet" to arrive, my husband was all happy, it took me by surprise that it was not one and not a pet as such, they were two female morrocoy babies (female power rules in the house hahaha). Honestly, to me it was like "aha, so what? They are two little pebbles that walk"; I mean, I have nothing against these little things, but I really wasn't excited at all and even less if they were just coming out of their eggs. All those ideas fell apart almost as if I was slapped in the face. Even though they are only a few days old, they both have very distinct personalities. Roberta, the older one, is more active and gluttonous, as soon as she sees food, she runs towards it; on the other hand, Julia, the smaller one, is calmer but more grumpy, as soon as I wake her up to feed her, she covers herself with her little legs or else she gets into a guard position.

¡Hola, chicos! Espero se encuentren bien. Hace unas semanas le habían dicho a mi esposo que le iban a regalar una mascota, y así me lo comentó. La verdad es que me tenía algo nerviosa por Nana (nuestra perrita), ya habíamos intentado traer otra perrita y casi se la come viva, un gatico y lo correteó por todos lados. En fin, ya me había resignado a tener otra mascota, la ansiedad y territorialidad de Nana es impresionante. Pero cuando tocó el día en que llegaría la dichosa “mascota”, mi esposo estaba todo feliz, me tomó por sorpresa que no fuera una y tampoco una mascota como tal, eran dos bebés morrocoy hembras (en la casa manda el poder femenino jajaja). Sinceramente, para mí esto me resultaba como que “ajá, ¿y entonces? Son dos piedritas que caminan”; o sea, no tengo nada en contra de estas cositas, pero de verdad que no me entusiasmaba para nada y menos si estaban recién salidas de sus huevitos. Todas esas ideas se me desmoronaron casi como si me dieran una cachetada. A pesar que tengan a penas días de eclosionadas, ambas tienen personalidades bien marcadas. Roberta, la más grande, es más activa y glotona, apenas ve comida, corre hacia ella; por su parte, Julia, la más pequeña es más tranquila pero la más refunfuñona, a penas la despierto para que coma, se tapa con sus patitas o si no se pone en posición de guardia.

On the one hand, it's good that they were given to us together because they do everything together; one doesn't eat without the other, they don't drink water alone, when we hold them separately they are aware of each other and, obviously, they don't sleep alone either (Roberta always tries to "snuggle" on top of Julia). To tell the truth, I had never seen this behavior in reptiles, they are always sold to us as beings without feelings because they are cold-blooded, but with these little things I have discovered that it is not like that. Although they don't do much (they literally sleep all day long and I have to wake them up to make them eat), their care at this stage is rigorous. You have to take care of their diet (they must eat daily during their first years) because certain foods generate obesity (yes, I was also surprised, what can a carrot make them fat?) or bring them liver problems, I also did not know that they must eat animal protein from time to time; put them in the sun because their shell absorbs vitamins from the sun and helps them to better assimilate the nutrients of the food. Another aspect that surprised me is that they do not like to be touched directly on their legs and head, they get upset, you have to do a ritual: take them in the palm of your hand and rub the shell in a circular motion; they take this as a message of peace and that we will not hurt them, and after that (several days) if they let you touch their head a little calmer.

Por una parte, es bueno que nos la hayan regalado juntas porque hacen todo juntas; una no come sin la otra, no beben agua solas, cuando las agarramos por separado están pendiente de la otra y, obvio, tampoco duermen solas (Roberta siempre busca “acurrucarse” encima de Julia). La verdad, nunca había visto ese comportamiento en reptiles, siempre nos lo venden como seres sin sentimientos por ser de sangre fría, pero con estas cositas he descubierto que no es así. Si bien no hacen gran cosa (literalmente se la pasan todo el día durmiendo y las tengo que despertar para que coman), su cuidado en esta etapa es riguroso. Hay que cuidar de su dieta (deben comer a diario sus primeros años) porque ciertos alimentos le generan obesidad (si, también me quedé sorprendida, ¿qué puede engordar una zanahoria?) o traerles problemas en el hígado, tampoco sabía que deben comer proteína animal cada cierto tiempo; ponerlas al sol porque por su caparazón absorben las vitaminas de este y les ayuda a asimilar mejor los nutrientes de la comida. Otro aspecto que me sorprendió, es que no les gusta que las toquen directamente las patitas y cabeza, se molestan horrible, hay que hacer como un ritual: tomarlas en la palma de la mano y frotar circularmente el caparazón; esto lo toman como un mensaje de paz y que no les haremos daño, ya después de eso (varios días) si se dejan tocar la cabeza un poco más tranquilas.

They are a case of cuteness. When I was little, I remember that in my grandmother's house there were many animals, among them morrocoys, but I didn't see them like that, except for a female (I don't remember her name) that thought she was a mermaid and always, but always, she was in the water well. One day she scared us because she had been in the well for a few days and had not eaten, they thought she had died, but no, it turned out that she had made a nest there; as soon as they took her out of the well (I imagine she was upset or what do I know), she began to lay her eggs. Some other anecdote with these little animals, I do not remember, although I do remember that a friend told me that he has 5 (he called them like the Ninja Turtles), the biggest morrocoy is an escapist, he pushes his brothers to make a kind of tower, he mounts them and leaves his terrarium, so in a way the names they were given fit them.

Son un estuche de monerías. Cuando era pequeña, recuerdo que en casa de abuela había muchos animales, entre ellos morrocoyes, pero no los veía así, a excepción de una hembra (no recuerdo su nombre) que se creía sirena y siempre, pero siempre, estaba en el pozo de agua. Un día nos asustó porque ya llevaba algunos días dentro del pozo y no había comido, pensaron que se había muerto, pero no, resultó que le dio por hacer un nido ahí; a penas la sacaron del pozo (me imagino que estaba molesta o qué sé yo), empezó a poner sus huevos. Alguna otra anécdota con estos animalitos, no recuerdo, aunque sí recuerdo que un amigo me comentó que tiene 5 (les llamó como las Tortugas Ninjas), el morrocoy mayor es escapista, empuja a sus hermanos hasta hacer una especia de torre, se les monta y sale de su terrario, así que en cierta forma sí les quedan bien los nombres que les dieron.

These little ones have been stealing my heart little by little, I love watching them eat, it's not like they have a busy schedule, but it's something I like about my time with them. My husband is supposed to take care of them, but since he spends most of the day at work, I do everything. And if you are wondering what happened to Nana? Well, since she doesn't see them or have access to them, she doesn't do anything. Although we presented them to her (we made her smell them), she did nothing; maybe she thinks, as I did at the beginning, that they are little stones with legs. They wait many years to know what would happen when they interact directly, because as they grow so slowly, by the time they have a considerable size to take them out of their terrarium, 5 or 6 years will have passed, and Nana would be old and would not even pay attention to them.

Estas pequeñas, se han ido robando poco a poco mi corazón, adoro verlas comer, no es como si tuvieran una agenda muy ocupada, pero es algo que me gusta de mi tiempo con ellas. Se supone que quien estaría pendiente de ellas, sería mi esposo, pero como se la pasa casi todo el día en el trabajo, hago todo. Y si se preguntan ¿Qué pasó con Nana? Pues, como no las ve ni tiene acceso a ellas, no hace nada. Aunque se las presentamos (la pusimos a que las oliera), no hizo nada; quizás crea como yo al inicio, que son unas piedritas con patas. Esperan muchos años para saber qué sucedería cuando interactúen directamente, porque como crecen tan lento, ya para cuando tengan un tamaño considerable para sacarlas de su terrario, ya habrán pasado unos 5 o 6 años, ya Nana estaría viejita y ni les haría caso.