This is my pet that originally belonged to my grandson but has been living with us, his grandparents, in our home for nine years. We take care of it with a lot of love. Her name is "Tea" and I tell you that she understands perfectly when we call her.
When we are preparing her food she wants to get out of the pond where we have it. I think we misaccustomed her to eating beef, fish and chicken, because in her habitat they eat other things including plants.
How did it get into my grandson's hands?
Well, one day we went for a visit to the National Aquarium in Havana to learn about the different marine species that are exhibited there. The tour was very interesting and not only was it limited to seeing the fish tanks, but was guided by specialists from the park and they explained the different varieties of marine life in Cuba and the Caribbean.
There is a scientific center there, theater, cinema, videos and other recreational activities are offered, mainly for children and young people.
That happened in 2014. My grandson was only 6 years old. He was so happy, that he moved from one place to another, looked here and there and above all what impressed him the most were the sea lions, sharks, turtles and dolphins. I think it was because they were the biggest and most eye-catching.
The turtle pond impressed him a lot and at the end of the tour we decided to give him a small jicotea.
Since he was so small, I was afraid of her and little by little I touched it, but she did not stop impressing him, which is very good in the expression on his face and I was able to capture it in this photo.
My grandson is already 15 years old, his birthday is today, November 20th. He no longer lives with us, but we have been left in the care of Tea, his pet.
Tea has never bitten me or my husband. I guess it's because she knows we're the ones who feed her and take care of her. Every day we change the water and scrub it.
We think it is a female jicotea because we have read that if its carapace is flat on the underside, this is a characteristic of females.
The jicoteas in Cuba are a species of turtles, which live mainly in lagoons and swamps, and it is said that they can be between 20 and 30 years old.
Also in my country there is a belief of the Yoruba religion that the jicotea is a sacred animal and that when it walks through the house it collects all the negative energies. We're not believers, but we let her walk around the house anyway, just in case.
Thank you very much Galenkp for promoting this initiative so that we can write about our experiences.
Greetings from Havana, Cuba.