I just want to let the thousands of people who are reblogging this cute picture know that this species of turtle (the Red-eared slider) does not make a very good pet. The sale of sliders at the size depicted above was made illegal in 1975 because Red-eared sliders very often carry salmonella which is pretty intolerable for adults and can be deadly to children. If the turtles pictured above are kept in that bowl then they probably are having a pretty rough time because Red-eared sliders need a dry area to bask as well as water that is twice as deep as they are long- otherwise they’ll hit their head every time they go to dive.
Also, the Red-eared slider is originally native to the Mississippi river area and is an invasive species throughout the world. Indigenous populations of the Painted Turtle in New Jersey and the European Pond Turtle in Spain are thought to have been damaged by the invasive Red-eared slider. The Red-eared slider is a fairly hardy species of turtle (why they’re often sold as pets) and it tends to edge out the competition.
That being said, Red-eared sliders are actually very hard to keep- I know from experience. They need a heat lamp that gives off both UVB and UVA light, a calcium block, when they’re young they need live meat in their diet, and a 50 gallon tank which has to be changed once a month. Although they start out small like the little cuties depicted above, healthy Red-eared sliders will grow to be about a foot in length and live to be around 35. However, most people’s sliders only live to be about two years old. This is because of soft-shell AKA when their shells slowly implode and crush their internal organs due to a lack of UVB, UVA and calcium. It’s a long and drawn out way to go and most people don’t think much of it because they are such a small animal.
Red-eared sliders are fun to watch in the tank but also pretty messy, smell kind of bad, and they tend to dive off of their basking dock as soon as you walk in the room. I had two males in my tank and they became violently territorial with one another once they got a little bigger.
In closing, please take these factors into serious consideration before deciding to keep Red-eared sliders as pets. You don’t have to believe my explanation as to why; do your own research before choosing to bring a Red-eared slider into your home.
FREE MONKEYS
PUNKY HAD BEEN FREE FOR OVER A WEEK AND A HALF. SOMETIMES WHEN IT WAS RAINING SHE WOULD SNEAK INTO THE CAGE THAT SHE SHARES WITH FRANCA AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN WE WERE PUTTING AWAY THE OTHER MONKEYS FOR BED TIME. BUT THE NEXT MORNING SHE WOULD ALWAYS JUST DART OUT OF THE CAGE BEFORE WE COULD GRAB HER BY THE TAIL AND PUT A CORD ON HER.
YESTERDAY MORNING I GOT HER. AS I CARRIED HER OUT OF THE QUARANTINE TO TAKE HER TO THE VETS FOR HER NEW BELT AND CORD, ALL THE MONKEYS WERE IN AN UPROAR. WERE THEY FURIOUS AT THE CAPTURE OF A FREE CAPUCHIN? JUST AS I WAS WALKING OUT OF THE ENTRANCE OF QUARANTINE, NATALIA LEAPT AT ME AND BIT ME HARD ON MY LEFT HAND. MONKEY TEETH ARE BLUNT. IT WASN´T A DEEP CUT BUT THERE WAS QUITE A BIT OF BLOOD.
THESE PROCEEDINGS AS WELL AS WATCHING AN ESCAPED MONKEY (CESAR) RISK HIS OWN CAPTURE TO LIBERATE VARIOUS MONKEYS ON CORD HAS MADE IT FAIRLY CLEAR TO ME THAT THESE ANIMALS DESIRE A FREEDOM FOR THEMSELVES AND EACH OTHER. I PROBABLY SHOULDN´T BE SAYING THIS, BUT PART OF ME SECRETLY WANTED PUNKY TO STAY FREE- AND ONE OF THE TIMES SHE ESCAPED WAS BECAUSE ANOTHER VOLUNTEER LET HER.
THIS REFUGE HAS BECOME TOO CRAMMED WITH MONKEYS. LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS CLAIM THAT IF SOME OF THESE MONKEYS WERE RELEASED THEY WOULD BE BRUTALIZED BY CAPUCHIN GROUPS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN FORMED. THEY´RE PROBABLY RIGHT. I READ PUNKY´S FILE. IT SAID THAT SHE USED TO BE A FREE MONKEY IN THE MIRADOR BUT SHE WAS GANG RAPED BY A GROUP OF LARGE MALES AND HER ANUS WAS RUPTURED. AH YES, ASS RAPE IS THE WAY OF CAPUCHINS. IN THE WORDS OF THE HEAD VET AT THE REFUGE, THEY´RE CABRONES (ASSHOLES IN SPANISH.) SO IS SHE BETTER OFF IN THE QUARANTINE ON A CORD? HOW CAN WE CHOOSE TO GIVE AN ANIMAL OUR HUMAN JUDGEMENT OF HAPPINESS OVER OUR HUMAN IDEA OF FREEDOM? IT´S ALL VERY TRICKY.
MY FAVORITE MONKEYS
THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE CAPUCHINS CURRENTLY RESIDING AT PARQUE MACHIA, THE ANIMAL REFUGE WHERE I CURRENTLY VOLUNTEER.
VICTOR
VICTOR MAKES THE LIST FOR BEING A GENERAL BADASS. EVEN THOUGH HE´S TRAPPED IN A CAGE, HE IS STILL THE ALPHA MALE FROM HELL IN THE QUARANTINE. VICTOR IS A HUGE CAPUCHIN AND SEVERAL VETS HAVE EXPRESSED TO ME THAT HE MAY BE THE MOST DANGEROUS IN THE PARK. IF VICTOR GOT FREE, I WOULD PROBABLY BE MORE TERRIFIED THAN A HAITIAN WHO JUST FOUND OUT THAT THE DRUG LORDS HAD TAKEN OVER AGAIN. VICTOR IS CURRENTLY IMPRISONED FOR STARTING BLOODY WARS WITH VARIOUS ALPHA MALES AND THEIR GANGS IN OTHER SECTIONS OF THE PARK. ALSO, FEMALE CAPUCHINS AND THEIR BABIES HANG OUT AROUND VICTOR´S CAGE EVERYDAY. THESE ARE VICTOR´S HOES AND THE BABIES ARE THE CHILDREN HE HAS HAD WITH THEM. THREE TIMES I HAVE SEEN HIM STICK HIS PURPLE COCK THROUGH THE BARS OF HIS CAGE AND HAVE CONJUGAL VISITS WITH THOSE SHAMELESS HOES. HE´S JUST THAT MUCH OF A PIMP DADDY.
RUSBER
RUSBER IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES BECAUSE I AM ONE OF HIS FAVORITES. RUSBER IS NOW CONSIDERED THE MOST AGGRESSIVE CAPUCHIN ON CORD, BUT HE IS ALSO MORE CUDDLY WITH ME THAN ANY OTHER CAPUCHINS. HE MOSTLY SEEMS TO HATE FEMALE VOLUNTEERS, OFTEN PULLING THEIR HAIR AND BITING THEM VERY VERY HARD. WE HAD ONE QUARANTINE VOLUNTEER QUIT AFTER ONLY ONE DAY BECAUSE RUSBER BIT HER QUITE DEEPLY ON THE HAND. AND RIGHT AFTER HE DID SO HE GAVE ME BIG PUPPY DOG EYES AND CUDDLED UP IN MY ARMS. I MUST ADMIT, I SECRETLY LOVE RUSBER´S CHAUVINISTIC WAYS. ALSO, RUSBER AND PEPE (ALSO A BOY) WERE GOING AT IT THE OTHER DAY WHEN WE WERE TRYING TO PUT THEM AWAY FOR BED, AND YOU KNOW THAT MADE MY DAY.
LLORONA
ONE OF MY BIGGEST CHARACTER FLAWS IS THAT I DEMAND CONSTANT PRAISE AND ATTENTION FROM THE PEOPLE AROUND ME. WITHOUT IT, I START TO FEEL VERY UNNAPRECIATED. IF IT WASN´T FOR LLORONA, I MIGHT´VE TRIED TO SWITCH OUT OF THE QUARANTINE AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS. SHE WILL LITERALLY SIT IN MY LAP OR ON MY SHOULDER FOR HOURS RUNNING HER LITTLE FINGERS THROUGH MY BEARD AND HAIR, ITICHING MY BUG BITES AND LICKING UP BITS OF DEAD SKIN. SHE´S LIKE A PERSONAL MASSEUSE THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR FREE AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY. LLORONA IS QUITE OLD AND HAS A LARGE SCAR UNDER HER RIGHT EYE. BUT SHE´S STILL MY FAVORITE.
FEMALE CAPUCHIN MATING BEHAVIOR
A VIDEO OF FEMALE MATING BEHAVIOR IN CAPUCHIN MONKEYS TAKEN AT PARQUE MACHIA ANIMAL REFUGE IN VILLA TUNARI BOLIVIA. CAPUCHINS DO NOT SEEM TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN SOME SPECIES AS THESE AFFECTIONS WERE CLEARLY DIRECTED AT THE CAMERAMAN.
SO LOOKS LIKE I´M BACK DRINKING THE KOOL-AID HERE AT GOOD OL´ PARQUE MACHIA. MY FAITH IN INTI WARA YASSI HAS BEEN RESTORED… SORT OF. WE HELD A BIG MEETING WITH THE HEAD VET AND EVERYONE WHO WORKS IN THE MONKEY QUARANTINE AND TALKED ABOUT THE MONKEYS PASSING AWAY. THEY SAID IT WASN´T THE VOLUNTEERS´ FAULT AND THINGS HAD BEEN STRAINED IN THE ADMINISTRATION AND THEY WERE JUST SORTING OUT WHAT VETS WENT WHERE IN THE PARK AND THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE THE VETS IN MORE AND THEY WERE REALLY SORRY AND YADA YADA YADA. REALLY, THE THING THAT SOLD ME WAS THAT THEY SHOWED ME THAT THEY DID HAVE A PLAN FOR EACH MONKEY TO GET OUT OF QUARANTINE- THEY JUST DIDN´T HAVE THE NEW PARK FOR THEM FULLY DEVELOPED YET. BUT THEY´VE BOUGHT THE LAND AND THEY´RE BUILDING A CLINIC FOR THEM AS WE SPEAK. THE HEAD VET, JOHNNY, IS A REAL SMART GUY AND I LIKED EVERYTHING HE HAD TO SAY IN THE MEETING.
BUT THE PROBLEMS IN QUARANTINE AND THE PROBLEMS WITH THE FORMER PRESIDENT HAVEN´T BEEN THE ORGANIZATIONS ONLY PROBLEMS SINCE I´VE BEEN HERE. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE HERE EITHER HAS FOOT FUNGUS, KNEE INJURIES, OR PARASITES. A MAN WAS SERIOUSLY ELECTROCUTED IN THE SHOWER OF MY HOSTAL TWO WEEKS AGO AND HAD ENTRANCE AND EXIT WOUNDS ON HIS HAND AND FOOT. TWO DAYS AFTER THAT, THREE GIRLS WERE ROBBED AT GUN POINT IN TOWN. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN QUITTING EVERY DAY. AT ONE POINT WE AVERAGED FOUR QUITS A DAY WHICH IS QUITE BAD CONSIDERING THE PARK NEVER HAS MORE THAN 40 VOLUNTEERS. BUT I´M A MAN OF FAITH. MAYBE THIS WAS ALL JUST A BIT OF BAD TIMING FOR ME. I HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT I SHOWED UP AT PARQUE MACHIA WHEN IT WAS AT IT´S ABSOLUTE WORST EVER.
THIS REFUGE IS LIKE THE BAD NEWS BEARS OF ANIMAL REFUGES. WE COME FROM ALL OVER AND WE DRINK AND SMOKE AND SOME OF US ONLY SPEAK ENGLISH AND SOME OF US ONLY SPEAK SPANISH. AND SOME OF US ONLY SORT OF CARE BUT SOME OF US GO OUT THERE AND WE TRY TO SAVE THEM AMINALS REAL HARD.
FOR THE LAST TWO DAYS WE ONLY HAD TWO VOLUNTEERS IN THE MONKEY QUARANTINE-MYSELF AND A HARD WORKING NEW GIRL NAMED AILIS WHOSE FROM SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. IT´S ALREADY A TWELVE HOUR WORK DAY SO WITH ONLY TWO WE CAN´T POSSIBLY GET EVERYTHING DONE FOR THOSE LITTLE MONKEYS BEFORE THE SUN GOES DOWN. I´M SO BUSY DOING THE CHORES THAT I DON´T KNOW WHAT THE MONKEYS ARE DOING. BUT A TON OF NEW VOLUNTEERS SHOWED UP ON A BUS TONIGHT, LOOKING CLEAN AND SEXY AND READY TO SAVE THE WORLD. DESPERATELY WANTING THEM TO STAY, I LOOKED UP FROM MY BEER AND UTTERED WHAT MIGHT BE THE NEW PARQUE MACHIA MOTTO:
¨EVERYONE MAKE THIS LOOK LIKE THE BEST DAMN ANIMAL REFUGE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.¨
