You have to admit, Nemo is strange. He's the most relaxed turtle ever. For a few days, it has appeared to me he has snuggled up like a cat (kinda wrapped around himself with his head out resting on the ground as if on a pillow) curled in the direction of his shell. I couldn't be sure because he was under his hide.
Today he had another busy morning. It was so unhumid and gorgeous outside, I let him run up both sides of the yard. When he went inside, he immediately marched over to his wading pool. After hydrating for a few minutes, he began to move his back legs like he were swimming--which is normal for him. It is rather comical to watch. Soon thereafter, he figured out, if he held onto the edge of the dish, he could splash his little legs more vigorously. At one point, he looked so happy and nearly jumped out of the wading dish in the way a puppy playing would suddenly squirm.
For the remainder of the day, he chose to do off-the-log basking. By late afternoon, he crawled under the log blanket. The photo you see is what I saw when I randomly came in the room a few hours later. Even though it appears someone "tucked him in", he managed to get in that comfy position with the blanket all by himself. I now have the answer to my question. Yes, my turtle curls up like a cat--kinda sorta.
When I first adopted Nemo and began to observe him, I would panic thinking he broke his leg because of some of his positions. Both Brian and I have each had the opportunity to walk through his area in the wee hours of the morning to find him totally sprawled out on the linoleum floor (as opposed to asleep in his hide curled up in a blanket or a lump under one of his blankets). The first thought the first time for each of us was that he was dead. omg. But noooooo. It was Nemo just chillin'.
