Jezabel Valentina and Shy Sweetheart and Seahorse Source

Yes..I know...
There are two other seahorses in my home that I have barely even mentioned...
One is my very shy Sweetheart,
named by my granddaughter, Jen.
Soon after, I discovered she to be a he.
So what!
The name does actually suit him just fine!
It is his personality that actually makes him the sweetheart that he is!

For the most part, Sweetheart hangs and hitches in one area of the tank.
Look over at the filter intake pipe and there's Sweetheart, holding on for dear life.
And...that's where he remains,rarely moving from that spot!
Having had other seahorses who looked so much like Sweetheart, it is clearly a character trait of that seahorse type. 

Sweetheart, and every other one of my seahorses resembling him, become very, very extremely frightened when the lights are turned off at "bedtime."

Having finished "dining" by 8 p.m. the latest, the Seahorses put on their pajamas.

They go to their "comfort zone" bed areas and hitch.

Once I see that they have "settled in" with eyes glazed over and bodies pale, grayish, even transparent, its time for "lights out"....

That's usually anywhere from 11 p.m.~~>>12'ish.

Of course, you'll remember, that Hoover's bed will be vacated soon after lights go out.
In his "trance~like state" he'll wander around and around the tank, often bumping into the glass. 
Then, he continues on and on and on....
Until such time as he has had enough.
Then its off to his "spot" and off to slumber he goes...
Again, its only a temporary pause for Hoover...

But I digress...

Now, you must understand that at the moment of
"lights out", technically, all lights are not out!
The remaining lighting I do leave on are the equivalent to a child sleeping with not one, but TWO nightlights on in their bedroom.

Of course, I say "goodnight" to my brood and we say a little prayer and kisses are exchanged...
YES, I did say exchanged as my babies are in a routine and...
YES, seahorses are trainable!

Knowing Sweetheart's seahorse type, I am aware that she will totally freak out!
Initially, the startled behavior had her rotund, massive, heavy body catapult off her hitching post.
Like a stealth rocket, she energetically shot herself off into the watery abyss.
The one characteristic of the ever slow moving seahorse is forever put to rest!

It is only over time that I can reassure Sweetheart and nudge her into a less violent response to "lights out."

The "nudging" I refer to could get me committed instantly...
With my face and lips pressed against the glass where Sweetheart is resting I am verbally consoling her and kissing her,fogging up the glass with my warm breathe, I put my hand on the another side of the glass in order to "pet" her... 
Then, with my free hand, I reach around feeling for the light switch.

It has taken weeks for Sweetheart's overreaction to that exact moment of "lights out" to calm a bit.
The most he'll do now at that nano~second, is duck her head into her body, seemingly crouching down and over.
If Sweetheart is fast asleep in that moment, she will remain pale...translucent...and frozen in time... 

Now we will move on to my VALENTINA!!!
I got Valentina from my friends, Abby and Dan,
owners of "Seahorse Source" located on
Florida's West Coast.
They raise domestically bred seahorses...
In other words, they have the ability to breed seahorses!
And that is all they do! It is their grass roots, home based business.
They have dreams of opening a Seahorse Aquarium one day! Imagine that! How wonderfully awesome would that be?
If I ever made it big or won lotto, I'd be their financial backer for sure. It is on my bucket list to one day travel to their place and meet them. We have become great friends over the years, through the love of seahorses. They have mentored me and made themselves available to me, without reluctance, anytime I've phoned them.  
How many times both Abby and Dan have had to literally "talk me off the ceiling" as I freaked out about a seahorse problem I was experiencing. Always cool and calm, they gave me solid solutions and advised me...
even when the advice was not what I wanted to hear....
PLEASE!!!!!
Check out their website:
SEAHORSE SOURCE
Its INCREDIBLE!!!!!

But again...
I digress...

Around Valentine's Day 2010, Seahorse Source sent me a tiny, beautiful, little girl seahorse.
Thus, Valentina was born to me...

Hoover and Sweetheart are the men of the tank.

Dispite the fact that Valentina should pick one of them as her FULL~TIME life partner, Valentina "plays " them both.
Yes, she is a big flirt!
Hoover will allow her to tease him for only short periods of time. Believing he has ADD, he wonders off, seemingly forgetting he was just being "messed with"...
The is simply who Hoover is!

With Sweetheart though, there is a more serious flirtation between he and Valentina...

In a future post, I will go into the courtship ritual I have observed. It is fascinating and nothing short of one of the  miracle behaviors that is exclusively "seahorse"...





Sweetheart



Sweetheart



Valentina



Valentina