"Seahorse Jungle"...A Children's Book~I Digress

The following is a Children's Book I'd love to complete one day....
Maybe if I post it here, I will work on it ~~ MORE!!!

Have you ever heard the expression:

"IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE"?

Well for me, it's been a jungle in here, where I live,

which is in a salt water tank.

Legend has it that we...

oh I know I have not mentioned to you what I am yet.

Anyway, just a little about me:

Legend has it that we once lived in most of the Oceans. It was even thought that we had some sort of mystical powers.

No kidding!

Even way back to when these humans called "Greeks"

...which is different then "Geeks"....

decided to name this god of theirs "Poseidon".

And, for transportation, this "Poseidon" guy, or shall I say god, road on a hugh seahorse!

That's what I am!

A seahorse!

Not one you can ride, but one nonetheless a seahorse!

And humans figured out a way to take some of us out of our natural habitat, and into your homes as their pets.

I know, all of this is not easy to grasp and understand at first!

Our Seahorse Folklore Tale has been passed down from one seahorse generation to the next.

May I explain:

Humans look to have us seahorses as pets,

even though they cannot truly pet us.

Turns out, we are now domestically bread so that we have become able to live in a saltwater tank.

In the wild, we dine on fresh shrimp called brine.

In a tank, that would never work!

It is just too much work keeping

live brine in the home where our tank is.

So, we also had to get use to frozen brine and hope that our human would treat us now and then to the real stuff.

Yummy!

My journey began much like any other seahorses.

My Mom and Dad met and fell in love. They pledged their undying love to each other for a lifetime.

Now, a seahorse baby is called a fry.

There is something very, very different for us fry. The difference is that our daddy's give birth to us!

No, I am not kidding!

Once we, or I was born, I was ready to go off on my own. Ready to make my own way in the Seahorse Jungle.

It did not take long for me to be hand picked by my owner in

Coral Springs, Florida.

We are purchased by shipped off in a special container to live with humans in their houses and we in a saltwater tank.

Seahorses, like humans, come in all sizes, shapes and colors.

We have different personalities. If we are shy, there is a good chance we will hide among the reeds or fake coral in the tank. I happen to be a happy go lucky seahorse! Hiding is not for me! In fact, when I see wide eyes of wonder along with a happy face on the other side of the glass, I swim right over.

Many times, the warmth from the humans nose or finger on the glass makes me get closer and I feel the love come right through.

Did you know we are like humans and can get emotional and as they say:

"stressed out."

We can let others know our feelings by changing our body color.

At night, I like to go to bed at the same time every night. Once darkness falls, I look for my usual spot, and fall asleep quickly. Sleeping by hitching on to a coral, or air hose, or even a stick thermometer inside the tank.

We take gentle breathes in and out. Our snouts rest gently on our chests, giving us a shy look.
I have heard that when human people sleep, their chests rise and fall slowest at that time.
Can I have a witness to this?
Do not look at me!
Who knows where humans go to call it a night?

Being Hoover.....

Let's talk about the sweetest seahorse~~Hoover!!!!
My scared baby...so thin and tiny and wide~eyed when I brought him HOME!
Soon became the kindest, most humblest, natural helper I have ever had!

Hoover eventually did learn how to eat the live brine....
But it was work in progress.
He observed the other seahorses as he remained scavenging the bottom.

Hoover has this innate ability to sense how the other seahorses are doing.
More on that with my next Hoover post.....

Its All in the Tank!

When I first saw Hoover, he was in a tank with hugh seahorses.
By far, he was the runt of the group.
That being, I was immediately attracted to him...
You know, the whole "under dog" thing.
He held on to the tail of a larger seahorse, who literally carried him around.
Then, once shaken off  the larger seahorse, Hoover went to the bottom of the tank.
So you ask: "So what?"
And so, I shall answer you!
Because Hoover was the small fish in a tank with big fish, he got the "left overs"...
Especially at dinnertime!
And so, while the large seahorses grabbed all the food that was swished into the top of the tank,
Hoover was left to stay on the bottom and basically eat the scraps.
He had no chance with these "big guys".
Hoover was practically "swimming with the sharks!"
(Sounds like the corporations of today vs. the mom and pop businesses.)
Its a jungle out there, for sure!




My Baby Hoover



THE PET DEN STORE~The Psycho~Social Seahorse....

Okay...I have a paranoid seahorse.
He stays on the bottom.
He drags his tail over the coral rocks.
He seems to like the sensation.
He wants nothing to do with eating the brine.
He fears the brine.
He sustains his dietary needs by eating dead matter off the bottom.
He behaves like a scavenger.
He is a loner.
NAME~~HOOVER VACUUM~~

Why he behaves like this is clear once the dynamics of the tank are explained.
No, not my tank.
The tank he was in originally.
And then, the tank he was in when I purchased him.
The wonderful:
THE PET DEN
6230 JERICHO TURNPIKE
COMMACK, NEW YORK 11725
631-499-0276
http://www.petden.com/




My beloved Hoover...on the bottom...Where else?

 


Notice Hoover's color has changed. This is common with seahorses.
Often it indicates their mood or mental state.

 

Truth is Stranger than Fiction!

Back to the subject at hand....
How can a seahorse that is hundreds of times bigger
then a tinny tiny brine shrimp run away from it?

Since when does a seahorse stay strictly on the bottom of the tank
and circle around and around and around?

Why would a seahorse run away from its delectable  dietary
main stay of  juicy brine...fresh not frozen...?

Stay tuned for the psycho~social coming up next...soon!








Two of my precious seahorses eating out of the trough. At mealtime, I'd find them "perched" on the edge of the plastic side. I could not get the brine (frozen) to them quick enough.
Their snouts made a loud "click" every time they aggressively took another brine shrimp.







Early Growth and Development of a Natural Helper

Hello! Hey!
My no bodies...
could I just be writing for...
myself?
Am I hoping against hope that my blog about my beloved friends "the seahorses"may never be read by anyone,
thus it would not offer any help to any one?
So what!
Forward we go!

Now, the newest seahorse is gentled cradled in my hand as I remove him from Pet Den's packaging. His tail holds my finger as though for dear life.
Seahorses do get easily upset (stressed) over change. Especially an environmental one.
My hand sinks into the 74 degree, warm salt water.
Reluctantly, the seahorse slowly loosens his grip and goes into his "new home".
Seahorses Sweetheart and Valentina are hungrily munching on live tank brine.
But the new guy...he goes directly to the bottom of the tank fighting off the minuscule brine shrimp,
running away from them for dear life!
Around and around the tank he goes like a maniac with his tail stretched out gliding over the rocks.
He is not gonna eat his dinner...
He is scared and gonna run away from it!

                                          Hoover as a new born baby, called frey.
                                             Seahorses are independent from birth.

A Most Fitting Name.....

So into the tank goes my latest addition.
Swimming along the bottom around and around the cylindrical tank.
Dragging his tail along the bumps of gravel....
exploring,
checking out his new home.

To make sure he is making the initial adjustment, I do a feeding of live brine.
Now remember, he is in the tank with 2 other seahorses.
He has yet to interact with them.
He just keeps on going around and around and around the tank bottom!

The live brine are rinced and gently swooched into the tank.

Sweet, sweet Hoover