*ploop bloop*
Tuesday, 27 February 2007 10:52![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fatrockstarThis is the sound Teamun is making in the bathtub. I'm not sure what's got him so excited -- could it be that I turned down the heater a little too much? I don't want his water to get above 82 degrees, but it looks like that's what he wants. It's probably at 75 now.
He loves that tub, though. Plenty of swimmin' room. If I didn't want the tub again, ever, I'd just leave him in there indefinitely. It's an easy clean up, and now that I've switched foods on him there isn't nearly as much muck to drain/filter out. Eventually I will have to get him a new tank. This will cost me a significant chunk of change. $170 for the tank, another $40 for the lid, and at least $250 for a stand to put it on. If I don't use the Fluval he's already got, then tack on another $200. This is a lot of money for a turtle that may or may not have another ten years in him (he's about 18 now).
I never expected the little guy to have so much personality. He's a reptile, for Pete's sake. But he does, and has since I first met him at Adobe in 2000. His name was "Tippy" then.
Teamun was stuck in (what I think is) a 30-gallon tank full of rocks and murky water. He was constantly swimming toward the glass, in the direction of the people that were in the office his tank was in. It was all he could do, really -- the big pile of rocks took up so much room in the tank he had nowhere else to go, and the lid had no lights in it and left no room for him to sit on his rock. When the owner sent out an email looking for a new home for Teamun I responded right away.
Teamun's history was that of a university rooming-house pet. Nobody realized he was an aquatic turtle until he was about four. He was passed along from roommate to roommate until my coworker decided after graduation to take him home. The turtle lived with him until his daughter was born, and then was an office pet until Adobe changed their workspace policy.
The owner surrendered all the equipment he had, including all those goddamn rocks. "He's a biter, so watch out," he told me. Thanks. How the hell was I supposed to get him in from the box to the tank when we got home?
I had no idea what I was in for. All I knew was that the little guy was uncomfortable, desperate, and cold. I set up Teamun in his tank and researched the internet for habitat ideas and realized he was in a really bad situation. He had no light. He had no heat. He had no room to exercise. This was bad.
Not being familiar with pet stores and what I could get there (hey, I had NO pets for over ten years and never something as exotic as a turtle) I went to the local mega-mart and bought a full-spectrum bulb made for houseplants and a desk lamp to stick it in. After removing the tank's lid and setting up the lamp on a chair I turned it on and stepped back. It didn't take long at all for Teamun to scramble out of the water onto his rock and stretch his neck out, up toward the light. I think I cried a little. It was very touching.
In the weeks that followed I removed all the rocks from his tank except for one, which I perched atop a coated wire shelf for him. This left the rest of the tank free for him to swim in. I also managed to find and set up a REAL reptile light for him (light AND heat, woo!) and install a submersible heater and filter. After a year of this environment his shell grew and he looked like less of a TMNT sloppy joe.
Eventually I upgraded his heater, his filter, and his lamp. A newer, larger tank is still out of my grasp, though. At one point I found the perfect tank, purchased it, and brought it home -- only to find it was not designed to hold water. I had to take it and its stand back to the store.
Teamun has been in the bathtub for over a month. I put his heater in there and set up his lights to shine on his rock (also in there). He's really enjoying it. Actually, I think he may be growing again, too.
Sounds like it's time for a toothbrush shell massage... he loves that. I can tell because he does a little butt dance when I hit the right spot.
He loves that tub, though. Plenty of swimmin' room. If I didn't want the tub again, ever, I'd just leave him in there indefinitely. It's an easy clean up, and now that I've switched foods on him there isn't nearly as much muck to drain/filter out. Eventually I will have to get him a new tank. This will cost me a significant chunk of change. $170 for the tank, another $40 for the lid, and at least $250 for a stand to put it on. If I don't use the Fluval he's already got, then tack on another $200. This is a lot of money for a turtle that may or may not have another ten years in him (he's about 18 now).
I never expected the little guy to have so much personality. He's a reptile, for Pete's sake. But he does, and has since I first met him at Adobe in 2000. His name was "Tippy" then.
Teamun was stuck in (what I think is) a 30-gallon tank full of rocks and murky water. He was constantly swimming toward the glass, in the direction of the people that were in the office his tank was in. It was all he could do, really -- the big pile of rocks took up so much room in the tank he had nowhere else to go, and the lid had no lights in it and left no room for him to sit on his rock. When the owner sent out an email looking for a new home for Teamun I responded right away.
Teamun's history was that of a university rooming-house pet. Nobody realized he was an aquatic turtle until he was about four. He was passed along from roommate to roommate until my coworker decided after graduation to take him home. The turtle lived with him until his daughter was born, and then was an office pet until Adobe changed their workspace policy.
The owner surrendered all the equipment he had, including all those goddamn rocks. "He's a biter, so watch out," he told me. Thanks. How the hell was I supposed to get him in from the box to the tank when we got home?
I had no idea what I was in for. All I knew was that the little guy was uncomfortable, desperate, and cold. I set up Teamun in his tank and researched the internet for habitat ideas and realized he was in a really bad situation. He had no light. He had no heat. He had no room to exercise. This was bad.
Not being familiar with pet stores and what I could get there (hey, I had NO pets for over ten years and never something as exotic as a turtle) I went to the local mega-mart and bought a full-spectrum bulb made for houseplants and a desk lamp to stick it in. After removing the tank's lid and setting up the lamp on a chair I turned it on and stepped back. It didn't take long at all for Teamun to scramble out of the water onto his rock and stretch his neck out, up toward the light. I think I cried a little. It was very touching.
In the weeks that followed I removed all the rocks from his tank except for one, which I perched atop a coated wire shelf for him. This left the rest of the tank free for him to swim in. I also managed to find and set up a REAL reptile light for him (light AND heat, woo!) and install a submersible heater and filter. After a year of this environment his shell grew and he looked like less of a TMNT sloppy joe.
Eventually I upgraded his heater, his filter, and his lamp. A newer, larger tank is still out of my grasp, though. At one point I found the perfect tank, purchased it, and brought it home -- only to find it was not designed to hold water. I had to take it and its stand back to the store.
Teamun has been in the bathtub for over a month. I put his heater in there and set up his lights to shine on his rock (also in there). He's really enjoying it. Actually, I think he may be growing again, too.
Sounds like it's time for a toothbrush shell massage... he loves that. I can tell because he does a little butt dance when I hit the right spot.
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no subject
27/2/07 19:55 (UTC)no subject
27/2/07 22:46 (UTC)I do hope you get him a nice new tank someday, after all, there's nothing more relaxing than a nice hot bath. Eventhough I'd seriously consider not having a bath in that tub ever again. ;D
no subject
27/2/07 23:09 (UTC)no subject
28/2/07 14:45 (UTC)no subject
28/2/07 02:44 (UTC)