In June, Vlado and I went into petland. He had always wanted a turtle as a boy. He had “saved” an old tank from a co-worker and thought this was the perfect opportunity. So we signed on the x and they said “within 2 weeks, a baby red eared slider turtle will be shipper here for you!”
Vlado was estatic. He spent over 300$ on filters, rocks, cleaning supplies, food, netting, plants, etc. He spent hours researching, buying, and analying. He was an expert before I knew it. Two weeks went by and nothing. No phone call, no e-mail, no contact from them.
After 3 weeks, I called them. Turtles are hard to get but it will be here in another week. Vlado got his little boy smile back.
one week and nothing. This went on for about 3 months. Finally, Late August hit and a very pissed off Vlado went and collected his money. He was miserable. He packed away all of the turtle equipment and turned off the light of his aquarium.
He didn’t talk about it but sometimes, I’d notice that a plant was moved, or he had designed the rock formation differently. He still craved his turtle. Frantically, I contacted every single pet store in the city. Nothing. It was a turtle dry spell.
Randomly, two weeks ago, I was at work and had time to kill so I was on the Saskatoon SPCA website and noticed 3 Red Eared Sliders available for 20-. I e-mailed, they e-mailed back. I told Vlado. He didn’t get excited, he just said, “we’ll see” and shrugged it off.
So off we went, to the animal pound. He walked in and shook his head immediately. The turtles were in a cat litter box of water. Red Ear Sliders are huge and mostly aquatic. They start off as the size of a quarter (baby) and within 8 months, they are the size of your palm. They need room to swim. 3 huge turtles in a cat littler box with black water? Thats animal abuse. Surprising coming from a place that “rescues” animals.
Vlado’ first comment? “They’re too old. They aren’t babies..” Ugh. I was so discouraged! He stared at them for the next 10 minutes. Finally, he said quietly, “Its not like I can leave it here Audge” and so, after careful selection, he chose the smallest one.
He got visibly upset when they placed the turtle in a box and closed the lid. Within seconds of being out the door, the lid was ripped open. After insisting that I drive home, the turtle box was placed gently in his lap.
So we are the proud owners of a beautiful abused red ear slider named Baby Dinosaur. We can’t pick her up whenever we chose and sometimes she hisses at us… Vlado buys her feeder fish to catch, the best food for turtles, and even a ball for her to punt around. He spends hours at the petstore talking to the workers about temperatures, pH levels, and calcium levels. When we first got her, her shell was completely black. Shes shedding and slowly but surely, gorgeous shades are coming out. This is a sign of a healthy lifestyle.
…and the best part of this? Vlado is madly in love with her. He is often just laying on the floor infront of the tank, tracing his finger on the glass. When she follows his finger, he start smiling. Its adorable and I’m glad that we rescued her.
malislatkis 