So, we adopted. Without doing ANY research. No hours logged on-line, digging for answers and information. Nope. Just fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants adoption.
We adopted a yellow bellied slider TURTLE.
We were told turtles are the easiest pet to care for. We were told that her tank was the right size, the lighting was what she required, and the Walmart brand of turtle pellets provided all the nutrition she required. And we believed what we were told without finding out for ourselves . Hmmm, that’s a little scary…
Banana has been a member of our family for almost 5 weeks and it wasn’t until after we moved her tank from her home next door and set her up on top of my son’s dresser that I started to examine her living conditions. Her shell size falls somewhere between a saucer and a dinner plate. And her tank is 30″ x 12″ x 12″. Her lighting is a basic aquarium light. She didn’t look healthy. So I started my research …
Banana
I discovered that Banana belongs in a pond. She should have access to water and an area that is out of the water with a temperature somewhere around 79°. Her diet should include meal worms, dark lettuce, strawberries. And of all the turtle pellets out there, the Walmart brand offers NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE to a turtle. In all actuality, turtles should NEVER be sold as pets. We don’t know enough about them and it is a crime that pet stores are allowed to sell these critters who don’t belong in a tank. Basically, we adopted an abused creature and my heart broke into a million pieces that night.
Sweet Face
I can really be an instant gratification kind of gal. I wanted to fix the situation the moment I discovered all of this information. It was almost midnight, my husband was at the hospital for the night, and I was participating in the slow demise of our stunning adoptee. I cried. I paged my husband. And I handed the next step to him.
Chad got to work and found a tutle rescue outfit. Turtle Homes matches turtles with an approved adopter — usually a herpetologist or scientist, or someone living in Florida who has undergone investigation and has a pond appropriate for these creatures.
Our dinner conversation with our two older children was hard and heartbreaking. Banana was our first pet and she had only been with us for a little over a week. We all cried. But they recognized that Banana needed to come to us in order to find a home appropriate for her. It was a wonderful opportunity to foster lesson-learning as a family, filled with tears and reflection and discussion. An important journey of growth that we, as a family, got to walk together.
Banana
We packed Banana up today and shipped her to Florida. She will be missed. But we know that we made the right decision and that we learned valuable lessons together.
Godspeed, Banana.
Adios, Good Friend
All That We Let In 