Monday, June 18, 2012

The Short Tale of Swimmy

You may have noticed you've never read anything about pets here.  That would be because we only have fish, and, while they're beautiful to look at, there's really not much to say about them.  I decided though that a turtle or hermit crab might be nice for Little Man.  It was really a lapse on my part, as I didn't research things the way I usually would.  After looking at hermit crabs while at the beach we settled on a baby turtle my son promptly named Swimmy because he was swimming around the most.  We left armed with a tank of sorts, food, a floating dock, and instructions.  It was only after we were home that we found out how hard turtles are to take care of...they need specific temperature conditions, can be picky about food, and need quite a lot of space.  Yeah, we were kind of in over our heads.  But Little Man was in love with his little baby turtle, and we even went to the pet store to get more information on what we'd need to keep Swimmy happy and healthy.



 Oh my goodness, we needed lamps, and a huge tank, and a heater...we're talking $200 worth of things for this little turtle.  Hubby was not pleased.  He thought we needed to find Swimmy a new home, which he told Little Man, which led to quite a few tears....from Little Man and then me.  We hadn't really made a concrete decision.  I was completely responsible for all Swimmy maintenance.


Swimmy enjoyed swimming in our tub while his tank was cleaned.  Little Man enjoyed interacting with Swimmy (with gloves, since turtles can carry salmonella).





Little Man enjoyed learning more about turtles.He drew pictures of his little friend, showed him off... and then one day, Swimmy drowned.  Little Man came home, and when I came home from work, I had to tell him what had happened.  He wailed. We placed Swimmy in a box, we said our good-byes, and buried Little Man's friend in our yard, where he still visits him and talks to him.


Moral of the story: Perfect example of why we don't have pets.


1 comment:

Sinéad said...

Aw poor Swimmy and poor Little Man. It's really hard losing a pet. But wow, I can't believe it would be that expensive to keep a turtle!