Hello fellow turtle mums and dads,
Two days ago (on Sept 2nd), a little Red Ear Slider came into my life. I named him Indiana Jones (Indie, or Indiana in short). The name was really well chosen, because he seems to love adventure and has a real attitude.
I wasn't expecting him and he was given to me as a gift by my mother. Initially, I wanted to k....ick her, because I vehemently disagree with the idea of giving pets as gifts, because it is plainly wrong.
Anyway, I love Indie and immediately set out to get all the gear to build the perfect home for him and did lots of online research. At lot of the articles scared me, and I feared I would not be able to sufficiently care for him but I'm slowly starting to mellow out a bit and take things step by step. I barely slept the first night since I was so afraid that he might die from stress.
The next morning I set out to buy a big plastic tank for him and did Reiki on him since he handn't eaten. When I got home, he scoffed down five dried mini prawns in within a few minutes and I was extremely relieved! I also collected some flat and non-dangerous rocks that he could use for basking from the beach and bolied the rocks for about 20mins in order to eliminate potential beach bacteria or organisms.
Since the room I am currently renting is very dark, I took him into the living room and put part of his tank into the sun. It was lovely to see him basking and he seemed to enjoy it as long as the sun was out. Sadly, he didn't east today, which worries me immensely. I fear the water might be too cold, even though I've been adding warmer water throughout the day. He seemed very agile and enjoyed the basking, so I hope his loss of appetite is just temporary and he will resume eating once I have been able to fully fit out his new home.
I ordered a UVA/B light, a filter, a heating device and another type of turtle food online today and hope to recieve it withing 48h. I figured this way would be faster, since there don't seem to be any decent pet stores in my area.
I hope Indiana is doing fine and will eat some more tomorrow and I hope I will make a great turtle mum.
Thank you alll for creating this highly informative forum!
BR
Larissa
