UPDATE: M can now open one of his eyes. He also started eating again now that he can the pellets. *happy*
I gave him two red eared slider turtles (mini green turtles, BioResearch calls them) for Christmas. We wanted a dog but we figured out that we can’t have one because 1.) we don’t have time and leaving a dog locked in a condo unit is just wrong and 2.) we don’t have space because our love nest is a condo. So I though turtles will be a good alternative as I noticed that it caught his fancy when we first saw some. Also, raising turtles will be very they don’t actually need (much) companionship, no need to walk them, no poop to pick up or hair to brush. All we have to do is put them in a terrarium, feed them pellets, and let them grow.
I was wrong. Of course.
We named our turtles after, forgive us for the lack of imagination and creativity, our pet names to each other – M and C. They were in perfect shape the first week until we noticed that M kept on scratching one of his eyes. We thought he just poked his eye in the artificial decorative plant that came along with the terrarium so I removed the stupid plant. A few days later his eye turned puffy.
Must be the chlorinated water, said my man. Of course. Maybe M is a little sensitive and just needs a few more days to adjust. After all, C is in perfect health. We let M and his puffy eyes heal by themselves. But more than a few days and the puffy eyes turned swollen shut.
While C has noticeably grown bigger, M remained the same. With one eye shut swollen he can’t eat. I decided to put him in a separate container with unchlorinated water (read: bottled water). But I guess it was too late. Both his eyes are already swollen shut by the time we isolated him.
Now, M spends most of his time lying on the pebble bathing in light. My man thinks M is just waiting for his death and I loathe him for thinking that way. M can’t actually eat the pellets but he survives because he drinks the water where pellets C failed to eat dissolve. Liquid diet, I told him.
M needs a vet.
Pipo,
ReplyDeleteWow, you are living together? Interesting. I wish you and your pets will prosper.
By the way, you may want to update your About page as it seems some of the things written there are no longer applicable.
=)
Kane
cute pet.. i had a pair when i was a kid, ang tagal lang lumaki so mahirap maramdaman yung effort :)
ReplyDeleteHey Pipo! It's been a long time. I hope M gets better soon (I'm a little torn if he's an actual turtle or a metaphor since the hand in the picture looks female and manicured but anyways).
ReplyDeleteAnd can I just say.. Thank God you didn't get lovebirds.
if i had a pet it would be a turtle too. they seem so low maintenance... i guess i thought wrong too. hehe.
ReplyDeleteand plus one on nyl. whose hand is that? :P
cute, that thing looks so fragile. =)
ReplyDelete@kane we are not living together, kane. haha. his condo is just our designated love nest (at least for now). ikaw talaga...
ReplyDeletethanks for reminding about that about page. i already updated it (and he's very happy with it)
btw, sorry di ako nakareply kagabi. you know what a lazy mobile phone owner i am. hehe.
@chemguy talaga matagal sila malaki? good then. we don't have space yet if ever they grow and according to what we've read, they grow really big.
@darc no, M is not a metaphor. you know i don't use metaphors here in this blog. i couldn't if i tried. hehe.
the picture is not mine. we don't have manicured fingers. lol
@darc i have no idea who owns that hand. i better put the source of the picture before more people that it's my or my man's hand, no? hehe
@ms. chu yes. imagine how careful i try to be when i brush their shells.
Get well soon M. :)
ReplyDeleteBaka na infect, pero sana M doesn't go blind, or worse, die.
ReplyDeleteNaks, may someone ka na. Sino si M, si C? Hehe. Feeling close na naman ako. Sige, God bless na lang sa mga pets ninyo two. God bless din sa inyo.
Same with James, hope M gets well soon.
ReplyDelete:)
@james & manech
ReplyDeletein turtlespeak, he told me to say thank you =P
@cyril
we think it's physical trauma
of course it needs a vet! bilis!
ReplyDeleteMC? As in Mariah Carey? Hehe.
ReplyDeleteHow cute as mini turtles for pets.
whats with M?
ReplyDeletehi xlink tayo...
ReplyDeletesamataniuno.blogspot.com
heads up... Pellets diluted in wate is not a "supplement" for turtles... It attracts harmful bacterias that feast on them sa water... Its the same case sa aquariums... I advise a sterile place for him to heal! Rarf!
ReplyDelete