I am the "Fish room" manager at a local pet store, I oversee the care and matienance of all the fish and reptiles. Yesterday I got a call from a lady who is a teacher's aide. The teacher she works with is retiring this year and was going to give the class turtle away to a student. The teacher's aide said she would take it instead. I talked to her for about 15 minutes on the phone about care and housing requirements.
The poor turtle is about 5 years old and has been living in a 10 gallon its entire life with only 2 inches of water and a rock. No lighting or heating other than a regular aquarium light. It is about 3.5 - 4 inches long. After talking with her about care she realized what bad care he has all this time and felt horrible for him.
She came in an hour later and spent $300 on the turtle. She bought him a 30 long tank and stand (she is aware he will outgrow this) a water heater, UV lighting, a turtle dock, a heat lamp, thermometers, new food (the food the teacher gave her expired in 2004) a filter and a book
It just makes me happy when people actually care about the animals they take into their homes
