That is Turtle Makena. Turtle is what we typically call her, but her middle name, Makena, means Smiling Happy One- given to her by a former student who adopted her for a summer. She is my classroom rescue pet (African Sideneck) that I've had for a couple years now.
When I first put in a live plant for her to enjoy, I didn't think twice about the snail we discovered that had been on the plant. We let it live. And what I wouldn't give to go back to that day and kill that snail. As the years passed, more and more snails continued to appear. Emptying out the rocks and cleaning the tank regularly did not help eliminate the snail problem.
This year, however, the tank developed more than just a snail problem. It got worms. WORMS! If I google diagnosed it correctly, they are Nematodes. Smaller than 3 millimeters and appear after continual over feeding. I warned my students that we can only feed her a certain amount of food each day, but it wouldn't surprise me if they figured it wouldn't hurt to give her a little more (she is a beggar)- or if a student fed it when it wasn't his/her job for the week resulting in more than twice the amount she should get. However it happened, the tank got disgusting. I cleaned it multiple times per week and it didn't get better. On top of that, Turtle wasn't eating. I've never seen her NOT eat. I think she gets that from me.
So earlier this week, turtle got relocated to a new TINY apartment. A 10 gallon tank with a new filtration system and heater while I worked on her 40 gallon home. She still wouldn't eat. Enough was enough. I went to the store, bought a huge container of bleach, and went to town. After all the original water was removed, I poured in the bleach. It was the first time I experienced JOY from death. I watched the worms wiggle and thrash around in the bleach until there was no more movement. I watched the snails fall off the sides of the tank and lay motionless among the gravel. Well, maybe it wasn't joy, but more of RELIEF!
Just to be sure, I let the bleach sit in the tank overnight. Kudos to the students that sit closest to her tank because it smelled of an over chlorinated pool for two days. Friday came and Turtle still wasn't eating. I was feeling desperate. I knew that our principal was going to let me in on Sunday to finish working on the tank, but I didn't want to wait. I emptied the bleach and the rocks and hauled the tank to my car. Brought it home, scrubbed it out, and hosed it down. Called school to see if the building was still open and raced back to school to reconstruct Turtle's home. I made a quick stop at PetSmart and did something I never planned on doing. I bought feeder fish.
Once I got the 40 gallon tank back into my room, I began to fill it up, one bucket at a time. I had also bleached and scrubbed down her basking log (I am REALLY hoping nothing survived through that since it didn't sit overnight in it) and returned it to it's proper place in the tank. I talked to Turtle as I removed the nice new filter and heater from her apartment to her home. I released the 5 feeder fish into the sparkling clean tank, put the basking light above the basking log and looked around to make sure I had not forgotten anything. It was time to return Turtle to her home.
I put her on her basking log and she hurried off of it and roamed with pleasure (I hope) around her proper home- free from the tiny 10 gallon jail she had stayed in for three long nights. And then I grabbed a chair and sat to watch the show- if there would be a show. I just wanted to see her eat one fish.
As I watched the fish swim around her, I saw Turtle look at me. It seemed like she was saying, "I've been alone in this tank for three years and you want me to EAT the first living thing you put in here with me?" But as I waited, I think she was saying, "Thank you for making me feel alive again!" I watched her stay still as a rock, only moving her little eyes to follow the fast moving fish as they swam by her. Suddenly, in one quick movement, her neck stretched out and snapped at a fish. Miss. I was excited. I watched longer. The second time: Miss. The third time: SUCCESS! She gulped that fish down and seemed excited to be a hunter. Seeing that it was just about 8:00pm on a Friday night, I knew I needed to head back home, but at least I had seen her eat. I knew she would have some food that would not rot in her tank for the next two days. I wanted to wait until there were three fish left, but I, myself, was hungry and wanted to get home.
Here's hoping on Sunday, when I go in to get some work done, that she'll be a renewed turtle. If all is well over the next couple weeks, I think we'll add a friend to her tank- one that she can't eat. That was the original plan before we got worms...
This was my FIRST turtle tank picture when I got her. There is that snail-bearing plant. And I can see that Turtle HAS grown quite a bit since I first got her. When I go in on Sunday, I'll take a new photo of Turtle in her home.
Great story, my pet!
ReplyDelete