June 18th 2012, my owner Shana got me from the pet store. She was still a teenage back then and didn't have enough money to install me in an appropriate setup. I wasn't a baby anymore, but I was the smallest in the big adult turtle tank. She brought me home and put me in a small 5gal dishwashing bowl full of water in a 20gal tank. Every night, she would put me on the rocks next to the bowl so I co
uld dry. Meanwhile, she would empty the bowl and put fresh water in it because I didn’t have a water filter. I had a UVB and UVA lamp and appropriate food, but it wasn’t quite enough. A couple of months later, when my owner raised enough money for it, I got a water filter. I was finally able to swim in the tank! I also had a very small basking area, on the top of a big cement rock. The water filter was too small for my... Hmm... Digestive capacity so my owner had to do a complete water change every 2weeks. She was empting it by hand with a bucket and it took 2-3hours every time. She skipped a month from time to time because of all the hard work it implied. In August 2013, my owner moved in another city for college. She moved in a dorm, so I couldn’t come with her. Luckily, her new boyfriend Martin lived in this city as well so I moved in with him! He’s such a cool guy, he bought me a better filter and a real basking island right away. He took care of me a lot and I was very happy! Around June, Martin started to talk about a turtle expert, Donna, from Turtle Rescue and Rehoming to ask for advice for a better setup. She told him that 20gal wasn’t enough for a male turtle like me… I needed a 75gal tank!!! So in the first week of July, Shana & Martin bought me a new tank, new filter and they put together a new island! Now (except for the rocks which are a little bit too small for me), I finally have the perfect setup and I’m living my happy turtle life :D
