How old were you when...

[AnnV]

WOW Terry. How sad it must have been to lose your lttle 65 year old friend. Your dad sounded like a great guy!

We also had the poor little green turtles in the plastic palm tree pool. I lost mine in the house for 8 days. Never told my parents as they would be furious, of course. Thinking he was dead under some dresser in the house, I was mortified. You can imagine my elation when he came strutting into the middle of the living room one night as we all watched tv.
Unfortunately, none of those little guys lived to adulthood.
As a preteen, I had a box turtle for a while. I traded him for a RES as housing was more difficult than for a water turtle. My water turtle disappeared. I think stolen.

I did not get my current torts til I was 55. I gathered many books over the years, joined a turtle and tort society off and on, and gave it much thought, but never acted on my desire to be a tort mom. Such a big commitment. With my husband's 30 year Navy career, we were always on the move.
The Internet made it so much easier to get info in recent years. So I was able to research different species and make a choice.

Ann from CT

 

[LisaTurtle]

First turtle was a boxie when I was 9, we only had him for a year. my mom took him back to the pet store. Apparently I lost interest... I don't remember that part

I've always loved them (and all animals) but didn't get another till this year.
I got a Russian in January. I'm 34 now. The tort obsession started the day I brought him home!!

 

[Kathy Coles]

I've loved them since I can remember. But got my first tortoise when I was 56 a year ago. Dream Vacation... to watch sea turtles hatch at a beach. Well, we can dream can't we?

 

[pugsandkids]

I was going to say a few years ago when I rescued Oscar.
But truly my first turtle was Yertle. I was 4 or 5, he came from the creek behind my house. I have no idea what kind he was...I was a wild child, I caught him and told my parents we had a new pet! One day while cleaning out his tank/bowl,(I don't remember what he was in.) forgot about him for a while, couldn't find him :-0
Never did, but no one ever found a dead turtle in the house. Looking back I suspect my father saw that I forgot about him and put him back where he belonged!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

I was about 18yrs old in Germany when I got my first reptiles snakes and caymans (2) and I had a king snake
When I lived in mich. And in AZ 6
Snakes but in the year 1999 I got my
First res turtle

 

[sunshine_hugs]

I've loved them since I can remember. But got my first tortoise when I was 56 a year ago. Dream Vacation... to watch sea turtles hatch at a beach. Well, we can dream can't we?

Yes, we can dream, but you can totally do that! Book a couple week somewhere in the Caribbean, at the end of August / beginning of Sept. I have connections for several sea turtle organizations on different islands. They are always looking for volunteers...especially at laying time.

This year in Grenada, we had 800 confirmed nests here(according to Ocean Spirits Inc)....hundreds of leatherbacks, some hawksbill, and just one green.

Just want to let you know that it's something you can make happen!

 

[Jabuticaba]

I can't remember when we got our Yellow-footed torts...3, maybe? I wasn't in charge of taking care of them, so I consider my Hermanni guys, my first torts. We also had wild torts come and leave our yard, but they were never pets. I'm 40.


May[TURTLE]
Hermannis: Darwin & Wallace
Aussies: Dax, Vegas, & Cricket

---

I was about 7 or 8. My first box turtle was not appreciated by my mom who gave it to a family friend. There it stayed for about 30 years. Then the family friend was getting older and I got him back!

I love happy endings! [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND SMILING EYES]


May[TURTLE]
Hermannis: Darwin & Wallace
Aussies: Dax, Vegas, & Cricket

 

[Tom]

This is me at just under three years old. I found this photo while looking for the one of me riding these same Galops when I was 5 or 6. I can't find that photo, and I don't remember the day we took this one. Mom recalls this as being at the San Diego Zoo.

And this is Tommy Turtle. My first box turtle. I got him when I was 7. He was sold to us as a "Western Box Turtle", but I suspect he may have been a three toed. All I have are a few old blurry pictures.

 

[TortLaw]

I was probably about 5 or 6 when I got my first turtle, a red ear slider that also sadly lived in the plastic green pool with a palm tree. Poor guy didn't have a chance and my parents didn't look into his care. I remember when I was a little older, probably around ten or eleven, I begged and begged for another turtle. I loved them so. I actually got three red ear sliders, did my research and kept them appropriately. I had them for years, but they eventually went to live in someone's backyard pond. So, I've had an obsession with turtles and torts for 15-18 years. Now I have my own tort, Sheldon, whom my son will be raised with and learn to care for correctly and hopefully have the same love I do.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Like many, I had a few RES (and the traditional kidney-shaped bowl w/ ramp and palm tree) as a young kid...they never lived long, though (due to improper temps, wrong diet, and lack of UV lighting).

Later, I had a 3-toed box turtle for several years, and when I was 17, I inherited my Grandfather's Hermann's tortoise, who shared my life for the next 19 years.

Had 'em ever since.

 

[LisaTurtle]

This is me at just under three years old. I found this photo while looking for the one of me riding these same Galops when I was 5 or 6. I can't find that photo, and I don't remember the day we took this one. Mom recalls this as being at the San Diego Zoo.

And this is Tommy Turtle. My first box turtle. I got him when I was 7. He was sold to us as a "Western Box Turtle", but I suspect he may have been a three toed. All I have are a few old blurry pictures.

Those are cool old pics!

 

[ShellyTurtlesCats]

We had many pets if all types (including different types of turtles) but MY first turtle was actually dug up by my dad's pit bull in our yard.

She was mine, all mine. I think I was about 5. I had her until my late teens when our neighbors stole her. They had her until the neighbor finally decided to return her when I was 28. Unfortunately, they only returned her due to declining health issues and she didn't make it.

I don't think I have any pictures of her but her sweet face is trapped in my memories and etched into my heart. She was a three-toed Boxie. I recently found an old friend through Facebook and we rehashed old memories of feeding her together as children.






_________
~ Shelly ~