My Thoughts

[Angi]

Wow they really loved that fish. I am not sure my kids would spend $350.00 if their Grandma needed surgery LOL J/K

 

[Candy]

This is a great thread, and there are some responses that I would love to print out and post on the window of all the pet stores.
This is for you Tom......I bought 5 feeder fish for my pond, 21 years ago, to make sure the water was good enough for the Koi I planned to buy. After 15 years passed, there were still two of the feeders left. My son noticed a bubble on one of them, and we put him in a very big zip lock bag and took him to the Vet. The Vet said he would have to operate...how I asked..he would be half in the water and half out under sedation. Everyone laughed at us and said we were nuts. $350 later, we took our fish home, and he lived for another 5 years. The people next door re-did their roof and they threw some junk down and the wind blew it into my pond, and whatever chemical there was all my fish died, and I had to start all over again. I still wonder how long that feeder would have lived.

I am so like you Terry. If the vet told me that, I would have to save the fish too.

 

[Millerlite]

Seems like a thread like this comes up every year, Its good, cuz it reminds people of what we should do. But people are going to buy animals, not only tortoises, without researching or looking up care. Best thing we can do is educate and try and help. Thats why we are all here, on this forum.

how big did the feeder fish end up getting?

 

[tobibaby]

i like this thread.. eventhough i didnt do a complete research.. BUT if anything happens to my tortie i would be very sad.. i made sure i had the funds if he ever needed a vet and read everything on this forum and took your advices to the heart.. so far thanks to all of you who helped and answered my dumb but necessary questions tobi is super happy and healthy and i am so attached to him that noone can take him away

 

[zoogrl]

This is a great thread, and there are some responses that I would love to print out and post on the window of all the pet stores.
This is for you Tom......I bought 5 feeder fish for my pond, 21 years ago, to make sure the water was good enough for the Koi I planned to buy. After 15 years passed, there were still two of the feeders left. My son noticed a bubble on one of them, and we put him in a very big zip lock bag and took him to the Vet. The Vet said he would have to operate...how I asked..he would be half in the water and half out under sedation. Everyone laughed at us and said we were nuts. $350 later, we took our fish home, and he lived for another 5 years. The people next door re-did their roof and they threw some junk down and the wind blew it into my pond, and whatever chemical there was all my fish died, and I had to start all over again. I still wonder how long that feeder would have lived.

I would've LOVED to have been working at that vet clinic and seen that surgery! I'll bet they still talk about it there.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I just get so tired from trying so hard to give the correct advice when a newbie asks about their hatchling Sulcata and then it dies, time after time and it wears on me. If you stay here long enough it just gets to the point where it's too emotionally hard to see that they only ask for advice after it's already too late and we are all screaming to take it to the vet and there are so many excuses why they can't take it to the vet. I have to say it hurts. So many times Sulcata hatchlings are treated like throw away pets. They talk about how much they "love my baby" but they don't love it enough to take proper care of it from the habitat to the expensive MVB to the correct food to the vet visit.
I am on a fixed income, so I made arrangements with my Vet to make monthly payments. So maybe I didn't take anybody to her this month, but I still make a payment. Every month faithfully making a payment, because something like Abscess Nose getting sick and I want to be able to take him in whether I have any money or not. It's not because I am a super keeper, it's just the right thing to do. The vet and all the expensive equipment are all part of having that cute little animal. It's just the right thing to do, and it's so frustrating and wearing on me when they don't, and we have another dead hatchling.

 

[Millerlite]

I havent really posted on this site, but i have kept an eye on it, and i have been part of Turtletimes forum (was a big forum about 4-5 years ago, alot of people on here actually were on that forum) and it sucks to see tortoises die, and it sucks for people to ask for help when its to late, but on the forums not just this one but all the different forums i been on, there are always success stories, and there area always new forum members that end up learning from the forums that they start actually sharing the info they learn on threads. And idk about others on this site, but even off the forums and in real life i pass down information that ive learned over the year. For all the losses on forums there are a handful of success stories. Fact is people are going to buy tortoises without thinking cuz tortoises have that look, that cute factor working against them, its either going to be us there to try and help them late or not, or us giving up on these people and over all tortoises, the reason why we are all here posting on this thread. Sharing information and opinions and thoughts though is what makes forums one of the best learning tools. IDK its hard to say, but all we can hope for is people actually trying to take our advice, or people who have info sharing there info hoping someone gets something out of it. Its frustrating, but IMO its worth it

 

[Tom]

This is a great thread, and there are some responses that I would love to print out and post on the window of all the pet stores.
This is for you Tom......I bought 5 feeder fish for my pond, 21 years ago, to make sure the water was good enough for the Koi I planned to buy. After 15 years passed, there were still two of the feeders left. My son noticed a bubble on one of them, and we put him in a very big zip lock bag and took him to the Vet. The Vet said he would have to operate...how I asked..he would be half in the water and half out under sedation. Everyone laughed at us and said we were nuts. $350 later, we took our fish home, and he lived for another 5 years. The people next door re-did their roof and they threw some junk down and the wind blew it into my pond, and whatever chemical there was all my fish died, and I had to start all over again. I still wonder how long that feeder would have lived.

Great story TerryO. I can't say that I would go that far, but nothing wrong with someone else who wants to.