Who had torts while young?

[Gulf Coast]

Waldo is our first Tort.. But growing up I had plenty of RES.. Not even sure where they came from but I had them for years...

Terry thank you for sharing that touching story.. And yes sitting here with tears in my eyes.. I would love to see a picture of Frank.. We have 3 box turtles that just hang around our house.. Some turtles come and go but those 3 stay.. Im sure they were here long before I moved in last year.. Who knows maybe some day when Im old and gray they will still be here.. And lets hope thats MANY MANY years down the road.. lol..

 

[ChiKat]

When I was in 4th grade our class pet was a tortoise named Speedy. I'm not sure what kind he was. I got to bring him home for spring break. We were told to feed him bananas dusted in calcium powder so that's what he ate the entire week Poor Speedy.
But he's the reason I fell in love with tortoises!

 

[terryo]

Waldo is our first Tort.. But growing up I had plenty of RES.. Not even sure where they came from but I had them for years...

Terry thank you for sharing that touching story.. And yes sitting here with tears in my eyes.. I would love to see a picture of Frank.. We have 3 box turtles that just hang around our house.. Some turtles come and go but those 3 stay.. Im sure they were here long before I moved in last year.. Who knows maybe some day when Im old and gray they will still be here.. And lets hope thats MANY MANY years down the road.. lol..

Don't worry about getting old and gray...I am probably the oldest person here and still are not old and gray.

 

[Laura]

I had a little turtle. Not a RES but something similar. Timothy. I dont recall why I got it, but he lived in that plastic house with the palm tree. Then one day I had him outside in a glass aquarium. I must have learned he needed sun or something. The sun hit the glass and he died. :-( I buried him by my tree and I was devastated. Cried and cried. Was ill. My dad got me a guinea pig to help. Snoopy lived a nice long life. I dont recall doing research. Just whatever the petstore said. That was back in the 70's. I took classes to Wildlife rehab at 12. Did that for years. Never played with dolls. Always had stuffed animals.
And When I was about 4 we went to the San Diego Zoo and I rode one of the galopogos. I think they had a saddle of some sort. I so wish we had a pic of that!!
oh and I took a Science class and with the class came a Anole lizard. I kept it in a styrofoam box with a screen lid. Fed it meal worms. Some of the worms chewed their way out and turned into beetles in my room! poor lizard died.. but I think i had it a while...

 

[Nay]

So cool to read all the stories, keep 'em coming!! Thanks

 

[Gulf Coast]

Awww Terry you don't sound old or gray for that matter..

About a week ago we had this box come up and I have only seen him twice since that first day. His shell looks different, like its sunken in on the top, it dips down inwards.. He is new to our yard but if he hangs around Im gonna name him Frank~N~Terry After your Frank and you for sharing your story.. Hmm now that I say that out loud it sounds a lot like FrankenBerry (the Cereal). lol.. Hmm which I guess his shell did kind of look like a little wooden cereal bowl.. So the name fits!! Now to see if he shows back up.. I have no clue what could have caused his shell to dip like that..

 

[dmmj]

I want to ride a galagapos, lol I remember that knott's berry farm had a galagapos for a long long time but one day it was gone, I think it died cause all they ever fed it was lettuce. I don't think this one was rideable though. but I would just sit there for hours watching and forget all about the rides there.

 

[bettinge]

I collected several snapping turtle eggs and brought them home as a kid. Put them in the back yard, and most all hatched! Then they disapeared! We always blamed the neighbor kids for stealing them, but in hind sight, maybe they just escaped. Hatchling snappers sure are cute, but get real ugly with age! I read somewhere snappers can be good pets untill about 4 years of age.....then they get nasty!

 

[Traveller]

Really enjoying all these stories.
I also had a small turtle,I'm thinking it was a RES but not entirely sure.
And yes it lived in a small dish on my desk and I fed it smelts and a
store bought food. I finally gave it away to a friend when I was in my teens and not sure where it is now.
I was probably 8 at the time. We had just moved back to Canada after living overseas and didn't fit in well with the other kids? So......we had numerous pets. I was always dragging things home to keep. And taking them back, when mom found out what I had. I learned quickly that something in the wild should stay in the wild, thanks Ma.
Anyway, always admired tortoises and found them soooooo facinating, and now we have 2 and I'm tickled pink!

 

[Clementine_3]

We (my sisters and I) had our fair share of poor little RES in the palm tree plastic, I seem to recall feeding them raw hamburger and lettuce! Every once in a while we would take them outside but it was not enough and the poor little things just didn't survive. I feel bad about it still today but, in my defense, I was little and was doing what the pet store said to do.
I used to catch garter snakes, newts, frogs, toads, red-bellied snakes...anything I could. I could not keep them in the house so only had them for the day then would let them go. Once I snuck some frog eggs in, Mom and Dad had no clue that they were there and never knew they hatched into cute little tadpoles. My secret was safe until the tadpoles turned into cute little tree frogs of some sort, they climbed out (who knew? LOL) and two of them went into the bathroom to live, unbeknownst to me. Needless to say I was in a bit of trouble when they hopped out of their hiding space and scared the heck out of my mom. OOOPS.

 

[Madortoise]

As a child, I lived in a big concrete block of a condo in Tokyo so we didn't have much space just a little veranda that looked over an ugly parking structure. My parents never got interested in pets as they hardly had time to spend with us kids. It was my older brother who fostered my interests in taking care of little creatures. Sadly, though...I have a list of disastrous stories such as having tadpoles dried up, making a fish soup out of 10 gallon aquarium and etc., and they were all my fault. My birds and bugs faired better. I used to draw butterflies and cut them out to make stickers to give to friends in 1st or 2nd grade. I didn't have a tortoise/turtle then and it was probably good that I didn't.
My husband shared w/me a childhood tort story which is pretty sad. His father made his tortoise and a giant potato bug which was about the same size fight. My husband was a little kid and cried to make it stop but his father somehow thought his son needed to appreciate this and let them fight until after a long battle the tortoise finally won. I won't go into details but supposedly the tortoise developed an infection from injuires and died soon afterwards.
It was my hubby who brought home Penelope a little less than a year ago and she has become an integral part of our daily life. I wake up because I know she's up (oh yeah, I go to work, too.) We think she likes living with us.

 

[Madortoise]

oh geeze, no more posts? I hope I didn't scare anyone with my/my hubby's childhood horror stories...we didn't kill anything on purpose, ya know. Don't feel bad. We are redeeming ourselves with Penelope!!

 

[tortoisenerd]

I wanted a tortoise so bad growing up, but knew I couldn't exactly give one a good home (and parents were never so keen on it). I waited until after college. Growing up I had a few cats, a dog, and a hamster.

 

[Rebounder18]

Your bed mate aggregate w/me a adolescence abomination adventure which is appealing sad. His ancestor fabricated his tortoise and a behemoths potato bug which was about the aforementioned ad measurement fight. My bed mate was a little kid and cried to accomplish it stop but his ancestor somehow anticipation his son bare to acknowledge this and let them action until afterwards a continued action the tortoise assuredly won. I will not go into data but allegedly the tortoise developed an infection from injuries and died anon afterwards.



_________________
How

 

[Madortoise]

Hi How,
It's interesting how two distinct people from across the world can have the exact same experience in childhood.
Did you use a translation program, by the way? I'm curious because of your interesting word choice.
My bed-mate is currently out of town digging for some fossils in Arizona. I'm looking forward to tell him that he has a twin somewhere (China?)
Two poor 陸亀 victimized by some macho interests. It's a shame.
I noticed that many caretakers of tortoises/turtles on this site are very nice people w/balanced male-female energy, with capacity to nurture--don't you think?

 

[Nay]

Hi, Please please don't consider me rude, or ignorant. But no disrespect, I could not quite grasp Rebounders post. Mado, if you would be so kind, it's obvious you do.. Could you maybe PM me, or something? You asked about a transalation program, how would you know? After reading all about someone in Dubio(???) I can't remember!!! It is like I am getting a great view of other cultures!!
Thanks Na

 

[terryo]

Me too....I am starting to think I'm in the Twilight zone....I don't understand this thread anymore....help!

 

[kckklyn]

When I was young a box turtle at least I think it was. We never fed it, it just cruised around the back yard an ate what ever. We had a peach tree and I would often find him eating peaches. When he would hibernate we would put him in a drawer in the garage. When we heard him banging around in the spring we would put him back outside. I wish we had taken better care of him. Research before I allow my kids to get a new pet.
kckklyn
redfoot baby
leopard gecko
2 dogs

 

[Da915]

In 1967 I acquired a baby RES, named him "turtle". He went to college with me, lived in several cities and currently lives in my side yard pond! No more red on his "ears" but he is doing just fine...

Don

 

[terryo]

In 1967 I acquired a baby RES, named him "turtle". He went to college with me, lived in several cities and currently lives in my side yard pond! No more red on his "ears" but he is doing just fine...

Don

You mean he's about 42 year old, and lost all the red? I didn't know that happened. Wow! You must have taken wonderful care of him.