My husband and I have been interested in turtles for a while now and just recently decided to take the plunge.
The push to get the Florida softshell came after visiting my favorite fish shop. The owner had a beautiful softshell that wasn’t marked for sale because the owner is so fond of it. My husband talked with him for some time and the owner finally gave a number. First making it very clear that he has rejected many offers and has only one other person he trusts to sell it to. His offer was very fair, but not what I wanted to pay at the time. Plus the turtle was already 9”+ And I get a lot of satisfaction from growing my pets out myself. I feel more closely bonded to them then.
Anyway, we found a site with some fst for sale. Because of the holiday he didn’t ship till Monday night. Just before bed last night I saw he was at an airport in Florida, and by this afternoon I was able to go pick him up!
This was the first time I’ve had a pet shipped so I was holding my breath till I was able to open his box and be sure he made the trip ok.
My heart stopped when I pulled out his little plastic dish. He was covered in paper fuzz and not moving.
Then to my relief, I saw him move his foot! Then he opened his eyes!
He is alive! So very happy and relieved!
Once I got him home I had some work to finish up on his tank, so I cleaned him up a bit and he hung out in my fry tank. Then I moved him back to his shipping dish filled with just enough water to reach his shell. In there he happily downed 5 turtle pellets!
All cleaned up.
I took measurements for my records and to chart his growth.
Leonardo; Leo for short, is 1 11/16in long and he is 3 3/4in around.
I’m excited about this new journey, and hope to be a good turtle mom!
I’ve been trying to read as much as I can, but I haven’t found a lot of people sharing their experience and care of these adorable little guys.
So if anyone has any pointers, experience, or maybe info not readily found when google general info I’d love to hear it!
I’ll be using this thread to track his progress and growth over time.
The push to get the Florida softshell came after visiting my favorite fish shop. The owner had a beautiful softshell that wasn’t marked for sale because the owner is so fond of it. My husband talked with him for some time and the owner finally gave a number. First making it very clear that he has rejected many offers and has only one other person he trusts to sell it to. His offer was very fair, but not what I wanted to pay at the time. Plus the turtle was already 9”+ And I get a lot of satisfaction from growing my pets out myself. I feel more closely bonded to them then.
Anyway, we found a site with some fst for sale. Because of the holiday he didn’t ship till Monday night. Just before bed last night I saw he was at an airport in Florida, and by this afternoon I was able to go pick him up!
This was the first time I’ve had a pet shipped so I was holding my breath till I was able to open his box and be sure he made the trip ok.
My heart stopped when I pulled out his little plastic dish. He was covered in paper fuzz and not moving.
Then to my relief, I saw him move his foot! Then he opened his eyes!
He is alive! So very happy and relieved!
Once I got him home I had some work to finish up on his tank, so I cleaned him up a bit and he hung out in my fry tank. Then I moved him back to his shipping dish filled with just enough water to reach his shell. In there he happily downed 5 turtle pellets!
All cleaned up.
I took measurements for my records and to chart his growth.
Leonardo; Leo for short, is 1 11/16in long and he is 3 3/4in around.
I’m excited about this new journey, and hope to be a good turtle mom!
I’ve been trying to read as much as I can, but I haven’t found a lot of people sharing their experience and care of these adorable little guys.
So if anyone has any pointers, experience, or maybe info not readily found when google general info I’d love to hear it!
I’ll be using this thread to track his progress and growth over time.