So for those of you who don't know, we have had a pet turtle in the family for 15 years this August. I got him at a pet store when I moved down to Maryland for my first job out of college (hence his name Chesapeake, after the Bay). He has been such an easy pet to have. So tolerant of my forgetfulness of feeding him or changing his water (can't say the same for our bird two years ago:( )
Well, the past couple of days he has found himself in the dining room over in the corner by the heating vent. The temperature has dropped pretty quickly since the 60 degree weather a week ago. He tends to find the warmest spot he can and hang out there until warmer weather.
The girls and I haven't really thought anything of it other than the occasional chuckle because he would crawl inside this mesh-like ball we have and get himself stuck inside. Then we would see this turtle walking across the floor while rolling inside this ball. Picture a hamster in one of those running balls, only MUCH slower.
So, last night Brian and I are sitting in the living room and he asks what the scratching noise is. I told him it was just Chessie over in the corner. I headed off to bed around 10pm and am awakened at midnight by what sounded like a hockey match going on in the dining room. I came downstairs to see Brian holding Chessie wrapped in his T-shirt. I asked what was going on and he said he just dug Chessie out of the heating vent. Apparently the turtle was able to move the vent itself away from the wall, and proceeded to fall down inside the ductwork. We are not sure how long he was down there or how far along the duct he got. All I know is he was VERY HOT to the touch. I immediately took him over to his water dish so he could get some water and then blocked off the vent so he couldn't get down there anymore.
I remember when I bought him that the owner of the store said, "If you take good care of him you could potentially will him to your grandchildren." Well, considering we almost had turtle soup for dinner tonight, I am not quite so optimistic for the little fellow, but will try my hardest to pass him down to our children.
Thank you Brian for going with your instincts in realizing the noise you heard was not just Chessie scraping the vent.
3 comments:
Poor Chessie! Glad he made it out alive (or you may have had quite a stench coming up through the vents ...) I didn't realize that his "full" name was Chesapeake. BTW, we had a gerbil do the very same thing when I was a kid!
Poor Chessie! Do they make footie P.J.'s for turtles? :)
Wow...he really wanted to get warm! Thank goodness Brian found him!
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