Hi my name is Kelli and I am from Connecticut. My story begins with my previous pets, Timmy and Princess. When I was 12 my dad came home from a business trip and surprised me with two baby red ear slider turtles, Timmy and Princess, that were no bigger than a quarter. He knew I love turtles and found they were cheap, but he knew nothing about them when he bought them just that I wanted them. To our surprise, and hundreds of dollars later, they grew to 13 inches. Problems started to arise when Princess grew bigger than Timmy. Despite buying a new large tank to accommodate there growth spurts, Princess and Timmy could not get along. Princess was nasty towards Timmy constantly chasing him for no reason, knocking him off the ramp when basking, and biting his feet and tail. When we separated them Timmy would freak out and be restless as though he suffered from battered turtle syndrome. To make things worse I left for college and lived on campus so I was unable to help my mom with taking care of them and cleaning the massive tank, which was quite a chore. When I was a sophomore, I came home from college one weekend to find Timmy in a tub with blood around him and a stub for a tail. My parents said it was my decision, but I knew they had already made the decision to let them go without me. I was very angry at first with them but after visiting the sanctuary we would be sending them to I knew Timmy and Princess would have more space and water that I could give them. After giving them away I thought I could never have a turtle again because I failed at giving Timmy and Princess a comfortable environment. A year ago my cousin got a Russian tortoise and at first I was a bit sad and even a little jealous because I had to give mine up. After visiting my cousin's tortoise and babysitting him for a week I started to realize this was a pet I know I could take care of myself. For a year I was hesitant because I was still in school and I still felt as though I was betraying Timmy and Princess. Last December I graduated college and got handed a great job through a window, literally. After months of going back and forth and researching I finally made a decision. As of yesterday I purchased a small Russian tortoise named Sheldon and am very excited to spend many years taking care of this little guy. This time I did research so I know what I am getting myself into. Hopefully all goes well!
