The saga of our turtle

Baby Tiny

In February 2011 we bought a tiny turtle and called him Tiny. He weighed less than 10g. My blog tells me that he grew quickly. This post I wrote three months later (with cute photo included) and he was three times heavier than when we bought him. This post was written a year later, showing dramatic growth, from small enough to conceal in a 12 year old's palm, to as big as that palm a year later.

Other turtle posts: 

• May 2014 when he moved out for 15 months while we were in Australia.
• June 2016 when we took him by bike to a summer vacation at a friend's house while we went away during the summer for a few weeks.

Other times I've wrote about him on Facebook, not necessarily here. Like his escapes:

Yes, and his tendency this year to bite. I'm the only one who was "got", but it made me quite shy of picking him up.

Then two weeks ago he permanently moved out! We gave him away at Thrift Shop and he's landed in a great situation. On the Monday after he left, I wrote a bit of the backstory, but I've since found out more.

He's gone to a small Christian school. (Yes, we have warned them about the biting and escaping.) 

Last I heard he'd become a school project. The grade Ones were researching how to look after him. Some of the other grades were going to work on building him a better habitat. They are all on a roster to care for him, grade-by-grade. The Grade Ones were excited to be first up.

I'm so happy that he's got a new home where he's obviously being cared for with great enthusiasm and joy. It had gotten to the point in our house where we weren't particularly enjoying him, just keeping him fed and clean. And that was mostly David! I hope that Tiny continues to give many children much joy.

It's a little bit sad that we don't have a pet anymore, though Tiny wasn't an affectionate pet and we don't miss him like you would a dog or a cat. It's sad that our lifestyle means that furry/feathery pet ownership has been unlikely (our landlord won't allow them). 

How can I finish this post without sounding callous to pet owners? I'm happy to see your photos and watch your videos, but in some ways am glad that we don't have that responsibility (or the bills). I'm especially glad that we don't have the angst of handing a beloved pet over every time we have to leave the country for Australia for an extended period, I think that would be very hard.