Wednesday, August 8, 2007

To Turtle or Not To Turtle?

We're thinking about getting a couple of these:

T and I spent about an hour at the pet store the other day, picking the guy's brain about caring for turtles, tanks, food, filters and all the things that a $14 turtle needs. Well, it will run a couple of hundred dollars when we're all through. But that's not the problem.

The problem is that these things live more than 25 years. T is 7, so you can do the math. I was asking him who was going to take care of them while he was at college (me, he says), and who was going to clean their cage while he was traveling the world after college (you, he says).

Now, I'm not ashamed to say that we timed BHD on purpose.


We got him when our youngest was 4, and dogs live somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 years, so everyone should...leave us an empty nest at about the same time. Now, if we decide to do the turtle thing, we're going to have these pets for a very long time. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it, but it is a lot to consider. T is absolutely obsessive over turtles and has been for quite a while so I'd like to be able to get a couple, but I'm dragging my feet. Why in the world do turtles live so long? We were trying to sell him on a tortoise instead (less cage cleaning and set up), but then I saw that they live for 75 or 100 years. These aren't pets - they're things you leave to other people in your will.

On this date: In 1974, Nixon resigns.

3 comments:

Suzette McD-Bija said...

Send the turtle to college. Or get it started on a political campaign. You could consider an acting career for the little guy. Have you seen the Slowsky's for the DSL company? Those turtles are making bank. Think investment. If all else fails, soup.

CJ Omololu said...

See! This is why I surround myself with creative and quick-witted friends.

Linda D. (sbk) said...

Seriously? They live that long?? I had no idea. Wow, that is a tough choice, isn't it? I vote for the acting job. Maybe it will help pay for college.