General Care Discussion :: Just have to vent....

[adam85491]

It is an exo terra repti glo 5.0. It kind of rattles when shaken and I have been trying and it is not lighting up so I assume it is broken. I don't believe there is a sticker over the silver part either. Repti glos are much cheaper and only Petsmart has them not Petco, even though it is not on their website. I don't usually go to Petsmart but their prices are great...I pricematched the heater and saved a bunch on that too.

[DavidY]

Yea that's where I got my Stealth heater from too. But I had to get it online since the store is 40 miles from here and the shipping was free.

That bulb is probably broken so you might as well return it and get a replacement. I hate it when that happens. You get something really cool and you're all excited to hook it up and then it doesn't work.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Adam85491: you sound like a responsible & caring pet owner. It's funny about parents....mine used to harp on me all the time when I was living at home (highschool & college) about stupid things. Hopefully over time that will change.

One thing I can tell you is that your relationship with your parents will dramatically improve once you move out on your own. My parents tell me now (I'm 33) that they understand that at times they were really rough on me but they just didn't want for me to get into trouble. But they also understand that I turned out just fine in my life & are very proud of me. Hopefully that will happen to you too. It just takes some time.

One thing that made it difficult for me to have pets as a kid was that I was allergic to everything with fur or feathers. My parents both like animals so that helped when I got Sheba. They both wanted to help me with her care & my dad built a sturdy wooden aquarium stand for her 55 gal tank (and even bought the tank!). Sheba really grew on all of us & became part of the family....I have had her for 17 yrs (since highschool!) so my parents know her really well. It helped also that Sheba is so responsive to people & used to love to interact with people in the house when I let her out to walk around the living room. She was like a dog & my parents fell in love with her because of that.

Turtles definitely have their own personalities. Maybe you can teach your mom about the ins/outs of turtle care and eventually your turtles will grow on her too? Plus, it will be some time you can spend with your mom, letting her into your hobby (and I would tell her that you love her & want her to know you & what you are doing in your life). Heck, there are so many kids whose parents DON'T know what the kids are up to. Having someone like you for a kid should be really refreshing & great! Good luck.

[rayzherup]

Man my uvb bulb was 30 bucks. and it burned my turtles eyes, lol. Although that was prolly my fault... lol my girlfriend got so mad at me when I got my turtles... whew! She was just like you're mom... "quit wasting your money, you could be doing better things with it." she likes the alright now tho. She hates that i'm on here all the time. hehe.

[danihibiki]

sounds like we all have the same story. I was living with my in-laws when I got my Doni and at first, she thought I was nutz! I was buying stuff for him left and right. I found a hitch though, I started calling him her "grand-turtle" since my husband and I don't have kids. She warmed up pretty fast after that and even took care of him if we were working long hours.

As for my mom, sis and gma that I live with now, gma thinks he is adroable and my sister is absolutly in love with Doni. She won't hold him, but she loves her "turtle-phew" As for my mom (and dad) they weren't as enthused, but they understood so for christmas they got me my whole new turtle set-up. Dad keeps teasing me.

But my mom has grown so attached to Doni that she is letting my sister keep him after my husband and I move this fall, and has mentioned the idea of keeping him herself when my sister goes to school next year

in other words - like the others have said, let your mom in on it, but don't force it. She'll either come around or not, but if you try to get her in on helping with the turtle (but do not make it like you need the help a lot) then I think it will all turn out.

I learned this from my mom though, whatever you do, do NOT let him run around in the kitchen!

[ajozwiak]

Heh, yeah my boyfriend was less than thrilled when I bought a 55 gallon tank for our apartment. Of course, now that it's been cleaned and set up he thinks it's pretty cool. Hopefully your mom will come around!