I couldn't sleep the other night, and started thinking of all the 'adventures' Ralph has had... Thought it would make a fun story, so here it is:
It was the summer between grades 2 and 3. I was thinking about the pets my friends had, and decided I wanted a fish. I didn't think my mom would go for the idea, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. To my heart's delight, she said yes! So we went to the pet store, and started looking at fish. As we rounded the corner, I saw a tank full of cute little green circles! "A turtle would be so cool!" I thought, "None of my friends have a turtle!" Again, I thought my mom wouldn't want a reptile in the house, but when I asked, she said yes again! And I didn't even have to whine and plead and make a scene! She later revealed to me that she thought it wouldn't last more than a year, like the turtles she had when she was a kid.
So we bring a cute little green disk home, and let it run around on the floor for a while. I named him "Speedy" because I thought he was lightning fast for a turtle. A month later, I would re-name him Ralpheal, because ninja turtles were all the rage back then. Being a kid, I used "creative spelling" which is why there's a silient "l" in his name. I call him Ralph for short (which I pronounce "Raff").
Not having a proper fish tank, we set him up in a large bucket, and a piece of shale rock from my neighbor. Less than a month later, I noticed he was really lathargic, his eyes were closed, and he looked kind of sick. We took him back to the petshop in a margerine tub, and by the time we got their, he'd perked back up. We learned from the pet shop guy that he was going into hibernation because the water was too cold, and we didn't have a basking light for him. We set up a nice warm light over his bucket, and he was fine after that. Not too long later, my parents bought a 10 gallon tank kit with a filter and a proper heater for my birthday. I couldn't have been more thrilled!
About a year later (or maybe it was less than that, I can't remember) I got another turtle, and named him "Super" ("Soup" for short). My mom didn't think I would be able to tell them apart, but any "mom" can tell her "kids" apart. Ralph had a long shell and was a light green, while Sup had a round shell and was a darker green.
When they were 3-4 inches long, I built them a pen made of popsicle sticks and put it outside. It even had a little "lid" so they wouldn't escape. I was not aware that RES's are notorious escape artists. I watched them out there for a while, then put the lid on and went inside for diner. When I came out a couple hours later, only Sup was in the pen! I looked everywhere, under every shrub, tree and rock, to no avail. The next day, I thought he may have gotten under the fence and into the neighbors yard, so I thouroughly searched over there for him. By the third day, I was losing hope, although I didn't stop looking. After a week, I gave up.
Two weeks later, my dad was under the house in the crawlspace, changing the air filter. Our dog, Shadow, a dalmation, was under there running around with him. He disapeared for a little bit, then came back over to where my dad was, with something in his mouth. He put it down, and was getting ready to have a good chew at it, when my dad saw what it was. It was Ralpheal! He wasn't moving much, but he was alive! My dad brought him inside and put him in the laundry room sink with some warm water. He drank, and drank, and drank, then started to perk up a little bit. We kept him seperate from Sup for a couple weeks, and he came back to full strength, becoming his old territorial self in no time. He once again became the dominant turtle. He even bit the end of Super's tail OFF!
This however was not his last adventure. I moved into a new room in the house, and got a bigger tank for them with a new filter. One night, when they were about 5 inches, I came home and only saw Sup in the tank, even though the lid is closed. I figured he didn't get out of my room, so I closed the door, and searched in every nook and cranny. I was less worried this time, because I know he's in the house, and likely in my room. A week goes by, and I still haven't found him. Then, after dinner, we were playing a game in the living room, when Shadow starts freaking out about the dinette cabinet. We look behind it, and in the two inch space between the cabinet and the wall, there's Ralph, wedged right in the middle of the cabinet.
Despite the fact that we found him shoved so far into that crevase, there's something more incredible here. The lid to the tank was the standard hinged type on a canopy that you find on your standard fish tank. The lid was closed, and I always made sure I closed it. Whether he climbed on top of Sup to get some extra leverage or just pushed it open himself, I'll never know. From the top of the tank to the floor was about 3 feet. Though he may have only fell two feet, hit the sofa, then 1 foot to the floor. From there, he would have had to have gone around my bed, out the door, and down a short hallway. There's tons of places he could have hidden in that area, but nooooooo... He likes to make things interesting. My room is upstairs. The cabinet is downstairs. He somehow made it down a flight of 14 stairs unscathed, made a hairpin turn down the lower hallway, past a bedroom and laundry room, through the kitchen, around the counter and wiggled his way into the smallest space he could possibly fit into.
After that, he didn't try anything for a long time, although a couple times since I've left the lid open and found him under my bed.
Super has since passed away, and we had to give Shadow up, but Ralph remains in the corner of my bedroom, silently plotting his next great adventure, which, hopefully, isn't for a long long time.
Just thought I'd share Ralph's life story ^__^ I'd love to hear your stories if you have some!
