Iggy Has a New Home

I've had my turtle since 2004. I got him during my first year teaching. Mar and I were roomates in this dump of an apartment. Across the hall was this "interesting" guy who had lots of turtles and fish. Mary let it slip one day that her roommate "just loved turtles"...and it was all downhill from there! I was invited over to meet all of his exotic wonders. He had both a salt and fresh water tank. Very cool. Anyway...long story short he got me a red eared slider from North Carolina and helped me set up an aquarium with rocks he got at the park and everything. I named him Iggy and Mary and I had fun with our new creature. He was about the size of a quarter and absolutely adorable.

Since then he's lived in 3 apartments and grown to like 15 times his size. I still love Iggy but he was getting increasingly more difficult to care for. Let's just say that when I got him, I had no idea that one day he would require a 100 gallon tank! My mom has been taking care of him since June. She was just supposed to be keeping him for the summer, but whith my fast move to FL there was really no good way to get him down here. I started looking for a home for him, but I wasn't having any luck. So the plan was to pick him up when I went home for Thanksgiving. But my mom called on Friday.

I was down at Jax Beach and the music was loud so I could hardly hear her when she said, "Would it be okay if Iggy went to a new home tomorrow?" Apparently they found a lady who has a protected pond for her 6 turtles. She was willing to adopt him so they took him to his new home in Chesapeake, Virginia on Saturday. I'm sad that I didn't get to say a real goodbye and I'll miss him. But I'm very glad that he has a better home. I know he'll really be taken care of.

This is when he was about 2 years old and still relatively easy to care for. Isn't he cute!

Bye Iggy, I'll miss you! Mommy loves you! Enjoy your new home. I know you'll love it!