The Indian Challenge!

Well "The Indian Superstitious Mindset Challenge" to be exact,

If you're Indian you probably know how superstitious we folk are. Tortoises in general are considered very inauspicious. It is thought that if a tortoise enters someone's home extreme bad luck will follow suit.
So if I'd known this beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bought him, lucky for me, I didn't. The first big challenge I had to face was from my mom. She totally freaked out firstly, because she dislikes any creature besides humans, big or small; secondly: "Oh my goodness you've brought bad luck to our house! Get it OUT OF HERE!!!"

Yup, that's the awesome reaction i got for bringing home something which gave me so much joy the instance I lay eyes on it. The good news is my dad was kind of cool with it. He asked me to do an internet search and find out how much truth is in the myth. The first three google results took my mom's side but then there were a few others which said the opposite; so naturally I focused on those. According to Feng Shui turtles bring longevity and wealth. That was good enough for half my family and mom had to step back.
Cute little RES: 1
Stupid Superstition: 0

A small bowl is NOT ENOUGH!

So.. The shopkeeper said I could keep him in a small bowl his whole life and he wouldn't say a thing.

Turns out it was true, but not because keeping him in a bowl would have been ok, but because he can't make a sound anyway(as far as i know). Thank goodness I did my research and found how the tank had to be much bigger and he needed a dry spot for basking and how I should be careful about his diet and stuff. Here's more pictures..

Meet Mikey

On 11-11-11 I got my first ever turtle. It was an impulsive buy, on my way back from work. Went into a nearby pet shop and saw lots of tiny turtles swimming around in a tank and I quickly bought one. Though I didn't know anything about selection, I saw the most brightly colored and active turtle and bought it.