By Junior Luke Sonderman

By the title you may think I’m one of those paper straws, anti-plastic, and save-the-turtles-shirt type of guy. You’re 100% wrong. I don’t do anything small. I go big. Instead of picking up trash on the beach and posting those little save-the-turtle squares on Instagram, I did the real thing and I saved an actual turtle. You may be wondering what I mean by “I saved a turtle.“

It all started at the Tamale Festival in November. I did my usual thing… eat tamales and drink horchata, but as I wandered the fair grounds I noticed a small easy-up with those little plastic aquariums. What I saw inside the aquariums was absolutely mind boggling. THEY WERE GIVING AWAY TURTLES TO CHILDREN WHO WON THE CARNIVAL GAME. I had to get one of the turtles and save him from the wrath of young children with little dirty fingers. 

My turtle’s name is Demetrious or Demetry. Whatever you prefer. He is a Red-Eared Slider who is around 2.5 inches long. Most people think that owning a turtle is a high maintenance job, but it is actually pretty easy.

Every day, I like to start my morning by getting up and turning on Demetry’s UV light. This is his source of sunlight and vitamin D. This usually wakes him up in the morning. One important thing you have to put in sub-aquatic turtle tanks is a basking platform. This can be any dry platform above the water with sunlight pointed at it. This is where they dry off and absorb sunlight. This is also where I feed my turtle Demetry. My basking platform is a floating styrofoam rock structure. 

When it comes to feeding my turtle, I used to like to put his turtle pellets on the basking platform. Demetry, smart little fellow, kept knocking the pellets in the water. The reason–turtles only eat underwater. I also learned turtles mostly poop while they’re eating. So as a shortcut to cleanliness, I feed Demetry in a plastic container full of water. When he’s done eating, I put him back in the untainted tank and clean the soiled container.

The one pain that comes with having a turtle is replacing the water and cleaning the tank. I replace half of the water in his tank every two weeks or sooner depending on how musty the tank looks. Once the rocks at the bottom of the tank collect enough sludge and grime, I empty the whole tank and clean off the rocks in the tank. It is important to keep the water clean, and there are chemicals I put in the water weekly that reduce the amount of sludge, grime, and murkiness in the water. I also clean off Demetry when I replace the water because his shell will get sludge from the water on it. 

I highly recommend getting a lil turtle like mine. He is very cute and isn’t susceptible to the ocean threat of plastic straws. A turtle is a very easy pet to own and very lovable. Demetry and I play a game of hide and seek. Since I’m bigger, he swims to the other side of the tank when I walk towards the aquarium. But, I sense I’m winning him over.