Painted Turtle Ques.

[arielgasca420]

reptiles is not for the young and unemployed unless your parents are willing to fund your interest (which is sounds like they do not). #1 the vet bills are expensive #2 the labor and lifespan needs a lot of dedication (20+ years)
I have spent over $900 in the past year and a half on reptiles alone so let your brother know that the initial start up cost will cost him a few hundred dollars if he is lucky.
a mammal would be a better pet in your situation since they only need food, water, and have a short lifespan. maybe a cat or guinea pig?
We do not mean to "yell" at you but when someone says "I dont have the money or room for the pet I just brought home" then we see that as a death wish for the animal. no turtle can live comfortably in a 20 gallon tank with no lighting. It may live 6 months at the most in that condition.
p.s. it seems like you already have a frog (from your avatar picture). I would stick to the frog for now until you get a part time job. I started working when I was 14. I have tourettes so it is hard to function in a social environment, but I pulled through it. you will too.

[Schimpf]

reptiles is not for the young and unemployed unless your parents are willing to fund your interest (which is sounds like they do not). #1 the vet bills are expensive #2 the labor and lifespan needs a lot of dedication (20+ years)
I have spent over $900 in the past year and a half on reptiles alone so let your brother know that the initial start up cost will cost him a few hundred dollars if he is lucky.
a mammal would be a better pet in your situation since they only need food, water, and have a short lifespan. maybe a cat or guinea pig?
We do not mean to "yell" at you but when someone says "I dont have the money or room for the pet I just brought home" then we see that as a death wish for the animal. no turtle can live comfortably in a 20 gallon tank with no lighting. It may live 6 months at the most in that condition.
p.s. it seems like you already have a frog (from your avatar picture). I would stick to the frog for now until you get a part time job. I started working when I was 14. I have tourettes so it is hard to function in a social environment, but I pulled through it. you will too.

I totally agree with 90% of this.

The only thing I do not agree with is the mammal comment. I have spent over $1000 in the last 4 months on two guinea pigs and vet care. Another 600 in the last year with my cat (shots and neutering), so mammals aren't always cheaper . I would agree and say stick with what yah have. I always get the pet itch every 6 months and adopt a new pet. But I have worked on that and have not adopted any new pets in a year. I've lost old pets to age since then and will be finally getting some toads this weekend.

I wanted to comment on your age and autism. Don't let either of those stop you. You seem like a smart kid, your letting labels of age and other statuses tell you who you are. Your much better than that

[arielgasca420]

I am sorry you have had such bad luck. Ive had my cat for 13 years and only spent minimal money on food and litter. My guinea pig is very healthy but i always worry about one day having to take him to an exotic vet.
I agree that labeling hinders one. I got teased throughout school but i never let it constitute what i can and cant do. At 14 i was making more money than anyone else in my classes.
I had autistic friends Througout my life. One was your age and was accepted into a University with a full scolarship. The other got a grant to an art school at your age. Work hard with reptiles and you can get a scholarship in herpetology.

[Schimpf]

I am sorry you have had such bad luck. Ive had my cat for 13 years and only spent minimal money on food and litter. My guinea pig is very healthy but i always worry about one day having to take him to an exotic vet.

Bad luck is right! LOL Two guinea pig abscesses, 5 total surgeries and many rounds of meds. Spook is pretty good, just the neuter costing me an arm and a leg, if I had adopted from the SPCA instead of a private adoption it would have been better I think.

[emfroggy]

Thanks guys for all the support. I think we will be letting the painted turtle go anyways because it just poop's to much and we only have a small filter that came in a starter kit and he keeps clogging it up with all his poop. So I hope we let it go here soon for the sake of the animal. Also Schimpf your cat sounds like me. I had a bunch of surgery's all my life. Just recently I had eye surgery and I had eye surgery before this one. I also had pilonidal cyst surgery. I also had a lot of surgery's when I was young.

[arielgasca420]

I feel your pain on the surgeries. I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck and three surgeries before the age of four. I had adenoids shaved, tubes put in my ears, and a double hernia.
I think you are doing the right thing by giving the turtle back to your uncle. turtles are hard to take care of which is why I always favored tortoises more, but since you live in michigan maybe a tortoise would also be tough to care with your weather. here in Sacramento, CA the coldest weather we get is one day of hail.

[emfroggy]

Yea well maybe this weekend we will go back to my uncles and let him go back in the pond and next year get a 2 inch baby one so he fits in the tank and maybe doesn't poop as much. A two inch one will fit in a 20 gallon long right? or we might just get a frog or something else that will fit and is easy to take care of. Well I hope we let him go soon. We will have to let him go before the first week of August because we are traveling to our cabin in the Upper Peninsula. So when we go I won't be on for a week because we have no internet up there which sucks!