I feel so guilty for giving this poor girl away to someone else 💔

[Cacti3]

Hello, guys. Today isn’t about Spyro my chameleon but the first reptile I sorta had. One year ago, I found a red footed tortoise and she was the sweetest thing ever. She had a crack in her shell, tho. As some of you might know, I live in Florida and red-footed tortoises don’t live here which means that she was somebody’s pet. We took her to our house and tried to see if somebody in our neighborhood used to have her or knew who she belonged to. Nobody answered. So, I decided to keep her.


Now, at the time, I didn’t know much about red footed tortoises. But, I kept her on my porch which is pretty big I guess. She just wandered around all day. I fed her dandelion leaves, strawberries, blackberries, watermelon, and i can’t remember what else but i think kale too.

I knew I didn’t take good care of her. I wanted to give her a better life somewhere else. I wanted to give her to somebody who took great care of her and gave her what she really needed.

One day, one of my teachers said that she would take her. I should’ve been skeptical, but I thought she could take a decent job of her. So, I gave my sweet girl to her.

When I got home, I just had this feeling I couldn’t shake off. Regret and a feeling that I shouldn’t have gave my sweet girl, Shirley to her.

Well, a few months later I decided to ask my teacher if she could bring her to school or something bc I missed her a lot. She did which I wasn’t expecting. And when I saw her I swear I almost broke down. She was so weak looking. The crack in her shell looked bigger. I just didn’t bc my whole class was there so yeah.

Shirley was in a 7 foot long cage with no UVB light, basking light or anything. Her cage looked terrible. I took her out of the cage bc i dont know my teacher let me since i used to own her. When I took her out I swear she recognized me or something because she started squeaking. Like chirping. I just held her and whispered to her how sorry I was.

I asked my teacher what UVB light, basking light, and supplements she gave her. Her answer? “ Oh, I don’t use any of those. She doesn’t need them.” I was so mad. I said “ you know she needs UVB, right?” Her answer was “ Nah, she’s fine without it.” And I said “ you know she also needs a basking light too right? “ and my teacher said “ No, my house is warm “ and I asked how warm it was and she said 70 degrees….. no calcium either.

I miss you Shirley. I shouldn’t have gave you to her

Also, here’s a picture of her.

 

[GrannyK]

I’m so sorry. How sad. I would ask her to research proper care before assuming she didn’t need it and explain how you can tell her health has declined.
I would ask for her back if the teacher won’t comply. It’s sad an adult, teacher no less would not take better precautions when accepting an animal like that or giving it proper care.

 

[Cacti3]

I’m so sorry. How sad. I would ask her to research proper care before assuming she didn’t need it and explain how you can tell her health has declined.
I would ask for her back if the teacher won’t comply. It’s sad an adult, teacher no less would not take better precautions when accepting an animal like that or giving it proper care.

Yeah, sometimes I’ll start tearing a little when I think about her .

I also told that teacher that it’ll be necessary for her to get Shirley a uvb and basking light. She said she didn’t need it.

I also recommended a tortoise YouTube channel ( can’t remember which one ) for her to learn more and take better care of her. As well as giving her calcium supplements and stuff. Of course, she also said no to that .

Also, she would NEVER give her back to me. She was also just a plain bad teacher… she said some pretty awful things no teacher should say to kids…

I’m just so regretful. I wish I gave her to a tortoise sanctuary

 

[Cacti3]

This is a picture of when I first found her. You might be able to see the crack in her shell, I’m not sure tho.

 

[jamest0o0]

I know you meant well, and I really don’t mean to make you feel worse, BUT please take this as a lesson to vet someone before you give them an animal. Especially when you say they were a bad teacher too.

Maybe try being sincere with the teacher, that you are genuinely not comfortable with how the tortoise is being kept and if something happened you’d feel responsible… like make them feel bad enough(long shot I know) to either give the tortoise back or improve the care. There’s plenty of people here that could help you find a proper home.

Side note: many teachers do not like to be taught themselves and are too busy talking to listen to anyone else…. So, I understand this might be a losing battle. Sorry you’re dealing with it

 

[Cacti3]

I know. It just sucks

 

[Cacti3]

Hey people. I know this is like a few months later but I just wanted to update on the Shirley situation. Luckily I still go to the same school so I can still see that teacher just not that easily bc I have a school schedule so yeah.

Well, I went to her classroom early in the morning before school started. I asked her about Shirley again.

Well, she said that she gave her to a random student’s aunt. WITHOUT TELLING ME BEFORE. I told her specifically when I gave Shirley to her to tell me if she decides to do ANYTHING with her.

I seriously was p*ssed, and I just started shaking and was so mad. I told her “ And why did you not tell me about this BEFORE you decided to do that? “ and she said “ Because I knew you’d be fine with it “

Like are you kidding me? When I asked her to see a photo of Shirley now and apparently the aunt of the student is keeping her outside in like a fence thing ( no wider than 2-3 feet and no longer than like 7 feet ). Atleast she is living outside where she’s actually getting UVB and sunlight but I don’t know if she has anywhere to take a rest of the sun.

God, if I just gave her or came on the forums before this happened, maybe she would’ve gone to someone who could’ve done the right thing. I just blame myself for it everyday.

 

[Cacti3]

Oh, also there’s another red footed tortoise I know of that my brother’s best friends have. And their tortoise is not living in any better of condition honestly even worse than Shirley tbh.

Their tortoise’s name is Hermione ( based on Harry Potter bc they love it ) and she lives indoors in a dog pool. They have this weird bark in there, one hide, one small food tray, and nothing else.

I’ve told them MULTIPLE times about UVB, basking light, and pls stop but they said she was fine. Every time I came to their house with my brother I would tell them how they need to take better care of her and showed them tortoise forums and videos and guides and stuff.

Atleast they feed her calcium but it’s an unknown brand that I don’t think really does much.

I don’t know if they would be willing to give her to somebody better becuase they really love that tortoise. And now I can’t even see the tortoise or them becuase they moved to Georgia.

And they gave her to me for a few hours when they needed to go somewhere or something and I instantly brought her onto my porch and let her feel heat and she instantly perked up and was warming up from being cold inside their house. I fed her dandelion leaves, blackberries, and strawberries dusted with some Zoo med calcium. Gosh, it was like seeing her come to life.

I eventually brought her outside and let her feel the sun. And it was the first time she probably felt the sun and heat since like 1 year. I really wish I could’ve kept her but I unfortunately had to give her back to them. And now they’re in Georgia

 

[kinyonga]

Can you find out who the teacher gave it to and talk to that person about it? Or at least print off a care sheet about care for that species and have it passed onto the person who got it?

 

[Cacti3]

Can you find out who the teacher gave it to and talk to that person about it? Or at least print off a care sheet about care for that species and have it passed onto the person who got it?

Yeah, right now we’re on break for new years but when I get back to school I’ll ask that teacher if she can give it to them or if I can text or email the keeper.