Fluffy the Fighter!
Fluffy, named after his curious personality and not sex, has been in the family for almost four years. My wife and I rescued him from the evil grips of my little brother who took Fluffy from my father’s pool out in the country. Since that kidnapping from the wild, Fluffy has lived a very rough life. He would go missing from his algae infested tank, too small for him to grow, for days, venturing around the house until discovered by an over weight lazy cat. Luckily, it was a lazy cat! We rescued Fluffy and boarded our plane back to Virginia. FYI, turtles, they don’t mind flying as long as they have a window seat. And yes, to our surprise no one said a word about our new family addition. While with us Fluffy has gone from a 5 gallon tank, to a 10, to 20 gallon and he loves his home. Unfortunately, from being mistreated at my brother’s home, his shell has always been deformed, frail, and just not appealing. One morning, while I was cleaning the tank, I walked into the other room to find Lucy our dog, short for Lucifer, was throwing Fluffy up in the air, catching him, and chewing on him as if he was her newest toy. Freaking out, I discovered just how hard it is to find a vet for him. (only one listed for virginia beach) Fluffy lost an eight of his shell in two spots and suffered a lot of trauma. But he’s a true fighter, he’s alive and well. The vet said we can improve his shell condition with two things, a broader spectrum of UV light and a more vegetable diet. But after seeing and reading soopermum62's story about BC and her battle with shell rot i'm begining to think Fluffy may have shell rot, i had suspected this before and took Fluffy to the vet when he had his encounter with Lucy. He never said it was shell rot... before you ask, there is no smell. I'll post pictures when I get home to Fluffy.