PJ

I've always been a reptile person, I don't know why, there is just something about them that warms my heart. My first pet was a Anole, the second a water snake and the third was Pee-Wee the turtle, he came into my life when I was eight years old. On an outing to the local pet store my sister and myself each had a quarter. We were going to purchase a baby Red-ear slider turtle. When we walked into the store, there was a tank with a much cooler bigger turtle that cost a dollar. We really wanted that turtle, begged our mom to please give or lend my sister and myself the other fifty cents. She did and Pee Wee came into my life for the next 28 years. Pee-Wee was a Asian Yellow Pond Turtle who was wild caught. Although Pee-Wee got used to life in captivity, he was never really happy. He constantly tried to escape his tanks and every so often did so and spent a day or two enjoying his freedom exploring the house. Pee-Wee went away to college with me, and then after I was married he also moved around for a few years to different states with hubby and I. I always kept him in a decent size tank, but it was never enough. His final escape came when I was 36 years old. I had a house full of kids for the week, my own four and three of their cousins. All under the age of ten. Pee-Wee had been out on the lam...and some how got out a door, never to be seen again. I was heartbroken. I had been with Pee wee longer then anyone in my life. About ten years later I finally found a turtle breeder in Florida that had captive bred baby Asian Yellow Pond turtles, I bought a tiny three month old and had him shipped up from Florida. He was promptly named PJ aka Pee Wee Jr or the initials for my favorite band. For his first three years he seemed so happy. He lives in a heated, filtered 50 gallon pond in my family room. He spends his days basking in his heat lamp and catching live guppies. He would come up to you and take food from your fingers. He didn't even mind Petey giving him a daily poke with his nose. Well all of this has changed, my once happy go lucky turtle started climbing out of his tank too. Several times in the last couple of weeks he has been on the lam, and....it happened again, I couldn't find him. Fearing the worst, I swore to myself, I'm done with pets other then dogs. I felt sad over allowing this to happen again. I was convinced he was gone for good. The other night I was sitting at my ornamental pond feeding the gold fish and all of a sudden guess who rises from the darkness....yup PJ!!! He is alive and well, and apparently wild and happy! I can coax him over to me with food, but the second I move too quickly he is GONE! I did manage to catch him tonight, luring him in with a smelt. I looked him over and he looks great, Petey came up to give him a poke and PJ bit him in the nose and repeated it several times! I put him back in his new Summer home a 1500 gallon pond, I will continue to feed him by hand everyday and when the weather gets cold, he will have to slum through the Winter in his tiny pond. Neat to have a turtle in the pond to watch, he spends his days chasing the goldfish and frogs, basking in real sunlight and getting a lot of exercise.