Hello, my name is Kalee and I’m a full-time biology major at OSU going into veterinary. I only have 2 jobs currently, one of which is taking care of pets. I’ve grown up riding, collecting eggs, and having almost every animal you can think of.

I don’t have many pets now, but the ones I do have consist of a dog, cat, bearded dragon, cichlids, guppies, and two old but new rescue turtles. The first turtle is Squirt; she’s a 10+ year old Northern Map turtle. An old coworker of mine (fired) found her in a river over 10 years ago, pulled her out, and put her in a tank. Her beak is severely overgrown, but she can still eat (so she’s not starving, but still very uncomfortable). I have found a vet to do it and will be making the appointment soon.

They both need to be seen by a vet, but Hubert is looking much better. The only thing I know about him is that whoever (once upon a time) took care of the turtles “rescued” him from another location. They said she had to dry out his shell from a hole rotten through.

The people that were “caring” for these animals and “knew” about these animals left them there. They quit and left. I began noticing problems with Squirt and immediately reached out to my manager. She has no idea how to take care of them and didn’t have any idea anything was wrong with them (isn’t her fault she was forced to keep them). She only knew what she was told about them but was very willing to get rid of them. I asked her if I could take them and before I even said why she said, “yes, please” and started texting our district managers. A few weeks later of convincing and they’re home!

I have given them both heaters for the first time in their 10 years of life. I am in the process of cleaning sand for both of their tanks. I would like to transform both bare bottom tanks to a more natural environment. I bought them new temporary basking spots, but am making better ones. I would like to buy them new filters, basking lights, UVB lights, live plants, natural hides, wave maker/river pumps, and decor like driftwood.

Any and all donations will be used towards their vet bills and tank transformations!