when every dime-store in the United
States sold those little turtles, there small, round aquariums [usually
with a plastic palm tree stuck in the center], and the
dried
insects to feed them with.
Times change and we don't see an awful lot of those turtles any more for one reason or another. However, some countries other than the U.S. still offer these amazing animals as pets, which is how I came about acquiring Oscar.
Oscar was purchased at a local pet shop here in Korea for the tidy
sum
of 4,000 won [ that's
about 3 dollars, U.S. money ]. He was just a little tyke about the size
of a quarter when I
bought him and brought
him home. I've alway's enjoyed strange and unusual pets and you don't
get much stranger than a turtle.
Oscar is a true turtle, as opposed to a tortoise, and spends all of his time in the water. His home consists of a 55 gallon aqarium -- completely filled with water, several rocks to hide under, and some plastic plants. These latter are more for my benefit than his, since he can't eat them [ though he tries ] and I doubt that he appreciates their asethic value.
I've had Oscar for about three years now and am amazed at how he's grown. At the present time he is larger than a grown man's hand -- and still growing. Oscar will eat just about anything, but his favorite food seems to be small green frogs that abound around my neighborhood. Fish are also welcomed, and I can no longer keep tropical fish as pets along with him as I used to. Sooner or later he'll eat them.
Turtles are interesting in several respects -- one being the length of time they can remain completely under water. And so forth and so on ......