Turtle: Your Happy Healthy Pet
Chapter One
What Is a Turtle?
There is perhaps no more easily recognizable
animal on earth than a turtle. Although there are lizards who look like
snakes and salamanders who look like lizards, no other living creature looks
remotely like a turtle. With their calm dispositions and brightly colored shells,
turtles have been spared the enmity with which most other reptiles are usually
regarded. Unlike lizards and snakes, which are almost universally reviled, turtles
are usually considered charming and attractive creatures. Few people, even the
most intense reptile haters, are afraid of turtles.
A few decades ago, every convenience store in the country was stocked with
tiny, bright green baby turtles, usually found in a shallow water tray complete
with a tiny plastic island and a palm tree. Unfortunately, few of the many thousands
of people who purchased these little creatures had any real idea how to
care for them, and most of them ended up in a watery grave after a few months.
This dreadful mortality rate, combined with some exaggerated fears about the
spread of dis ... read full excerpt from Turtle: Your Happy Healthy Pet ebook
