Monday, November 14, 2011
Patrick
This is going to be a boring post because I cant really think of anything to say and its 11:41 and I need to wake up for this class at 7am tomorrow. So I'm not really inclined to think of anything really exciting to write about. So I'm going to write about Patrick and the dilemma I have involving him. For the record Patrick is my fish. And he is very awesome. Life with Patrick has been a really good time. He lights up my desk and gets really excited when I come sit down. (Which is very funny.) He also has a plant at the top of his tank so I get the added burst of oxygen around my desk (except not really because I'm pretty sure I'm slowly killing that plant.) In any case, my latest dilemma with Patrick is that I need to figure out what I am going to do with him when I go home for thanksgiving. There is the option where I could put him in a small container and bring him home with me and then bring him back. Unfortunately, I live four hours away and I don't think that much travel is very good for a fish. So, my other option is to leave him at school for 5 or more days and hope he survives that long without food. I've done small amounts of research on this and supposedly he can live that long without food because Bettas are opportunistic eaters. This means that they eat whenever they can and if they cant then they wait it out. So. I could feed him a lot the day I leave and then wish him the best. That just seems kind of cruel though, I would be so upset if I came back and found out Patrick died. (Granted I have a one year warranty on him.) But I've grown rather attached to Patrick and would not want to initiate that warranty if I don't have to. So I'm stuck. My mom suggested an automatic feeder but that seemed kind of ridiculous. In reality, I need to figure this out anyways cause I cant leave him here for the whole of christmas break. Perhaps I'll let my imagination run loose. In case it doesn't though, anybody have any ideas?
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Get yourself a bucket slightly taller than Patrick's tank. Empty about 1/3 of the water from his tank and then put the tank in the bucket (with Patrick still in it.) Then roll up a towel or washcloth or random piece of fabric and put it in the gap between the bucket and edge of the tank.
ReplyDeleteIf you have room buckle the bucket in a seat belt. If you don't have room then put him on the floor with stuff wedged around the bucket so it can't tip over on the way home.
I did this with my fish, Neal, when I was moving and he survived wonderfully.
Don't underestimate the resilience of the fish! When my son's choir traveled to NYC on a bus for a week several years ago, one of the girls purchased a fish at the first stop in Madison - and YES, that fish was still alive when we returned home a week later!!!
ReplyDeleteMy sister had a Betta fish named Bob and he did not like to move. One time someone left the window open in the dorm and poor Bob got really cold. He was moving very slow in his bowl so my sister took a towel and wrapped it around his bowl then held him until he started to move like himself again. Another time she was coming home for break and she didnt want to leave him for a week, for the same reason you dont want to leave him, and he did not do well during the drive... he sank very low in the bowl and wouldnt move when she got home. That was only a 45 min drive, I couldnt imagine a 4 hour trip! Tonya's way of moving the fish seems like it would work, just make sure if you put him on the floor its not too cold down there or too hot! If your heat is on make sure its not blowing on him the entire time, he wont like it. Buckling him up seems like it would work too. I guess I would take him home too... I would worry about him too much...hahaha
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