how to cope with turtle death
i had a painted turtle that was dumped out into someone’s lawn because it had a growth disorder. each time he dropped his scutes, multiple layers came off, so he never grew, and we fed him a lot of calcium, so that was not an issue. 210
i used to bring him out a lot and handle him (he was a sweet little turtle, never bit) and i slowly transitioned to not holding him as much to never holding him due to covid and getting new pets, also my dad put the turtle in his office. (works from home) i recently found him limp and floating around in his enclosure, eyes pink and mouth open (didn’t look like he died peacefully) and i just feel horrible for not spending more of my time with him and i wonder if anyone has a way to cope. it’s been days and even though i wasn’t super attached, i just can’t get over it for some reason 210