Buzzy and Ronnie

We got Caleb’s first pet for Christmas.  (Well, the first pet he can remember having.)  He wanted a pet so badly and we’ve sworn off anything with fur.  I refuse to have anything of the reptile group, so we decided to get a fish.  Rudy and Caleb went to the pet store to pick out the perfect fish.  Caleb chose a beautiful turquoise betta fish and named it Buzzy.  (We have no idea why he chose that name.)
The boys set up the tank and got it all ready.  Caleb picked out a fake plant and a sunken ship that he calls a submarine to decorate the tank. 

The water had to condition for 24 hours and then it was time to let the little fella’ swim…

Buzzy lasted less than 48 hours.  We bought him on the 21st and woke up to find him waterlogged on the 23rd.  Caleb took it better than I expected.  He just asked if he could get another one.  Rudy thinks that watching all those wild animal shows on TV have conditioned him to the cycle of life.  Maybe.  Or maybe he just wasn’t all that attached.  Who knows?

The boys went back to the pet store and found out that contrary to what the previous salesperson told Rudy, bettas aren’t supposed to have filters in their tanks.  Cause of death:  Buzzy literally wore himself out.  He swam himself to death trying to escape the pull of the filter.  Read this again to make sure you understand:  Our fish swam himself to death.  Seriously.

The other possible cause of the problem could have been the water temperature.  Just to be on the safe side, Rudy bought a little heater for the tank and removed the filter. 

Buzzy’s replacement is named Ronnie.  We’re pretty sure he’s named after Pops, but Caleb hasn’t fessed up to that little evidence of hero worship.  Ronnie looks almost identical to Buzzy, but he’s not as wavy.  Ronnie is a little on the lazy side.  He hangs out by the heater a lot and seems to prefer floating over swimming.  Ronnie is going to fit in just fine around here.