Towards the beginning of March, mom was all up in my tank as per usual, when she started chasing me with her hands! I squirmed out of her grasp and hid behind the heater. Then she stuck her fingers behind the heater, so I swam into my plant. She chased me there, too! Just give up already mom! Somehow she scooped me up into this tiny bowl! Can you believe the nerve? So, naturally I began sassing her and swimming at the walls trying to get out. I mean, what would you do if you were used to all this swimming space and then found yourself in a tiny little cup? Then the cup began to move. No, I am completely serious. And it didn’t stop for hours. Bump, bump, jostle, bump. Over and over again. I couldn’t see out my cup but I could hear mom and Aunt R talking nearby. Occasionally, they would talk to me so I wasn’t too worried they forgot about me. “Fifi! How you doing back there? I love you Fifi!” Bumb, bump, jostle, bump. “Fifi, what are you doing in there? We are halfway there!” Bumb, bump, jostle, bump. “Fifi, we are home!! You want to see your Nanny?” What, Nanny? Hi, Nanny!!! How did you get here? Wait, I can see out my cup again! Where am I? Oh, there is that dog. MOM! Why are you seeing that dog???? I am the only pet in your life, mom. Oh, hi Aunt A!!! And Grandpa too! So many people!!! And that dog….
Spring Break from Mom’s View
I had class from 1:30-2:20 and then I had to pack everything up and I was too busy to pack last night. Besides, it’s not like I can pack up Finley early…..I cleaned the tank yesterday to ensure he would have clean water in his cup today. I turn the tank light off, take the lid off the tank and set it on top of my desk. I grab the fish tank cup and fill his little bowl with water. At this point, Finley is trying to chase me out of the tank and keeps getting in my way! Silly little fish! He doesn’t especially like me sticking my hands in his tank. I guess I can understand why. This is his home, not mine. I am invading his space. On the bright side, since he is so interested in what i am doing, I can usually just scoop him up real quick before he has a chance to get away. Not today. He was being so difficult. I needed to get out the door and he would not cooperate with that plan. He swam all over the tank hiding behind the heater and in plants and I had to stick my fingers in the crevices. I don’t like doing this because I think it stresses him out before the journey even begins. Stress lowers Betta’s immune systems so I don’t like to stress him anymore than absolutely necessary. Also, I don’t like using fish nets. Finley is small enough that there are too many places for him to hide, in which the net will not fit. I finally caught him and gently placed him into the cup. I use a small circular, food safe, plastic container, with a tight lid that has air holes in it (I used an ice pick). I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around the container to soak up any spilled water, and buckled the whole thing into a seat in the car…..
Then I went and picked up my sister from the dorms and we began the 3 1/2 hour drive home. Sis and I would talk to him so he would know he wasn’t alone. (BTW his nicknames given to him by me and other family members include: FinFin, Fifi, Fi, Fief, Fish, and Big F). When we got home I walked around commanding, “Say hi to Finley!” followed by me forcing the container into various family members hands so they could say a proper hello. I also got to see Heidi!! Finley was not pleased when I started seeing Heidi. He started spazing and ramming into the container walls…I stopped petting Heidi and he stopped. I pet Heidi and he freaked again. I don’t know how I will balance seeing both. What will I do when I move home in May? Maybe they will eventually learn that I love them both.
Interested in more technical details about travelling with fish? click here
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Finley's Journal 