Sunday, November 23, 2008

Maurice: an update

I've now had Maurice for over 6 months; possibly a record for me when it comes to fish-raising. As far as I can tell, he's doing pretty well. He just swims around in his tank all day, and since fish have memory spans of maybe 10 seconds, it means that every time he makes a circuit around his tank he notices his castle anew and is like "Cool! A castle!" And repeat...repeat...repeat.

The interesting thing about Maurice (well, I find it interesting) is that he's cold-blooded, and therefore is entirely dependent on the temperature of his surroundings. When my apartment is cold, he's sluggish, and when it's warmer, he's perky. There a few implications to this, but the most important one is that I'm afraid to really lower the temperature in my apartment when I'm not here, for fear that I'll return and find him a floating ice cube.

This poses some interesting dilemmas; this week I'll be traveling to the wilds of Northern Michigan for Thanksgiving with T.'s family, but since I won't be here I want to lower the temperature in my apartment so as not to waste money and energy heating rooms that no one will be in. Which means that I'll have to either leave Maurice here to freeze, or take him with me. Guess which option I'm taking here?

And the real problem will be Christmas break, because I'm not sure what I'm going to do, being gone for three weeks. I'll be flying home, so I won't be able to take him with me. But I can't leave him here by himself—he'll freeze, and starve, to death. So what should I do?

The options are:
-send him home with my Mom when she comes in a few weeks to pack up her stuff and take it back to Kansas. The problem with this is that she's killed the last 2 betta fish she's owned. While I trust him with her for just a few weeks, I can't figure out a way to get him back here when vacation is over. This might take some figuring out.

-drive home to Kansas so that he can ride in the car with me. I realize that this is absolutely insane and that I'm nuts to even momentarily entertain this idea for a pet that can't actually make eye contact with me. Really, this would be the only way for him to get to and from Kansas safely. However, I'm not quite enamored enough to drive 12 hours each way just to ensure that Maurice is comfortable.

-find a sitter. I have some friends who are rectors at the school who might be willing to let him dwell there for a little while; it'll be warm there at least (I think?) and depending on when they get back he should be OK with the no food (or I could get him some slow-feeding pellets). Or I can ask the law school staff if it's OK to let him chill at the school for a few weeks; at least there will be heat there and I wonder if they would feed him. Again, I understand that this is complete ridiculous, but I don't want him to die.

Suggestions are welcome. I'm sure you are all glad to know that I have given so much thought to the welfare of my fish, while putting off any concern for the welfare of my fed courts outline. Stay tuned for the outcome—I know you're all just riveted to your seats.

4 comments:

Stacy said...

driving him 12 hrs to kansas is the only humane way.

kidding! oh nerb, youre great. i say leave him with someone on campus...

Anonymous said...

You'd think a classy school like ND would have a fish sitting service.

Muttersome said...

I know, right?

Sales Rack Raider said...

I'd go with finding a friend in the area who is willing to fish-sit. Small critters like these are often very amused by their new surroundings, and their sitters are equally mesmerized by the new (if temporary) member of the household. It's a win-win situation.