Blew a gasket?

We have to find out if my feeding tube is out of position so we're checking with my favorite vets at Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital. My next appointment is set for 12/19 but it looks like my tube is coming out as there's space between my skin and the stitches that hold it in.

I've been a lot more active so we had to add extra sticky band-aids to keep the tube from moving around. Also it has been clogging up lately. And then there was that nasty syringe problem, so there are several reasons why my feeding tube isn't sitting snug in my neck. But it's also been more than eight weeks since it was installed during my surgery.

As you can see from my green beak, I've been enjoying feeding myself more lately. I'm awake, alert and ready to chow down as soon as my tortoise mom shows up every morning.

I guess we'll find out soon enough if the feeding tube needs to be fixed, removed or just left alone for a few more weeks. Good thing I don't have to figure this stuff out as I know I'm in good hands. (yawn) And now it's time for a little nap in my favorite yellow box. Even with a green beak and orange feeding tube, a gal needs her beauty sleep!

Yesterday was a "bad hay day"

I don't know what happened, but suddenly hay mixture was squirting all over my shell and the wall and then the washing machine was running because hay squirted on the bath curtain too so it had to be washed. Who knew hay mush could squirt so far?

My tortoise dad brought home a new syringe last night and used extra water to flush out my feeding tube so things went better today. When you're getting powdered hay and vitamins from a syringe in a feeding tube, sometimes "Clogs Happen!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's my usual hangout. See why I'm extra thankful this year? I've got luxury digs indoors with all the amenities. Plus I'm about a pound lighter without that giant bladder stone I'd been hauling around. And now I have my own radio as music perks me up so I eat better. So far I've been listening to Christmas songs but that might get old pretty soon. I'm not thrilled when dogs or chipmunks sing, but I am happier now that I know the dog barking next door can't get near me. Anyway with the extra heating light and music, I'm really chowing down now. This is good because I have to build up weak muscles in my head and jaw from when I was too weak too eat.

So I'm working on being an eating machine. Hey, a gal needs to have goals! I only eat the greenest part of romaine leaves and leave the ribs. I know what I like! They keep offering me hibiscus flowers but they're a little harder for me to bite right now. I know I need more variety in my diet but I'm working on it.

I've never been awake for the holidays before. This is a lot different than being tucked away in my burrow for the winter, and I have always liked coming indoors. Years ago, at another house, I figured out how to open the sliding patio door with my toenails so I could enjoy the cool tile floor in the kitchen. This surprised my tortoise mom every time I did it. I guess no one expects a tortoise to do this, but you might be amazed at what we can do. Did you know we can walk 7 miles in a day? Not so pokey afterall. And my yard buddy, Tortellini, thinks she's an acrobat. She's pretty good at hanging by her front toenails wherever there's a place she can climb and wedge herself. She's the tortoise equivalent of a mountaineer, but without the technical gear or ego. She's hibernating now and doesn't know what she's missing.

This is Tortellini checking out a temporary barricade last summer. They put it up so we couldn't "help" the a/c repairmen. See what I mean about her climbing ability?

BTW did you know we hibernate according to the amount of daylight, not temperature? That's why we tuck in our burrows even when it's still hot outside. But our body clocks say "it's time" so our metabolism slows way down and in we go. The temperature is pretty constant in the burrow so we can conserve energy while we're hibernating. Dirt is great insulation, one of Nature's amenities.