X-Ray Vision

I had to go to the vet again yesterday for an x-ray to check my lady parts, just in case eggs were blocking my reproductive tract and raising my blood calcium levels so high. As you can see, there are no eggs showing, only a few of those pesky urates destined to be flushed out soon. If you look closely you can see the seam where Dr. Johnson cut a trap door in my shell to remove the bladder stone a year ago. Since it's on the flip side, I think I'll skip any shell rejuvenation methods. Besides, I earned that seam the hard way!

I did find out there's no such thing as Tort-O-Pause, so my body will produce eggs for the rest of my life. As I get older, I'll produce fewer eggs, but my ovaries won't ever get time off for good behavior. Imagine 100 years of producing eggs!

Since my x-ray didn't show a clutch of eggs or Chilean miners or Barbie shoes or anything like that, I will get to hibernate outdoors afterall. This x-ray was The Ultimate Decider. But I'm hearing talk of making me stay in the new burrow all winter so they can check my weight every two weeks to make sure I'm surviving hibernation in good form. I'm not thrilled with this idea, as you know how I love the old burrow which is now dug part way to China (Hi, Dr. Lu!) But it's so much better than spending the winter indoors like last year, even if it was cool to celebrate all the holidays I usually miss. But maybe they'll decorate the outside of my burrow while I get my beauty sleep all winter. Oh I should be a real looker by next Spring!



I'm already looking a lot better with a green beak, pink tongue and alert eyes. Plus I'm cruising the whole yard and checking in at the drive-up patio door just like Tortellini, although she's not as ladylike as me. If I don't get out of the way, she climbs right over me. Somehow it feels like all is how it should be though. That's just how Tortellini rolls. She's a tortoise on a mission while I'm always more social and gracious. If they x-rayed Tortellini, they might find the Energizer Bunny in there.

Room Service

I'm just a tad spoiled rotten. My tortoise mom has been providing room service so I can eat any time I climb out of the burrow. Now that's pretty nice!

The weather has been wild this week. We got such a huge storm on Tuesday that my tortoise mom had to wade through water to rescue me. I thought I'd sleep next to the fireplace chimney where it makes a good corner to tuck into for the night, but the rain started pouring down hard, and then it hailed on me too! I tucked into my shell but was suddenly so cold and miserable that when my tortoise mom waded out to check on me, I just looked up at her like "help!" So she grabbed me and waded back to put me in the house. Tortellini was already tucked in where she was high and dry, but I got caught out and then I was too cold to walk through the cold water. So I got to spend the rest of the storm in my travel box in the house. I never even moved as I was just that cold and tired from the storm.

The nights have really cooled down lately, so we finally get to sleep out in various corners of the yard and patio. But then we have to warm up in the morning before we can walk around like usual. Here's Tortellini doing her warm-up routine for the day. She sure likes to soak up the sun on her tootsies.



We've been acting different all week. It's like there's a calendar printed on the inside of our shells and we know exactly how many days have passed since autumn started. So we're eating more aggressively and at different hours of the day, plus we're exploring every inch of the yard, including the fence. Well, of course, we are. We know it's only a matter of days before our metabolism slows way down and we'll start hibernating so we're doing last minute preparations, like packing for a long trip.

I haven't figured out how I'll blog during hibernation. Maybe I'll have to send up messages like those poor miners in Chile.... They are not meant for hibernating so I hope they get out soon, all safe and sound, like me in the storm.

One Year Ago

Here's how life was for me a year ago. The bladder stone grew so large that it split my bladder in half and I was unable to eat enough so I also developed fatty liver as my body tried to survive at any cost. I had surgery to remove the stone and it's been a whole year of critical care nursing, feeding tubes, PT, a few scares with infections, rehabilitation and relearning to feed myself. After all this time, I thought I was out of the woods.

But Dr. Johnson just called with my latest blood test results after the trek to his exam room last Saturday. It turns out that I have elevated lymphocytes and calcium which could mean a reproductive tract problem. So Dr. Johnson wants another x-ray next week to look for blocked eggs. I didn't even know this was possible. I'm 45 years old. Don't I get ever to "enjoy" Tort-O-Pause and skip this whole egg-production business?

Meanwhile I'm really gearing up to hibernate. Not too interested in food but I do come out of the burrow to check out the yard. When I try to eat, my heart just isn't in it. It's been 106 degrees all week but we tortoises go by seasons rather than temperature for hibernation. Anyway our body clocks are more accurate than any calendar. We know how many days it's been since the autumnal equinox. It's like a giant switch gets flipped on the tortoise metabolism.

I'm trying not to think about it but I did hear Dr. Johnson say the results of the x-ray will decide if I can hibernate indoors or outdoors. And if the x-ray shows no eggs blocking my reproductive tract, I still won't get to hibernate in the old burrow. Now that is hard to take!!!! But the new burrow is shallower which makes it possible to pull me out once a month to check my weight during the winter. If I stay in the old burrow, which of course is my favorite, they can't check on me to make sure I'm not losing too much weight or getting too weak to survive the winter.

So stay tuned. I hope the next x-ray shows a smiley face and permission to hibernate outdoors this winter. If I'm not well enough, I'll have to hibernate in a box in the garage and then be weighed and SOAKED every month all winter. Now you know how I feel about soaking..... Ok I'm trying to think positive about all this. But really, I'm very disappointed that I didn't get that clean bill of health we've all worked so hard to get for a whole year. But we just have to wait and see. I wonder what the new x-ray will look like? Maybe a really happy bladder? I'm still grateful. I wouldn't be here at all if I didn't have that surgery and all this TLC. For a whole year. No matter how you look at it, that's pretty incredible.

Eat. Graze. Poop.

My tortoise mom dragged my tortoise dad to a movie, and then talked about what a tortoise version of it would be: "Eat. Graze. Poop." Yep, that's what we tortoises do. There's no mad search for anything but treats coming through the patio door, and enjoying our own backyard. And then of course, there's the end product. Ahem. We like to do that by the patio door. A lot. I guess it's just what happens while we're waiting for the "drive-up window" to open and our tortoise mom magically appears with our favorite salad for the day.

We've been really tanking up this week. When the temperature drops even a little and it feels a little stormy, we come out of the burrow earlier in the afternoon because we don't have to escape the heat like usual. So we've really been putting away the groceries. In the process, we've been hanging around the patio door a lot. Tortellini is especially good at using her shell to "knock" on it. But she's the acrobatic one. She managed to flip herself over this week from trying to climb the fence. She has always done that so my tortoise mom is always checking on us, especially when we're more active just prior to hibernation. September is a busy month for us. We don't need a calendar to tell us that Fall started yesterday.



You'll notice the my tortoise version of the movie isn't "Eat. Soak. Poop." Sorry, Dr. Johnson, I still hate soaking!!! But I'm first out when it rains, or I drink when the sprinklers fill the tree well. What can I say, I like fresh, running water. So I even sat in the lawn sprinklers to get a big drink the other day. I know I need to get big drinks to flush my bladder so I won't get another bladder stone. And I'll have my annual check-ups so if I do get one, it won't be a boulder and require major surgery and a whole year (and counting) of recovery. So, ok, I'll grit my beak and soak. If I have to. I guess.

Late Show (flash photo)

Lately it's been 110 degrees during the day, with the sun going down when it's still really hot. So to compensate, I've been coming out of the burrow when the sun is completely down and then eating after dark. It's not exactly "by the light of the silvery moon", but pretty close. I have to do this because I'm still a slow eater due to my weak biting muscles. The top of my head is looking better but I still don't have well developed jaw muscles like I used to, so I can't dive out of the burrow for a quick bite and then dive back in again like Tortellini does. I think she might have invented the concept of fast food. She definitely thinks the patio door is a drive-up window.

So my strategy is to head straight for the little leaf cordia to eat all the tasty white flowers that have dropped during the day. I like them when they're fresh and I also like them when they've dried up a bit. So I eat as many as I can, moving along like a four-legged vacuum cleaner. When I look up, I usually have white petals stuck on my face, but hey, there are no napkins out here!

Then my tortoise mom shuttles salad out to me for the main course. The cordia and desert willow have grown so much lately that she has to squeeze in between them, and usually ends up with crawly little bugs on her, but they don't bite. The ants on the ground do though, but I'm very well protected with my scales.

I've been extra busy eating this week, coming out every evening just before dark. My body knows it's September, time to really store up calories for the winter. Also I'm getting my pre-hibernation check-up with Dr. Johnson in just one more week. I need to "top off the tank" so I can really impress him with how much I've improved this summer. So I'm working overtime on my pre-hibernation tortoise business. When I get weighed and soaked this weekend, we'll see if I've earned my time and a half.

Monsoon breakfast

I woke up this morning to clouds, a breeze and some sprinkles. Wow! Perfect grazing weather! Then my tortoise mom brought me a new treat: kale. I really chowed down on it, plus all the little leaf cordia and desert willow flowers and some romaine. Mmm, I was smacking my beak. I must be getting better because I'm interested in more foods now. Kale is harder to bite off and chew but my improved chewing muscles did the trick. I'm still not eating grass but maybe that comes later?



About the time I thought it couldn't get better, it started raining. Oh how I love the summer rain! I stayed out for two hours, drinking rainwater and munching my breakfast under the little leaf cordia bush. What a great day! Perfect tortoise weather: not too hot and not too cold. Just right for enjoying a gourmet breakfast. Oh I am happy as a .... tortoise!!

Clean Lawn Club

I'm trying to look ladylike here, but really I've been an eating machine for the past week. If there's even one raindrop, I come out to look for water and then I eat until it's almost completely dark outside. What can I say, I'm a slow eater. But I am eating!! And it shows too.



The muscles on the top of my head look a lot better, without the big dip on one side, so I'm more "level-headed" now (my little joke). In fact, when I was playing peek-a-boo under the reed shade on the new burrow yesterday, my tortoise mom didn't know it was me at first because my head looks so much better now. It must be from all that serious munching on my leafy greens. AND -- drum roll, please, I weighed 3521 grams today. Woo Hoo! That's a new record since my surgery last September. But I've been working hard, eating every chance I get, climbing up and down over hill and dale....



I'm a tortoise on a mission to be strong and healthy enough to hibernate this winter. Dr. Johnson, I think you'll be proud of me when I come in for my pre-hibernation check-up next month. In the last eight days, I have been coming out to eat at least once a day and sometimes twice. And I stick around until I've joined the Clean Lawn Club. Truly, I don't leave a speck of food that my tortoise mom gives me.

I know it's still 110 degrees, but I can tell the light has changed and it reminds me to chow down before winter. So all of a sudden, I am really hungry. I also remembered my old trick of thumping my shell on the patio by the back door to get my tortoise mom's attention so she'll bring more food. I always dump the dirt off my shell when I do it, leaving a shell-shaped outline of dirt on the patio. Pretty funny. And Tortellini is really good at it, so they keep a little broom by the back door to sweep away tortoise leavin's. We leave other little calling cards too, but I'll be ladylike and leave it to you to figure it out.

All in all, I'm getting downright perky now, feeling more like myself than I have in YEARS!! Life is Good!!!

Hunkered down

It's too hot. Not even Tortellini is venturing out of the burrow for long. I know it's August, but it's really hot right now. So this is all you will see of me most of the time.



It hasn't rained since last week. It's amazing how I always know when it's coming so I come out and wait to get a drink of water in the puddles that collect so fast. It's like I'm a Hardshell Weather Station. But right now all indications say: Hunker Down.

I'm due for my pre-hibernation check-up next month, so I hope we get a little rain to cool things off. Then I can come out to eat and drink at the all-you-can-eat backyard buffet. If I don't weigh enough, I don't know what Dr. Johnson will say. I sure do NOT want to spend another winter indoors, even though it was quite a culturally uplifting experience last winter. But you know how I feel about snuggling in the old burrow for the winter. It's the BEST!

Garden of Eatin'

This is my favorite corner of the yard to eat. The new desert willow tree drops sticky sweet flowers that the ants love too. But the best part is I get to "vacuum" up all the white flowers from the little leaf cordia plus sit in its shade to eat the salad that my tortoise mom brings me. Dr. Johnson says I need lots of leafy greens to build muscle. Anyway I'm eating with more gusto now. Sometimes I'm so busy eating that I'm startled when my tortoise mom brings me more food. I know, I know, that's not like me to startle like that, especially because I always know her voice.



I'm a very lucky tortoise to have a yard with two burrows, plus there are no dogs or cats to flip me over or hurt me accidentally. And this yard doesn't have a pool which is really important. My brother Charlie drowned at our old yard even though the pool had a two-foot wall built all around it for tortoise safety. But one day Charlie found his way over it anyway and he drowned. We still miss him. He was quite a character and patrolled the yard endlessly and made sure any workmen knew he was in charge. But no one knew he could use a prickly pear plant like a bridge to get over that two-foot pool wall. And then, of course, tortoises and pools never ever mix. Did you know we don't have vision that tells us how deep the water is? So he probably thought he was getting a drink or something. I don't know. I just know everyone cried a lot and we still miss him. Charlie was the father of over 30 baby tortoises that were adopted out through The Tortoise Society, so we hope they are marching around supervising all that's going on in good, safe yards now. No pools. Not even a solid two-foot tall fence was good enough to save Charlie. And don't even get me started on what our dog accidentally did one time.....

Grandma (r) and brother Charlie, circa 1986


But things are ideal for tortoises in this yard: very safe with all edible plants and shrubs and even some grass. Tortellini loves to eat the grass first. She grazes just like a very short cow. Come to think of it, I'm glad there are no cows in this yard either!

Rain Dance

My tortoise mom woke me in my burrow this morning so I came out to eat little leaf cordia flowers and lettuce for two hours. She didn't make me soak either, so it was a good morning. You know how I feel about soaking: Get me out of here!



Then tonight, just at sundown, it started raining. Hard. It woke me up and I came out of the burrow for a drink of fresh, cool rainwater. I stuck my head right in a puddle in the gravel to get a nice, long drink. Mmmmm, what a treat to have cool rainwater instead of sitting in that soaking pan.



So maybe the monsoon is finally here. It's been so hot that I don't want to come out of the burrow morning or evening so I still need prodding. But the weather changed today and I took full advantage of it to chow down and have a nice drink. Life is Good!

Tour de France Tortoise?

My tortoise mom is all excited about Paul the Octopus who accurately predicted the winner of the World Cup so now she's wondering if I can predict the winner of the Tour de France.

It's too hot and I don't want to come out of my burrow. Please don't make me choose between photos of Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. I'm just a simple tortoise and the only racing I know about it is how Tortellini puts away the vegetation and then sprints back to the burrow. Oh, she's fast, really fast. Who says a desert tortoise can't cover a lot of ground in a hurry? Did you know we can walk 7 miles a day? And if there's any red fruit or flowers involved, you might be surprised at how fast we can move. Chomp, chomp!!



It's so hot that I almost wish I was one of these red-eared sliders my tortoise mom and dad saw on their vacation. They look very cool, don't they? But tortoises can't swim so we have to do the underground burrow thing to manage body temperature instead. The burrow is always at least 20 degrees cooler than the outside air. I like the old burrow best because it's deeper so the temperature is even more comfortable. It's like a dirt thermostat!

Summertime, and the living is easy

Despite the scorching heat, and being left under the watchful eyes of my favorite sitters, I managed to gain 20 grams while my tortoise mom and dad went on vacation. They were careful to soak and weigh me, and even hand fed me the morning they left just to make sure I had a good start to the week. Then last night when they came home, they got me out of my favorite burrow (the old one, of course) to check on me. My tortoise mom had been a tad worried so she got me squared away while the car was still being unloaded. Anyway, it was all good news: I get Gold Stars for gaining a little weight while they were gone, and for chowing down like I was at an all-you-can-eat buffet last night, even though it was past my bedtime and still 106 degrees outside. I ate until it was pitch dark, then headed back to the burrow for some sweet dreams. Life is good!

Thanks to the best tortoise sitters in the world for making sure there was a steady supply of high protein treats left in the grass and under the littleleaf cordia every day. Of course, Tortellini greatly enjoyed this too and was waiting at the patio door for someone to deliver the goods at 7:30 last night. That Tortellini makes sure things happen! She even stands on her front tippy toes to INSIST that the treats keep coming. Last night she got the few desert willow and hibiscus flowers that weren't already fried by the heat. That's fine with me. I'm still on my low-carb, high protein diet to rebuild muscle. I've got a long ways to go to rebuild my hind legs and jaw muscles. But it's summer, and that's the best time for me to recover well enough so I can hibernate this winter. Can you see how well my neck has healed from the feeding tube? No turtlenecks or plastic surgery for me. I'm a good healer!

My tortoise mom tells me there's a really special tortoise in Santa Barbara who never hibernates. He sleeps on a heating pad in winter and eats Trader Joe's salad every day. Oh, and he weighs SIXTEEN pounds. Whoa, that's almost twice my size!!! Here's the really cool thing about Harry: he's been passed down through family and friends for nearly 100 years!!

Maybe I'll dream about Harry in Santa Barbara. He's a super survivor too.

Party on!

Well the fun just never ends around here. I've gotten so many nice birthday greetings, plus a friend wrote me a birthday poem:

A tortoise at 45
Will help you be happy and thrive
Give her some greens
But please hold the beans
So she won't toot and give you surprise - Eric Laubach

And now Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital has added my photos and blog to their FaceBook page. So I'm getting even more fun greetings and maybe some new fans!

With all this encouragement, I'm doing my part to gain weight by turning my beak green, which means I've been chowing down on the green and leafies which I really need for the high protein to rebuild my muscles. As of Monday I weigh 3406 grams, so you can tell I'm doing my best. And I'm gulping down water all by myself too. Especially now that's it's so hot here, I really enjoy a long, cool drink.



Ok, you can see I'm really getting into this--there's even salad on my head! Plus I'm starting to eat a wider variety of foods, a very good sign of recovery. Now how much do I have to eat to catch up to Tortellini who tips the scales at 3900 grams AFTER hibernation..... Hmmm, carry the one, subtract 4 from 9 -- calculating -- Whoa! I'd better get busy. That's a lot of grams!!!!

Wow, I love all my birthday greetings!

Thank you for all your best wishes and greetings and encouragement as I continue my recovery from surgery. It's so fun to hear from you!

The wonderful vets at Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital are even adding my photos and blog to their FaceBook page. Check it out! I am so delighted because I wouldn't even be alive if not for the excellent care I get there, especially surgery and umpteen follow-up visits, including a few emergency trips. Thanks, too, to great neighbors who happened to be home to help drive me when I needed it most!

So I am one lucky tortoise, and I'm realizing just how rich I am in friends and people who care about me. That makes my birthday even more special, and encourages me to always do my best to gain weight and rebuild my muscles. I've been doing a good job at regrowing the scales that dropped off around my eyes, so I don't have reverse raccoon eyes anymore. See?



But I need to work harder on turning my beak green by eating more greens instead of just cordia flowers. But it's easier to bite flowers since I'm still missing so much muscle that powers my jaws. See the dip in the top of my head and my skinny leg (a little tortoise cheesecake)?



But I'll keep trying to eat more and get stronger. Just for YOU! Thank you so much for caring about me and helping me recover.

Free at last!!

I woke up this morning to find that the barricade came down! So THAT is my extra special birthday surprise! Wow! I can hardly believe it! I marched all over the yard, climbed the new burrow, and sniffed the entrance of the old one. Yep, it's really true: I am FREE AT LAST!!!



I am amazed that I am free to go in the old burrow. I wait and wonder: Am I still dreaming?



Then I explore the top of the new burrow, just to compare.



I also got a special birthday salad with a pink candle in it. Cool! I am loving this birthday business!! Who knew turning 45 could be so great?!!



After a soak and a snack (gained another 64 grams!), guess where I'm going? Yep, the old burrow still does it for me!!! This is my best birthday EVER!

It's my birthday!!!

Not every tortoise gets a special cake for their 45th birthday!! But then who else has a "tummy tuck" like mine?





I am one lucky tortoise!! I get all this TLC, a new burrow, hand feeding and - best gift of all - a new lease on life!! At 45, I'm in the prime of my life and could live another 40 or 50 years!!

But I hear there's one special present waiting for me. I wonder what that could be? I guess I'll have to dream about it tonight.....

105 degrees here all week

Tortellini and I are hunkered down deep in the new burrow where the temperature is about 20 degrees cooler than outside. Since we are cold-blooded, we use our environment to control body temperature. No elaborate system of sweat and evaporation for us. So we don't no need stinkin' deodorant. Although if we did use deodorant, it would be dirt colored and smell like dirt too. In short, dirt is GOOD!

Not only is the heat a factor in our burrowing deeper this week, but I'm getting some extra beauty sleep because my 45th birthday is coming soon. I hear there's a celebration in the works. I wonder if I'll get a special treat? I already get a second chance at life and that's the best gift of all!

Here's a photo from the archives. Back in March, when I still had my feeding tube, I had to get reacquainted with Tortellini again as she hibernated all winter so we were separated for the first time since 1987. If you must know, I sniffed to see where she'd been and then I bobbed my head, which is a tortoise greeting. It's pretty basic. We learn it in Head Bobbing 101.

As you can see, Tortellini is a plus-sized desert tortoise. She always gets to choose the best spot in the burrow. But it's only fair since she's usually the one who dug it out. I'm glad we're back together, surviving the heat in the new burrow. Did you know desert tortoises spend up to 90% of the time underground? Think about it: it's too hot, it's too cold, but the burrow is always juuust right!

From Grandma's Archives, circa March 2009

Weight Watchers: 3330 grams!

This was the scene inside the burrow this morning. Do you like what we've done with the place? You can barely see Tortellini dug in behind me. She sure knows how to make herself at home. And of course we know interior design is all about comfort and function.



Then I got on the scales again. Great news: I weighed 3330 grams this morning, a gain of 150 grams in one week!! Woo Hoo!! This is such an encouraging sign that I'm doing better. I've gained 300 grams since Dr. Johnson removed the feeding tube. I think he'll be really glad about that.



I was still feeling drowsy though--YAWN!!--and started to head back inside the burrow, but my tortoise mom plopped me down where some tasty flowers could get my attention to wake me up better.



Mmmm, breakfast of champions!!

Flower Power

Since today was cooler, Tortellini and I lined up at the entrance of the burrow, blinking our eyes in the bright morning light before we came out for breakfast. It's the first time in a few days because it's just been too hot to venture out!

We are delighted with the new burrow now that it's all finished. It stays a steady at 84-88 degrees inside whether it's 70 degrees overnight or 107 during the day. Tortoise Dad added a lot more dirt (nature's insulation), plus a little shrub by the entrance to boost humidity. Before he did that, when the weather heated up to 110, we were trying to dig under the globemallow and Mexican evening primrose to cool down a bit. But it wasn't enough and we were pretty miserable. So we really appreciate our new, cool digs. The new burrow even has a screen for extra shade and privacy. Thanks, Tortoise Dad!!



The other day I put my face right in the drip sprayer in the new desert willow tree just to see what it was like. But today I got down to business and actually drank the water. I've been soaking in my little blue pan every week, but I sure won't drink from it, so it's strictly a "cloaka intake" thing. But I do like the fresh water spraying in the tree well. Plus it turns on like magic every morning!



After my drink, I sat under the Littleleaf Cordia where the ground is always covered in a flurry of small, white flowers. Mmmm, they are my favorites! That's what I ate before my surgery last September because I wasn't well enough to bite off anything else like grass, leaves, hibiscus. Now I'm rediscovering how delicious those little white flowers are. Since the weather started cooling yesterday, and the wind is blowing, fresh white flowers made a thick carpet under the cordia. I spent more than 2 hours "vacuuming" them up. Meanwhile Tortellini showed up just long enough to eat my romaine in record time and then scooted back in the burrow. She's not a gourmand like me.



There's more good news: even before I ate and drank this morning, I still weighed in at 3190 grams so I'm at least holding steady. With a few more grazing sessions like today, I'll start feeling like my old self BBS (Before Bladder Stone)!

Morning rounds

I got up early this morning and patrolled the fence and garden, all by myself. In fact, Tortellini slept in. She might have been tired from all her recent burrow "remodeling." She's definitely a DIY tortoise! President Obama could hire her for infrastructure projects. She's one very short bulldozer!

Weighty Matters

The scale doesn't lie: I've been eating! I've gained 156 grams in two weeks! My weight is up 90 grams since my last weigh in and that was before my weekly soak! Plus yesterday I took my first drink of water on my own since my surgery. It was out of the tree well, quite fancy as tortoise drinks go. You know we only like fresh, running water. Rainwater is like Perrier to us tortoises. Clean, refreshing and worth flushing the bladder to stock up on a new supply of water.

Tortellini weighs 3900 grams after hibernating all winter. I have a lot of catching up to do but now weigh 3190 grams after two weeks outside, with lots of "salad bars" and prodding by my tortoise mom and dad. But just two days of sharing the new burrow with Tortellini is reminding me to get busy being a self-feeding tortoise again.

I even came out of the burrow by myself this afternoon. I didn't stay long, but I did sniff everything and see what Tortellini was up to. Of course she was busy eating every flower in sight, plus my salad. Maybe she's finding that being my burrow mate is a pretty good deal afterall?

Sad news

The world is a little sadder because Aunt Darlene died today. She always sent cards and asked how I was doing. She called us turtles even though we are tortoises, but that's ok because we knew she cared. She was very funny and lovable and so it's hard to know she's gone.

There were many tears at our house today and everyone will miss her. Even though I never met her in person, I'll miss her funny cards and fake tortoises that make me do a double take. I know the color is wrong on this "turtle" but I still had to bob my head and check it out. Fake-out!!

Guess who came to dinner?

Since I have to stay on my own side of the barricade until I perk up and eat better on my own, Tortellini hitched a ride over to my side of the yard to remind me to get busy. Boy, she can make hibiscus, cordia and desert willow flowers plus romaine disappear in a hurry! Chomp, chomp, chomp! So I perked right up and started eating too, although my manners are far more delicate than hers.

Then Tortellini prowled the barricade wanting to go back to the main attraction, our old burrow. But it's hot and they decided I need some company so she ended up being my roommate in the new burrow instead. She did her bulldozer thing and suddenly dirt was flying out the doorway as she dug out a cool spot for herself. She is one busy gal! Then she snuggled right down in the best corner, farthest from the doorway. So I have a roommate in the new burrow now. As roommates go, Tortellini is about the best. I'll bet she wakes me up and gets me moving tomorrow morning. I think the lazy days of rehab are now officially over with Tortellini as my new therapist. Eat. Dig. Walk. Prowl the barricade. Oh a tortoise's work is never done!

Day Nine

Like I said, I did eat a lot the first few days and was pretty active. I even gained 66 grams so I weigh 3100 now. That's pretty light for me still so I need to eat a lot of protein-rich foods to gain weight and build muscle. So I keep finding a salad bar wherever I go.



Even though they keep dragging me out to try to interest me in food, I'm a mid-morning tortoise, and just not interested when it's closer to my bedtime. You know what they say about early to bed and fairly early to rise, makes a tortoise healthy and able to go mano a mano (really, gular horn to gular horn) with Tortellini.

Maybe they'll finish landscaping my burrow soon. I do like my new reed awning for extra privacy. The lizards are always a little surprised when they see me tucked in behind the doorway. You can almost see them putting on the brakes before they scurry away. My work is done. It's good to be outside but it will be better when that barricade comes down.

Rehab moves outside

Well, I thought I was going to get free rein in the backyard but Dr. Johnson said no, I have to be monitored every day for two weeks to make sure I start eating on my own. I also need weekly soaks in my little blue pan. So rehab is ongoing, only it's outdoors now.

After Dr. Johnson said my red blood count is stable afterall, and there were no parasites in my poop, they let me go outside. So I made a beeline for the burrow after letting Tortellini know I'm Back and In Charge, and it's time to scoot over and let me have my favorite spot in the burrow. Yep, that's what I said as I bobbed my head and shoved her a bit to drive home my point. It's a good thing she's not super alert yet as she outweighs me by 800 grams!



But I got the shock of my life when I found they had blocked the entrance. What the ...? Can you see my frustration? Did you know a tortoise could be so exasperated after waiting 8 months for this homecoming?



Well never underestimate my determination. I promtply climbed on top of the burrow to look for another way in. Finally I took the plunge and was saved from hurting myself by my tortoise dad. I could be the world's first bungee jumping tortoise, that's just how determined and fearless I am after dreaming of getting back in my burrow for so long.



So it was back to the drawing board. Tortoise dad built a new burrow just for me. I didn't like that one bit. Then they divided the back yard between the two burrows with a giant barricade. People who visit laugh and say, "Tear down this wall" like some important person. Yep, that's what I'd like too.



Meanwhile, here's my new burrow for at least two weeks. It's my job to perk up and feed myself so I can gain weight. I did eat twice and gained 66 grams but I haven't been very perky since. For one thing, I do not like coming out later in the day. I only like mid-morning but it takes someone being able to pull me out of the burrow first. I know, I'm not cooperating very well. But really, I'm just adjusting to this new burrow and suddenly it's hot and I have my own schedule now. I'm on tortoise time now.