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.