Not this again!

We've all worked so hard all summer so I could be a "real tortoise" again, and just slide naturally into hibernation. My blood tests were better than ever after a year of hand-feeding from my Tortoise Mom and Dad, and even my wonderful tortoise sitters (Thanks, Terry, Meghan and Brenda!!!). But I did have trouble with my right eye getting all "squinty" and easily irritated all summer.

Then on September 8, the sky opened up and I thought I was in Heaven because I love, love, love to drink rainwater. Especially now, because it's easier for me to drink water pouring down on my head than to try to suck it up in puddles (myocitis muscle loss). But it rained SIX INCHES and I was too cold to move to higher ground so they had to rescue me. I spent the night in a box in the warm and dry garage while the yard drained. Tortellini weathered the storm in the winter burrow because our favorite big one flooded a little. Seriously, I've never seen rain like this in all my life! Six inches all in one morning! For a while there, I thought I could be a sea turtle!

When the yard drained, I got to go back out and hunker down under my favorite ruellia bush. I even flushed my bladder and left a golf ball sized bladder stone. Yes! But the ground stayed so damp, and my immune system is really sensitive, so I ended up getting sick. My skin and eyelids and even the inside of my mouth turned very pink. Back to visit Dr. Johnson and to start two weeks of antibiotics. When I got better, he got very worried about my eyes so then it was back to visit Dr. Reed, my tortoise eye vet (opthomologist).

See what good hands I'm in? I'm also a very good patient and sit perfectly still while Dr. Reed examines my eyes with special lights and even pushes on them to check the pressure. She says that more muscle or fat loss is causing my eyes to sink in and that keeps my eyelids from working right. So now I get moisturizing eye drops after my anti-inflammatory eye drops. If I don't, my eyelids get stuck and won't open at all. Scary! Who turned out the lights?

Anyway, my multiple special needs are delaying hibernation so I won't get sick, or worse (hey it's hard to shudder in a shell), so here I am, back in the guest bathtub. I didn't mind sleeping in a box indoors at night ever since I got sick in September. But moving to the bathtub with special lights to maintain my core temperature - AGAIN! - just feels so disappointing. But the reality is I can't come and go as I please, like Tortellini, who, by the way, has been hunkered down in the big burrow for 10 days now. I wish I was in there with her, but I have to accept my special needs. I got a steroid injection on Saturday and it has to wear off for 30 days before I can even think of hibernating. Even then, my temperature and eye medications will have to be monitored constantly.

So I'll only get a semi-, pretend, sorta hibernation. Maybe. I'm disappointed but trying to be grateful for such good care too. I'd really like to celebrate my 50th birthday in June. And I know I wouldn't have a chance without all the good care from my Tortoise Mom and Dad. Especially my Tortoise Dad who has been doing all the bending and lifting, and is a real magician when it comes to cleaning my eyes. He doesn't have my Tortoise Mom's voice, but I really like when he talks to me too. I'm really lucky and I know it. (Grateful sigh.)

Celebrating 49!

The birthday surprise was on my Tortoise Dad when he discovered I had switched burrows early this morning instead of waiting for him to feed me like usual. I was out and about on my own, looking for little leaf cordia flowers and anxious to get the party started. Sure enough, I got not only my favorite birthday salad (Mazuri tortoise diet, spring greens, timothy hay, grass, globemallow leaves) but it had Booster and pretty pink desert willow flowers on top. Mmmmm, delicious!!

But the first thing I wanted was to enjoy my own personal tortoise fountain, which I happily did, because it's so hot now and steroid injections make me extra thirsty. I would do a Happy Dance when the drip irrigation system turns on every morning if I wasn't so busy gulping water and enjoying the soothing spray washing out my eyes. So relaxing. But it was even more special this morning because my Tortoise Mom sang to me. I always listen and tilt my head when I hear her voice. 

So I drank, ate, peed, ate some more and then enjoyed a nice cool soaking before going back ln my favorite burrow to stay comfortable on this very hot day. I had a really nice birthday celebration today, and I hear my special friend Terry is coming to visit me tomorrow. We met 20 years ago and he has always been so very good to me. 

I am one lucky tortoise and really appreciate being able to celebrate so many birthdays. Even though I have so many health needs, I'm still happy being me! Sobreviviente (Spanish for living above survival)! 

Birthdays!!

I'm so excited because tomorrow is my 49th birthday! I am so grateful for all the love and care that has gotten me this far, starting with being rescued by my Tortoise Mom in 1978 when I was 13 (hatched in 1965). My previous caregiver had chained me in their yard along with my brother Charlie, but when we get kept eating whatever grew in their yard anyway, they dropped us off at my Tortoise Mom's house because they had heard she loved tortoises. That was more than 36 years ago! My Tortoise Mom never met those people and didn't even know we were coming, but once she saw us she cut the chains off our shells because it's so painful for our living and growing shells. Then she let us enjoy all the grass and leaves we wanted in our new yard. Yay, freedom!

The other thing that I absolutely love is that I share my birthday with one of my favorite girls in the whole entire world. She was born on my 40th birthday, so she'll turn 9 tomorrow. Here is one of my favorite photos of her when she visited me three years ago. While everyone else was enjoying an Easter Egg Hunt, Dayna was more interested in seeing me and how I live in my burrow. She is so interested in animals and learns all about them, including her pet lizard Kermie. She's so smart I think she could be a vet like Dr. Johnson or any type of scientist if she wants. Anyway as I celebrate my birthday, it's fun to celebrate hers every year too, see 2011 post here. Happy Birthday, Dayna!!

I've been holed up in my favorite spot in my favorite burrow all week because it's so hot, but I know my Tortoise Mom and Dad have plans for a special Mazuri birthday salad for me and my Tortoise Dad's favorite cake for my non-reptile friends. I'll be extra hungry tomorrow and ready to celebrate!!

As I was saying...

... before spending all Fall, Winter and Spring indoors in the bathtub. Whew! What an endurance event for me and my Tortoise Mom and Dad! But even though my scary blood tests improved so much back in October - protein levels improved with Mazuri feeding so no more anemia - I was still way too skinny and weak to hibernate all winter. Dr. Johnson thought I might get to hibernate part of the winter, but when he checked me in January, my weight was still too low to risk it. So then I wasn't allowed to go outside until the temperature was at least 80 degrees during the day. And I couldn't stay outside overnight until it was at least 65 degrees at night.

Also I kept having trouble with my right eye that sinks in due to muscle loss. So that meant getting daily eye drops to prevent uveitis, blepharitus and infection. Plus daily Mazuri tortoise diet with greens. Plus soaking to prevent dehydration. And THEN, during the Spring, my Tortoise Mom had eye surgery so she couldn't take care of me, or even see very well, so my Tortoise Dad did it ALL! What a great guy. I am so grateful. He doesn't have my Tortoise Mom's voice that always gets my attention, but I like his voice now too.

The good news is I finally got to go back outside and sleep in my favorite burrow. The bad news is that I got an eye infection almost instantly, but my Tortoise Dad thought I was just sleepy when one eyelid wouldn't open very well. Then my Tortoise Mom had a bad dream about me and marched outside with a magnifying glass and flashlight to help her see better so they could examine me closely. Sure enough, her dream was right about my being sick. So then I got antibiotics in my eye and that cleared things up pretty fast.

Meanwhile she noticed that I really, really like having water pour over my face when my Tortoise Dad is washing off the Mazuri after I eat. Then he noticed I was swallowing the water that poured down into my mouth. He also noticed that I got really big drinks in my blue pan when the water level was higher so I didn't have to bend my neck down to drink. Ever since then, I've been getting big drinks both in the pan and I get to enjoy the sprinklers in the yard too.

When I got my check up with Dr. Johnson, he noted that my neck muscles pull up better than they pull down so it made sense that I was drinking water in a whole new way. (And boy am I drinking water now!) He also said that since tortoises don't have tear ducts and my right eye sinks in due to muscle loss, it's important to keep that eye washed clean every day. "If only there was some kind of fountain..."

Well, folks, thanks to my Tortoise Mom and Dad, there IS!!! Here is my very own tortoise height fountain that washes my eyes out and lets me drink water overhead too. Woo hoo, I am one happy gal!!