FB Pic 'o the Day!!

Wow, I'm so honored to be featured in a public service announcement, plus picture of the day, on Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital's FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/azeahospital

I am all about education and public service, so this is a real treat! Plus they are helping so much so I can hibernate this year (more on that later), so I'm just really grateful for all the good care I get there. And I have a real soft spot for Stacey who knows just how I think (wink)!

The good, the bad, the downright ugly

Sorry I've been away so long. A lot has happened and I got in a funk and decided to tunnel deep into the old burrow and pretend I could stay there all winter, like that was going to work. Nope, not a chance. Now I'm sitting in my new winter pen with the new, shallow burrow and that's where I'm spending the winter. I alternate between being huffy about it and just tucking in the new burrow and pretending I'm where I want to be.

The good news is that when I went in for my pre-hibernation check up, I had gained weight. First time ever that Dr. Johnson rated my weight as normal and healthy. Yay! My beak was green, my scales looked good and I was acting very perky and alert, like a healthy tortoise. So Dr. Johnson said I wouldn't have to sit in my soaking pan, that I could just drink when I want to, whenever they run the hose near me. I like this news a lot! You know how I feel about that soaking pan.



The bad news came just three days later: the lab report on my blood work says I have elevated inflammation markers (herophils, lymphocytes, WBC), elevated calcium (wrong season for that), and elevated uric acid which means my kidneys are working extra hard. So Dr. Johnson delivered the disappointing news that once again (!) I can't hibernate in my favorite deep burrow as my tortoise mom and dad will have to monitor my condition all winter. Hibernation is a tricky time and could be hazardous to my health. So I have to hibernate in the new, shallow burrow so my tortoise dad can pull me out every two weeks to check my weight. Any weight loss means trouble and an urgent visit to Dr. Johnson. We did that last winter. But this winter, since my uric acid is also high, I have to get soaked for 20 minutes every two weeks too, to take some stress off my kidneys. Back to the blue soaking pan. Every two weeks. All. Winter. Long.

Ok, now for the ugly news: in the Spring, I will have endoscopy to see what's causing this "consistent blood abnormality". Dr. Johnson strongly suspects a problem in my reproductive tract. If he's right, and I have an ovarian cyst or tumor, that means - shudder - that means another "open-shell surgery". Oh no, not AGAIN!!! Do I need a trap door on my carapace? Hinges? Geezzzzz!

So that's why I marched into the old burrow a few weeks ago, and refused to come out. My Tortoise Dad could see my face but I was sleepy and not interested in coming out. My tortoise mom knew I had to come out of the old burrow before I was too sleepy to crawl out on my own, so last Sunday she spent a long time with a strawberry slice on a wooden spatula and her arm stuck as far into the burrow as she could get it. Then she talked and sang to me until I perked up at her voice (you know how I love her voice), yawned, looked around and noticed the strawberry. Guess what? She knows how to go "fishing" for a tortoise. Here's the proof:







Once I was close enough to the entrance, my Tortoise Dad pulled me out and sat me in the grass. I thought I was living large with strawberry tops, shredded carrots, cool grass and a drink of water. Yay, life is good after all.




But THEN, when I started walking back to the old burrow, suddenly I found myself plopped down in a new winter pen instead. WHAT??? Oh I did not like this ONE BIT! My Tortoise Dad put me in the new shallow burrow but I was having none of that. So I marched right back out and tucked my head in the corner of the fence and flipped dirt all over my shell to register my displeasure. Well it didn't matter, they left me there anyway. The next day I sat begging at the gate and my Tortoise Mom felt sorry for me so gave me a little treat to soften the blow, but I've had nothing since as it's time to clear out my digestive tract for the winter. She also gave me a pep talk about getting bad medical news, but still having another chance at life. Ok, I know that's true. I just don't want to have another surgery. But I do know it's time to have the endoscopy to find out what's causing all my bad blood work. I really want to get well, and if I have a big untreated problem, then it could contribute to getting another bladder stone. YIKES! I do not want that either!!

Well I'm sorry I don't have all good news. It's disappointing when we've all worked so hard for exactly two years now, but obviously something still is going on with me. This afternoon I decided to make the best of it. I came out of the burrow and they weighed me. I weighed 3320 grams. I ate a little grass and then I got a big long drink when they soaked me in that crummy blue pan. Anyway drinking and soaking usually makes me "express my bladder" so that's what I did. I did a good job too, complete with lots of urates. I did such a good job they weighed me again and I weighed 3230. Yep, I expressed 90 grams of urates, about three ounces of prevention....

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.

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!