Wow, hard to believe I'm 47 already. Where does time go? Oh, yeah, I do spend all winter hibernating. And then I spent 90 percent of my time underground the rest of the year to regulate my body temperature. Especially these last few years as it's been hotter than ever here. Tortoises respond to the increasing heat by staying underground more and more. Even Tortellini just dashes out for 15 minutes at 6 a.m. as it's too hot to graze like we used to "back in the day".
The good news is that because it's been even warmer than this time last summer, I got my birthday present early: Yep, right now I'm cool as a cucumber deep down in the old burrow. Home Sweet Home!! Before that, my tortoise mom and dad monitored me from my special winter burrow and pen every morning. So I got "walks" in the grass every morning, plus water from the sprinklers -- like rain on a timer!! -- and then a special shredded tortoise salad back in my pen, which I heartily ate every morning. I can eat well if the food is easy to bite. My tortoise mom figured this out while watching me try to bite food that took too much tearing for my weakened jaw muscles. So she made me a salad of shredded kale, bean sprouts, carrots, and even hibiscus flowers for me. It's like having my own personal chef!! Anyway I did gain weight and feel good until someone turned up the thermostat to Blazing Hot, so I started trying to escape to the old burrow even more and then I started losing some weight. That's when my tortoise mom and dad realized I needed more relief from the heat, so they let me go back to the old burrow. I thought that was too good to be true after they had nabbed me so many times over the last few months (Curses, foiled again!), so I got right to the burrow entrance and stopped: Not falling for this again. But my tortoise mom assured me it was ok and even gave me a nudge to go in the entrance. Wow! FREEDOM!!
I haven't been back for a check-up with Dr. Johnson because my tortoise mom isn't able to take care of me following endoscopy due to her own health problem, so that's why she came up with the plan to "walk" me every morning to encourage eating, drinking, peeing, and just generally perking up. Anyway I'm really grateful for all the TLC. The best days were when Tortellini came out to graze too. Woo Hoo, just like old times!
So today is my birthday, but it's so hot that I'm staying in the burrow this morning. Tortellini dashed out for a few minutes but she's a lot more active than me and always has been. But even she is having to stay underground more with this heat. I know we live in the desert, but it wasn't always this hot all the time, especially overnight. We used to come out and graze for an hour or so every morning AND evening. Plus we had rain! Oh how we love rain!! We practically dance in it!! But we've only rain once this year. I tanked up and then flushed and flushed and flushed my bladder (Ok, I'm a hoarder), unlike Tortellini who flushes her bladder a lot so it's just a ladylike amount of urates that she leaves on the grass. Not me. So that's why my tortoise mom sits me in the sprinklers a lot because it feels more like rain to me so then I tend to drink and flush more.
I really am trying to do better as I don't want another bladder stone. My goal is to live many more decades without any more bladder stones or surgeries. I'll always be a "special needs" tortoise with weak hind legs and jaw muscles from nerve damage from the gigantic stone that I was hauling around for so long, but my tortoise mom and dad love me enough to accommodate those needs. It's not easy but I'm very grateful for a second chance at life. Having more birthdays is the best gift of all!!
P.S. Happy Birthday to a very special girl who turns 7 today. I hope you can visit me again soon!!
