Look at who I woke up today!

Rhinerah · Mar 1, 2012

I agree that this has been a fascinating thread! I never knew that they hibernated at all! Love the pics btw!

Glynis · Mar 2, 2012

helloooooooooo LUCY LOU XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

THankyou i too have learnt heaps today........absolutely fascinating and the fact that you've had her so long is awesome x)x)x)x)x)

Mabel'sMum · Mar 2, 2012

Thanks for posting....really interesting! Helloooooo Lucy Lou! x

MerryPip · Mar 2, 2012

This is really interesting. I think your lucy lou looks fab!

I have a map turtle who lives in a tank in my dining room. He's a temperate, almost completely aquatic species but I don't hibernate him at all as he's inside. he does get out of his tank for a roam on the floor occasionally while I do his water changes and he loves a romp in the garden in the summer.he's a nightmare to keep trackof tho as he's only the size of a jaffa cake and has some turn of speed!

He's seven now and still the size of a hatchling as he has a growth disorder.

It's interesting to hear about other peoples tortoises.

susiewoosie · Mar 2, 2012

this is really fantastic! i'm stunned.. good stuff

|)
thanks for sharing

liquorice allsorts · Mar 2, 2012

MerryPip said:
This is really interesting. I think your lucy lou looks fab!

I have a map turtle who lives in a tank in my dining room. He's a temperate, almost completely aquatic species but I don't hibernate him at all as he's inside. he does get out of his tank for a roam on the floor occasionally while I do his water changes and he loves a romp in the garden in the summer.he's a nightmare to keep trackof tho as he's only the size of a jaffa cake and has some turn of speed!

He's seven now and still the size of a hatchling as he has a growth disorder.

It's interesting to hear about other peoples tortoises.

i dont know much about turtles! dont they eat meat? must be hard keeping track of him in the garden,and a very escape proof one!

wind1 · Mar 2, 2012

My tortoise Freda looks about the same size as yours but her shell is flatter. She is a med spur thigh I think and approx 60 years old. I checked on her yesterday but still sleeping. Here's a picture of her from last summer

piglet_and_rogers_mama · Mar 3, 2012

That's so cool that you still have a pet that you got as a child! Very interesting thread

doglovinpiggylover · Mar 3, 2012

woweee loving all the tortoisey stuff, what a commitment eh?

They really are beautiful, but oh how sad was that about them being shipped stacked on top of each other...sob.

How wonderful that you went to check her and she was awake, what if she had been awake for days? would she get frustrated or just nod off again? Fascinating stuff.,.

ps do they get many ailments?

Guinea pigs <3 · Mar 3, 2012

Something else that I'd love to have one day now.....

liquorice allsorts · Mar 3, 2012

doglovinpiggylover said:
woweee loving all the tortoisey stuff, what a commitment eh?

They really are beautiful, but oh how sad was that about them being shipped stacked on top of each other...sob.

How wonderful that you went to check her and she was awake, what if she had been awake for days? would she get frustrated or just nod off again? Fascinating stuff.,.

ps do they get many ailments?

she was awake, but very dozy, so dont think it would have hurt her to leave her for a few more days,but it was getting warm in the garage, and when igot her out , she had a soak in some warm water, and then had a little wander round the kitchen. today she spent some time in the garden, only a couple of hours, but had a wander, its funny, but when i lift her out of her box for the first time after her sleep, i always expect her to smile at me, and be pleased to see me, but she never is! tortoises do get worms, she has been wormed , but not for a couple of years, they can get ill, mouth problems, like a fungal infection, but she has never had this, they are quite a difficult pet really, she HATES the rain, and will run for cover! once i looked out in the garden, two o clock one sunny day, and there was a FOX sitting next to her! luckily it had nt touched her, but she is always brought in at nightx

liquorice allsorts · Mar 3, 2012

wind1 said:
My tortoise Freda looks about the same size as yours but her shell is flatter. She is a med spur thigh I think and approx 60 years old. I checked on her yesterday but still sleeping. Here's a picture of her from last summer

ooh yes they are very similar! sure she will be awake soon! better get extra cucumber in! ours loves peaches, stwawberries, plums, melon,clover, apple , romaine lettuce dandelions, honestly between her and the piggies, it costs a small fortune over the summer!

wind1 · Mar 4, 2012

Do you give yours flowers and weeds? Freda loves pansies the most particularly the yellow ones. She also loves wild geranium, campanula, honeysuckle and bindweed, all of which grow in my garden so I can just pick them as and when she wants them. She eats loads once she gets going. I also give her greens, lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot and occasionally fruit. I love to sit and watch her eat!

gogoguineas · Mar 4, 2012

This really is a fascinating thread!
So in general do they live outside? Do they free range as long as your garden is secure? Are foxes an issue likey are for furries?

wind1 · Mar 4, 2012

Freda lives outside from about April through to Sept/Oct depending on how long summer lasts. When she first comes out of hibernation I bring her in at night as the temperature drops but after a couple of weeks she stays out all day and all night. She has a hutch inside a run which I shut her into at night. This protects her from any foxes. There have been cases of tortoises getting quite nasty injuries from foxes. She gets up in the morning quite early when the sun is shining on the hutch and is usually back in bed by about 3pm. When it is raining she often sits at the entrance to the hutch with her head out having a shower. I have only had her for 5 years, before that she lived with a friend of mine who took her on from an elderly couple. They had her for 50 years and she lived free range in thier garden, burying herself into the ground to hibernate each winter and emerging in the spring. I can't let her wander free range as my garden is not secure and is on different levels so she would fall down the slopes and steps! Here's another photo of her enjoying lunch. Let's see more photos of others tortoises please

liquorice allsorts · Mar 4, 2012

wind1 said:
Do you give yours flowers and weeds? Freda loves pansies the most particularly the yellow ones. She also loves wild geranium, campanula, honeysuckle and bindweed, all of which grow in my garden so I can just pick them as and when she wants them. She eats loads once she gets going. I also give her greens, lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot and occasionally fruit. I love to sit and watch her eat!

yes she has flowers, she likes geraniums, also ice plant (cant remember the other name for it now) never tried bind weed! thanks will try that, she only like s the broad leaf dandelion. she will eat grass too.
she does free range round our garden, we also have a box out there for her to go in at night, but we then bring her in, they are actually very valuable, especially the big ones, so i worry she might be stolen, every morning i put her in a shallow bowl of tepid water, for a few minutes, she really sems to enjoy this, apparently they like to wallow in shallow water in the wild, she also has a dish of water to drink from in the garden, but we rarely see heer drink. yes foxes have been known to chew at tortoises, i was so worried when i swa that one in the garden, touch wood she has been fine.

liquorice allsorts · Mar 4, 2012

wind1 said:
Do you give yours flowers and weeds? Freda loves pansies the most particularly the yellow ones. She also loves wild geranium, campanula, honeysuckle and bindweed, all of which grow in my garden so I can just pick them as and when she wants them. She eats loads once she gets going. I also give her greens, lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot and occasionally fruit. I love to sit and watch her eat!

yes she has flowers she likes geraniums, and ice plant (cant remember the other name for it now ) she will only eat broad leaf dandelions, never tried bind weed! thanks, will try that! she also crops the grass.
she does free range around our garden, summer would nt be the same without her,we also have a box she puts herself to bed in, then we bring it in, they are quite valuable, especially the big ones, i worry she might be stolen. when she first wakes up i put her in a shallow bowl of tepid water for a few minutes every day, she really seems to enjoy this, apparently in the wild they like to wallow in shallow water.
foxes can be a problem to tortoises, i was so worried when i saw the one in the garden next to her, but thankfully she was not touched.

wind1 · Mar 4, 2012

Ice plant is sedum, Freda eats these too. She likes the white flower of bindweed, not sure about the leaves. She also likes to drink. I use a plastic shallow bird bath sunk into the ground so she can climb in and out of it. I sometimes sit her in a cat litter tray (clean of course) with warm water in and she will put her head right under the water and drink for ages and blow bubbles from her nose. My friend who I got Freda from also had another tortoise called Fred and he was stolen. Freda was in the same enclosure but she was left behind. She had a respiratory infection at the time so maybe the person knew she was ill and wouldn't be able to sell her on. Can't think why else they would take one and not the other. Freda is prone to getting respiratory infections. Have you ever had to give your tortoise medicine? Not an easy task!

liquorice allsorts · Mar 4, 2012

no have never had to give her medicine, i imagine she would get very cross! sometimes when she is asleep on the grass, if i make her jump by walking close to her , she will sort of hiss and pull her head back in, ( she always sleeps in the sun with her head hanging out), i would think she would make the same noise if i tried to give her medicine.
when freda has her respiratory infections, does she sort of make a wheezing noise? two years ago our s did this , we took her to a specialist vet, who said it was due to her being out at night , we could nt find her one eve,so she was left out, and vet said it was because her metabolism was struggling to warm up, another reason we bring her in .

suem · Mar 4, 2012

Well Kermit has moved round her box but it is too cold to put her out the garden. She gets very agitated if I have to get her in at night. So I keep a watchful eye on her until I can put her out, and leave her out. She doesnt like cucumber at all. Loves any sort of green stuff, bindweed, dandelions, strawberrries, peaches, plums, cherries. Also I give her fine puppy biscuits soaked in warm water with cuttlefish powder on once or twice during the summer. Might have a last years photo will have a look see...
think this is the previous year. Will get a good one when she wakes up and has had her bath and drink of water..

wind1 · Mar 4, 2012

liquorice allsorts said:
no have never had to give her medicine, i imagine she would get very cross! sometimes when she is asleep on the grass, if i make her jump by walking close to her , she will sort of hiss and pull her head back in, ( she always sleeps in the sun with her head hanging out), i would think she would make the same noise if i tried to give her medicine.
when freda has her respiratory infections, does she sort of make a wheezing noise? two years ago our s did this , we took her to a specialist vet, who said it was due to her being out at night , we could nt find her one eve,so she was left out, and vet said it was because her metabolism was struggling to warm up, another reason we bring her in .

She sounds like she's snoring and has a runny nose. It usually happens when she comes out of hibernation but it hasn't happened for the last 2 years. I read somewhere that once they had had a respiratory infection they were then likely to get them again. Maybe the immune system doesn't cope so well once they have been ill? Trying to get her head out, keep it out, open her mouth and get a syringe in takes some practice I can tell you!

liquorice allsorts · Mar 4, 2012

suem said:
Well Kermit has moved round her box but it is too cold to put her out the garden. She gets very agitated if I have to get her in at night. So I keep a watchful eye on her until I can put her out, and leave her out. She doesnt like cucumber at all. Loves any sort of green stuff, bindweed, dandelions, strawberrries, peaches, plums, cherries. Also I give her fine puppy biscuits soaked in warm water with cuttlefish powder on once or twice during the summer. Might have a last years photo will have a look see...
think this is the previous year. Will get a good one when she wakes up and has had her bath and drink of water..

aah she is lovely, very like ours, except lucilla(lucylou is short for that) has sort of paler white star marks on her shell,, i always wait until she has put herself to bed in the garden at night before i bring her in. think i should add this, as this thread has attracted a lot of interest, its only the big, hardy tortoises who can go out in the garden to free range, the small ones you can buy now in pet shops have been bred here, and need to be kept in a heated tank, as they are too tender to put out, they cant hibernate for a while either, these are a different kettle of fish to keep altogether.

suem · Mar 4, 2012

I did have 2 originally. Cynthia was bought a year or so after Kermit. She was small didnt eat and had a fungal infection in her mouth. It was awful she had lots of meds, spent days round the vets. I had to force feed her. They even contacted a specialist in London but to no avail. We would get her eating but then she would just stop. One day there were flies round her face and I looked into her eyes and she was so sad so the vet had her and put her to sleep. Next time we went they said that wasnt easy thing to do. She was a little cutie...

Shalom · Mar 4, 2012

What a wonderful thread, I have really enjoyed reading it .

|)

liquorice allsorts · Mar 4, 2012

suem said:
I did have 2 originally. Cynthia was bought a year or so after Kermit. She was small didnt eat and had a fungal infection in her mouth. It was awful she had lots of meds, spent days round the vets. I had to force feed her. They even contacted a specialist in London but to no avail. We would get her eating but then she would just stop. One day there were flies round her face and I looked into her eyes and she was so sad so the vet had her and put her to sleep. Next time we went they said that wasnt easy thing to do. She was a little cutie...

how awful for you, sounds like she had given up, poor soul x

liquorice allsorts · Mar 4, 2012

Shalom said:
What a wonderful thread, I have really enjoyed reading it .|)

thats great! i am quite surprised really at the amount of interest this thread has attracted- especially as it is a guinea pig forum

|)

Peegs · Mar 4, 2012

i think its really facinating too ! the tortoises at my uni when i was there used to pack them away for the winter in a fridge special for them and they were put in their own special boxes with their name on the front and patterns drawn all over them