Nemo - Before & After

Brian and I were looking at Nemo photos on his new 22" high def computer monitor today. We were noticing the incredible detail in his shell (that would be Nemo's shell). And how gorgeous his shell looks. I recalled that his shell had been dull and cracking a bit when I first got him. I don't think I found the "turtle wax" until about six weeks ago online. I've been using it once a week. In one of the earliest photos of Nemo (below) you can see how dull his shell was and especially dry around the bottom rim. You can also see his body language! Yikes. Poor little guy was scared and unsure about everything. But look at him now. Just scrolling through the blog you can see how comfortable he is and happy. I'm glad he adjusted so incredibly well and is so healthy.

For those with pet turtles who are interested, this is an unsolicited endorsement of Turtle VitaShell (shell and skin conditioner). He doesn't like it when I massage it in but I make a big deal out of praising him and saying things like, "Oooh, doesn't that feel sooo good?" Like it makes a difference. lol. We'll just call it tough love.

Poor scared, dull-shelled Nemo:

Nite Nite Nemo

The quality of this photo is not the greatest. I was up in the wee hours of the morning and could barely see Nemo in the corner. I didn't want to turn the light on and wake him. I took the picture with flash and then used about every touchup filter to make his snuggledness visible. He is so relaxed. Love his left arm tucked backwards and how he is under the blanket so just his shell is covered with his little leggies sprawled out the back. Shhhh, he's sleeping.

Posing Pretty For The Camera

Nemo has trained Brian and I to get down on our stomachs on the floor to take his picture. I think he's thinking "good human" whenever we do that. He certainly isn't camera shy. Looks like a dog show pose. Head up and arched pretty for the camera. Look how innocent he looks in this!

Nemo has occasionally been seen meandering a certain path from the kitchen into the living room, around the chair and ottoman, and back into the kitchen. I was up about 4:30 am today. He came out of his cozy blanketed sleeping spot to look at me. He even came over to my area of the room which scared me. Thought I saw a huge spider at first. lol. I went into the living room to look at computer a few minutes before returning to bed. I happened to notice him coming around the corner from the ottoman.

He was trying to be nonchalant about actually seeing me. Of course he wouldn't be in the room just because I was there! It's fun to watch him become more comfortable in getting closer to Brian and me...but not too close. It will be on his terms. I guess we do laps around the kitchen and the living room now.

Too Tired To Climb?

I turned on Nemo's basking light a bit earlier than usual this morning--5 a.m. The next time I entered the room he was posed in this position. He was not climbing the log. He was simply in this position for about half an hour. Fell asleep climbing? Although his expression tells me to just leave him alone, thank you very much. For whatever reason, this was comfortable to him. Silly turtle.

Nemo Meets the Roomba

My Roomba stopped working around the time Nemo came into my life in June. Yesterday, a new Roomba moved in. This morning I had the energy to Roomba and Swiffer the floor which included Nemo's space. As I began to move his igloo, jungle gym, and other hides and accessories out of the room, he retreated to his summer home and watched me with disdain as I touched and actually relocated his stuff. By the time I cleared the room, Nemo was in the back of his summer home withdrawn into his shell. I put a gate around his little spot since the Roomba would simply touch the gate and move away.

The Roomba went to work with its loud whirring. Rather than stay hidden, Nemo came out to see what the commotion was. He watched the Roomba and moved quickly to whichever side of his gate the Roomba happened to move. He soon started to try to climb the gate and stick his head out of the spaces. When the Roomba moved to the other side of the room to clean, I removed the gate. Nemo was quickly on the move--not away from it--but toward it! For awhile he watched it from behind the wall as a cat would watch its prey. When the Roomba started to come toward him, he quickly turned around and scampered but the Roomba caught up and bumped his shell before moving in another direction. I wish I had a photo of the expression on his face. "What the heck was THAT?!" He looked so confused. lol.

This picture shows Nemo and the Roomba only about three feet apart.

It is just before the Roomba went toward him and he made a run for it. He was so brave until that point. Then he wandered into the living room to escape the round intruder. The kiddie gate kept him out until the floor dried. He watched as I set up his summer home and immediately came back into the kitchen into his hide and watched carefully as I returned all his belongings. When I was done, he explored all of his areas as if to make sure everything was where it should be. Quite an exciting turtle morning I would say.

Talk to the Shell

Brian is so funny. Last night when he saw Nemo's photo stomping back into the house from the terrace, he proclaimed Nemo was thinking "Talk to the shell." As you may recall, Brian is also the source of "Does this shell make my butt look big?" I think he likes "our" pet turtle.

By the way, Nemo's "tough love" diet has been harder on me than him. I seem to have great difficulty not feeding him for three days. Am trying to get better. Today is just fruit. Now if I could just not feel guilty about 2 pm when he still hasn't eaten anything and offer him a shrimp... "The Dog Whisperer" says there are no bad dogs, only bad owners--or something to that effect. I'm not being a very good turtle mom. And he looks so cute when eats a bite of bagel. He LOVES his bagels. What's a mother to do?

Nemo & The Dreaded Outdoors

Nemo seems to have been traumatized by any outdoor experience since he arrived. He never calmed down sufficiently to explore the garden. He was always frantic to get out. Then came the turtle terrace. He would try desperately to get his head through every possible hole in the kiddie gate to get out. I would make a step from a rolled towel so he could get back in the house on his own, and every time he would immediately head for the step after he stopped panicking at the gate.

Today is a gorgeous cool sunny day. Turtle perfect weather. I covered the gate with a blanket so he couldn't see through it. When I placed him on the terrace, it was the first time he didn't freak out. He seemed to explore a bit. However, he was soon marching toward the step. The photo is quite a look of grumpiness and determination at having been subjected to the dreaded outdoors. I'll consider today's outing a success though. He did get fresh air and without a panic attack.

Earlier this morning, when I first came into the kitchen after waking up, I was greeted by Nemo in his trademark lounging position on his intersection stone. The position is not new but the location was and yesterday he had enjoyed his spritzing session there so much. I wondered if he wanted another spray bath. As soon as I sprayed him, his back legs began to do the happy swim thing. I sprayed for several minutes. At one point he turned 45 degrees so he was being sprayed tail to nose. Ahhhhh. Life is good.

Nemos Eating Bet-Bulls

For those of you who don't speak four-year old, "bet-bulls" is vegetables. This was drawn by the president of Nemo's Fan Club. She insists that whomever is writing or spelling for her has it sound exactly as she says it--and she makes the person read it back so they better get it right! Her pictures have helped keep my spirits up during my recuperation.

This morning, Nemo parked on his intersection stone. Usually it is just a place to decide which direction he wants to go. I figured it might be a good place to spritz him which he likes sometimes. I'll spray mist him with a misting bottle once. If he doesn't move away, he wants to be sprayed. So I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. Soon his little legs were doing the swimming thing and he was washing his face. It was probably the longest he wanted to be sprayed. He then proceeded to eat the two shrimp that was his meal for the day and is now snuggled in his summer home looking out with a perfect view of all that goes on in the room as well as my comings and goings. And that's this morning's Nemo update.

Nemo Goes Mobile (Phone, that is)

I love this photo--he looks soooo comfy and I love his little leg bent up. I've been wanting to share an exchange Brian and I had when I was recently in the hospital. He was at home with Nemo and the two were bonding. Brian loves to see what Nemo is up to or what position and expression he has at the moment.

Anyway, Brian called me at the hospital from home. He updated me on Nemo's latest antics. Before ending the conversation, I said 'give a turtle kiss to Nemo for me." Brian asked if I wanted to talk to him over the phone. I decided that was over the top even for me. But Brian wanted to see if Nemo had any response to hearing my voice. I wish I had a picture of what followed. Brian held the phone to Nemo which means Brian was down on the floor. As I started to do my turtle talk in my special turtle voice, I could hear Brian laughing in the background.

When Brian put the phone back to his ear, he was quite intrigued to tell me that, as soon as Nemo heard my voice, he began looking all around to see where I was. Aww, how cute. Of course I told Brian he now had the task of explaining cell phones to Nemo so it didn't drive him crazy that he couldn't see me! It's nice to know my little guy recognizes my voice--even over the phone :-) (My little guy being Nemo.) lol.

Lost in the Mist

As Nemo's video agent , I have been looking for 4 days for his new video to go live. It can't be found in a search but has now had 80 views. I decided it was lost because a large amount of backlogged videos were posted today...minus Nemo. Being the ever diligent overseer of turtle videos, I decided to modify the first one slightly and upload it a second time. I am so pleased with the revised version. In fact, this morning Nemo was lounging in such a funny position with his legs stretched straight back behind him, I took several pictures which turned out great. They were added to the video and the first picture on this post is the "cover photo" for the video. If you haven't posted to YouTube, whatever picture shows up as a choice for the cover graphic is what you get. This is the first time I am tickled pink with the choice.

Enjoy either of Nemo's "mist" videos. The second one has a few extra touches. Hope you find his little turtle legs and feet as cute as I do!

Nemo's Secret Life

I had suspected that Nemo might be like Michigan J. Frog from cartoon fame. Some may recall that a kind man found a frog and took it home as his pet. All the frog ever did when the owner was around was sit and ribbit. However, as soon as the owner was gone, the frog would whip out a hat and cane and sing and dance to "Hello, my baby, hello, my honey..." Always made me giggle.

I could not have known this without Brian's help. Brian was in the kitchen as was I, but I was leaving the room periodically to attend to other matters. As soon as I was gone, Brian said Nemo would come out and do about five activities and be back in his original position by the time I returned. During one of my "absences", he took a lap around the room, soaked in his tub, and climbed over his log before returning where I, of course, would have assumed he had stayed. What's up with that?

I wanted to share the picture of Nemo's igloo which is now adorned with an adorable hand-made sign of wood letters, a wood turtle, and stenciling of leaves. The precious sign was made for Nemo by one of his most adoring fans who happens to be four years old.

My blogging has slowed down for health reasons but will try to share at least a photo or two even if I'm unable to write much for now. It has now been four days and Nemo's new video has not made it "live" on YouTube. Apparently they have a backlog of processing. But his video has 70 views before it has become publicly known. Isn't it odd that the video is earning honors for the past two days but you can't find it in a search of their website? The link provided above to his videos does include Turtle in the Mist. Am hoping it will make many people giggle.

The photo to the left is Nemo in one of his favorite lounging spots by the door stopper in an exotic turtle yoga pose looking extremely relaxed.

Nemo in the Mist

How normal is THIS behavior? While casually having breakfast yesterday morning, I watched as Nemo was on his second lap around the room. He decided to go into his wading pool although he stopped on his log stepping stone and began to wriggle his back legs as if he were already in the pool. Color me confused.

He proceeded to have a very happy bath moving all around to wash his face and kicking his little legs. My camera was close by so thought I'd start "rolling". I saw his head go down into the water but then could not tell what I was seeing. I moved the camera away from my face to see Nemo with his head touching the wading pool floor and his butt stuck high into the air. What a funny sight. He proceeded to engage in that activity several times before placing his head directly into the nearby cool mist humidifier (that I had just placed on the floor in that spot earlier in the morning). It was then I realized he was misting his butt! Too funny. And it explains why he was doing his swimming legs on the log--he was feeling the mist.

He seems to have been in the water more lately so I thought maybe he needed hydration a little more "in his face" so to speak. The rest of my day was spent editing the pieces of movie from his bath for an impromptu new video--Turtle in the Mist. Turns out, I'm not the only one to have used that play on words but it fits the image. Just click on the link for Nemo's YouTube videos. Hope you enjoy it! It was fun to make.

Silly turtle, tricks are for kids

Nemo was very active and athletic this morning. He seems to like adventure and climbing. This is how I first found him after noticing he had been basking on his log. A small wrought iron table serves as the stand for his basking lamp. those curly cues have to be uncomfortable. He's tried climbing over them before and either finally gave up and took another route or clumsily fell over to the other side. Today he was balanced as shown with an expression of "Okay, this spot will do." I didn't see how he maneuvered out of there. Kinda looks like Cirque du Soleil Nemo.

For his next gravity defying trick, he somehow managed to balance himself between the baseboard and his summer home. I noticed when I looked up and saw his head slowly moving behind and just above his summer home wondering what the heck was going on. It's a bird, it's a plane...it's Nemo "tightrope walking". Possibly he likes to give the bottom of his shell a breather from his body weight of 1.1 pounds?

This next photo isn't a trick--it's simply Nemo looking adorable surrounded by his fuzzy friends. This morning I noticed he had finally adopted the new cuttlebone that has been with Tommy Turtle for about two weeks. Am thinking Nemo said something like "Mine!" as he dragged it over from the stuffed animal turtle to his garage area.

Sorry for the lack of daily blogs. I was unexpectedly hospitalized last week and wasn't near Nemo or my computer. Will share Nemo stories as relayed by Brian during my time away from home for next post. Sounds like "the boys" had great bonding time.