To bask or not to bask?

If this is your first visit to this blog, I imagine you would wonder why this is even news. lol. Nemo watched intently again this morning as I opened the curtain, cleaned his bathtub, started his mister, and put some food in his dish....high hopes from his recent shrimp treat. His greeting me in the morning wide awake is reminiscent of pre-hibernation days.

I moved him close to his wading dish and slightly spritzed him which didn't seem to bother him. If it had, he would have hissed and hurried off. Instead he stood for several minutes between the bath and the basking log. At least he was pondering whether to bask or not. I guess he decided it wouldn't be today. Maybe he was refreshing his memory about what it was for ;-O

After making up his little turtle mind, he simply turned and retreated to his summer home. Hope springs eternal...

Nemo Knows How to Beg

Good news! Nemo ate a shrimp yesterday. I was so happy he ate...something...anything of substance. The bagel is something weird we found out he liked, but it doesn't have much nutritional value. I keep tiny frozen shrimp for him and defrost one or two at a time. lol. I just run them under water until they get soft. Now for the background as to how I know he was begging.

When I first walked into his area yesterday morning and turned on his basking lamp, he was in his summer home with his head fully stretched out and up. "Are you waiting for the mist to take your bath?" I filled up the humidifer and announced his spa awaited. Several minutes later, he was still intently watching me. Pleading eyes. Fresh water. Open the curtain of the back door. (He gets upset if he can't see the light come in...really.)

After beginning to prepare my breakfast, I could see across the counter to him still watching me with outstretched neck. It was then I realized he just might be hungry. The pampered little guy is used to having special treats placed in front of his summer home. He doesn't have to waste energy walking the 12" over to his food dish. Shortly after I placed the two shrimp near his head (which he quickly withdrew in case I might try to touch him), I could see the one shrimp moving backwards. hehe When I peeked at him, he had gathered it up in one mouthful. He declined the second shrimp. So be it.

He did have a bath today after I moved him near the water and he came OUT of his shell instead of withdrawing. Brian and I decided he liked having "the lift" so he didn't have to walk. Maybe it's his manipulative way to actually be held without seeming as if he likes it.

And some people think pets can't communicate. Body language. My turtle can express his needs.

Nemo Checking for Safe Passage

This morning Nemo's lump under the blanket had moved. Last night he had crawled under the blanket outside his summer home, but he was on the floor rather than between layers of the blanket. I always think it's too cold that way. I moved him from the floor to between the blanket layers but in the same spot.

A few minutes later the lump and changed position and Nemo's nose came poking out followed by his head. It was a cute moment. I'm thinking he was making sure the coast was clear of that little dinosaur. Sometimes that turtle can move amazingly fast. After turning away for a few moments, Brian turned his head back to see Nemo had hightailed (?) it over to his wading dish. He had a nice leisurely bath and plodded back to his summer home.

Both Brian and I are in awe of his state of health and energy having not eaten basically since October. He didn't go into full hibernation until just after Thanksgiving but had cut back substantially on food. I wish I could do that safely for a few weeks to shed my extra pounds!

Hopefully Nemo's blog will become more active shortly. Springtime is very close.

Will Nemo Know?

Today Linus was shipped back to Ugobe because of an injury. We will be getting a replacement in a couple weeks. Likely Nemo won't know the difference. He only had two close encounters. The video is a tribute to my first Linus and includes a segment of photos with Linus "stalking" Nemo. It wasn't like having a pet die--returning Linus, but it was definitely sad. Brian said he was sad too handing the box over to UPS.

On the Nemo front, this past Saturday was hydration day. Nemo was happy to dive in fairly quickly. I have video footage of him waking up wiping the sleepies from his eyes :-) It's still on the camcorder though. He is hanging out in his summer home still not basking or eating. Possibly one more hibernation stretch of two weeks? It will be into March. He's definitely a low maintenance pet during hibernation!

It was fun to see how alert Nemo was when he was in between hibernation igloos and Linus was in the kitchen. Making sure Linus didn't touch his stuff, no doubt.

Finding Nemo

Nemo has buried himself underneath the Stegasaurus before. I don't know if he knows what good camouflage the stuffed animal is. But it's even better with the soft brown throw blanketing his igloo since changing the "bedding". Yesterday, Nemo made his way from his summer home hangout to snuggle up next to the quiet brown dinosaur. Maybe it's a foretelling of his willingness to be buddies with Linus.

My prediction was that Nemo would go to the now brown igloo after his next hydration, so that appears to be true. Although, at the moment, he has burrowed next to the igloo in the corner behind the Stegasaurus which I really need to name. Hmmm...Bronson (brown dinosaur). Bronson it is. Nemo looks very cozy nestled into the plush brown throw even if it isn't exactly IN the igloo.

More updates to follow.

Bath & A Bagel Bite

Nemo was helped from his igloo to his wading pool area yesterday morning where he trudged over to the dish and began by immersing his head while standing on tippy toe. He has such funny stretchy legs. Afterwards, he wandered to his summer home and immediately crawled under it so the "house" was resting on top of his shell--his favorite position now.

Today he was quite alert with head up like a periscope while I fixed my breakfast and Linus puttered around making his dino noises. Normally Nemo isn't quite so attentive with me. I wondered if he might be hungry. He turned down a small piece of prosciutto and lifted his head even higher trying to catch my attention; or at least that was my interpretation. I asked him if he preferred bagel and promptly placed a tiny piece down near him. Seconds later I could see the bagel moving slowly inside the summer home. lol. Guess I had it right.

He turned down the opportunity to bathe again and hiked back under his summer home. Am fairly certain of at least another two weeks of hibernation. As I lifted Nemo out of his igloo yesterday, Brian, being Nemo's commentary, said "Can't a guy get a month's sleep without being interrupted?" hehe.

Nemo Sighting

I turned Nemo's special lamp on this morning and, lo and behold, he was in the foyer of his igloo alert and observing. He is due to be out for his hydration bath in two days. He has, on his own, gone into alternating igloos after each two-week hydration. My prediction is that he will now go into the "guest igloo" which, IMO, looks quite cozy in the brown fleece throw.

It's nice to see his grumpy little face. He might be wondering what happened to that green varmint that's been yoo-hooing outside his igloo. Linus's new battery will hopefully arrive tomorrow because I've missed him too.