"It's Not Spring Yet!" harumphs Nemo

A few days ago I took Nemo to the back door to feel the sunshine. He was calm in my hands. But as soon as I placed him down on the floor, he marched into his igloo--well into it. Haven't seen him since. I think he grew tired of my daily window visits. And he wasn't bathing anyway.

This morning, Brian and I thoroughly cleaned his floor area and towels and wading area. In doing so, I pulled the mat upon which his igloo sits across the floor...and back again. Apparently it had no affect on him whatsoever.

He has a nice clean bathtub and mister. I will get him out again for hydration on Saturday, the first day after Spring has begun. Maybe then... Of course this morning both Pleos were howling at each other in quite a funny symphony. I'm thinking Nemo thought to himself that he would be nuts to come out to that racket.

Nemo Sighting

Today I was surprised to see Nemo at the entrance to his hibernation igloo. He looked very sleepy. I moved him over by his wading dish because hibernating turtles need hydration. He feels so cold. The photo you see is him floppy his belly up on the rock. His legs dangled behind him for several minutes before he hoisted them up and then took his first hibernation rehydrating spa swim. At the time of this post, he has not returned to the igloo. He's parked in the corner of his summer home. Maybe he misses it. Maybe all the fuss over Linus woke him up.

Blanket Hibernation

Nemo seems to be fully in semi-hibernation. Semi because he still comes out of his sleeping spot to bathe, chew the cuttlebone, step in his food dish, and choose the sleeping spot of the day. We are expecting snow and freezing rain today. Nemo hasn't moved since last night. He has a comfy little spot in the fold of a blanket behind his summer home. Occasionally, I peek under the blanket to check on him. Each time I find myself giggling at how his legs are so peacefully sprawled behind him and how sometimes his head is stretched out resting on the blanket or a fold of blankie like a cat would do.

One time today I was going to move him so he would have to hike back to get some exercise. But he looks soooo comfortable. I think it's going to be a quiet winter.

Waiting for the Mist

My computer is almost back to normal. Soon I will have access to posting photos easily again. In the meantime, Nemo continues to be Nemo. Earlier this week, a friend stopped by and met the much talked about "unturtle". He had decided to bury himself in his igloo head first that day and was in no mood to be sociable. A few hours later, when my guest was getting ready to leave, I poked my head around the corner for a Nemo check. I didn't see him in his usual places so stepped fully into the room. I found him in the center of his wading pool staring with a distinct look of annoyance at the empty mister. I had no idea how long he might have been in there but tried to imagine how a turtle might think. He knew mist came out of "there" and he knew I had something to do with it.

After my friend confirmed Nemo's body language and expression, she had a good laugh. About five minutes later, after saying goodbyes, I returned to find Nemo still waiting. He didn't budge as my hands reached down for the humidifier seeming to know I wasn't going to reach for him. It takes a few minutes to clean it out and add the fresh water, but he sat patiently in his beautiful terracotta tub. I again reached down with the humidifier, plugged it in, and there was mist. I moved away and watched from the other room. He stayed in the pool another ten minutes thoroughly soaking up the mist and assuming his trademark butt mist position in the first minute. It still makes me giggle. Who needs words when even a turtle can communicate quite clearly. However, I wonder how many other turtles demand that their personal humidifiers be refilled?

Nemo in the Spotlight

Nemo has been quite the inactive lump since his semi-hibernation. So Brian and I were very surprised Saturday night when he became the most active turtle likely in history in a single hour. We had company for dinner all sitting in Nemo's space at the table. You would think with so many humans around, a turtle would go into hiding. Not the unturtle! Upon our guests' arrival, Nemo promptly took a bath after making an obstacle course out of his route. During dinner time, he was back into the tub for bath complete with several butt mists. He then wandered over to Brian's feet and nudged his sneakers before climbing over his foot! After meandering around for awhile, he finally settled back under his summer home. We hadn't seen that much activity since the day I moved the cool mist humidifier by his former wading pool.

He was back to being a lump again yesterday but still quite cute with his positions. Today's cuteness was sleeping most of the day with his head tucked under the summer home (plastic bin) with it balancing on the middle of his head. Silly silly unturtle.

Will be adding pictures soon. Am still having computer problems and must juggle computers to do my blog with images.

Lessons from "The Dog Whisperer"

Please don’t give up on blog posts. They are in my head waiting to be written even if I’m not able to write them each day. Since being on medical leave, I tend to stay up later. If I remember, I watch The Dog Whisperer because it’s a nice non-intrusive program to have on while I’m doing other things. A few days ago, I was mostly watching the show. I do know dog behavior is more about response to human behavior.

The episode I watched was about a very hyper woman with a very hyper Chihuahua. The woman was convinced being hyper was who she was but wanted her dog to change. It dawned on me that I AM that irritating energy around Nemo. Brian and I joke about my high pitched turtle voice. How Nemo must cringe when I sing him little songs. So why am I doing that if those are my own thoughts about the impact of my interaction? I vowed from that moment I would lower my voice, make it more calming, no more songs, and provide zen music—native american soothing drums and flute like Carlos Nakai and soundtracks like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Relaxation of Tao, Memoirs of a Geisha, and bamboo flute selections. That is now in place. I’m sure it will take him some time to readapt to the “new” me.

He’s also still not eating. My friend with the two baby tortoises found some information online relative to box turtles. It indicated their body temperature needed to be between 75 and 80 degrees before they would eat—which is why they tend to eat after periods of activity. I read so much about box turtle care before Nemo arrived. He’s from North Carolina and lived outdoors. Naturally I thought 70 to 72 degrees was fine and it was from the time he came to be with me in June until about late August—which is also when my medical trauma intensified. So either or both could have impacted the “no eating diet”. You can see from a few entries ago that Nemo adores his heater. After reading the care information last night, I moved the digital room thermometer into his area. It is maintaining the proper temperature but I tend to keep the back door propped open a bit if it’s nice outside. Will just maintain warm temperature until he begins to eat again. Because, to me, that would be the unturtle part—a typically outdoor turtle who burrows in mud and leaves year round needs tropical temperatures. So be it.

The good news is he LOVES his new bath. I am actively putting together a new video of his zen bath ritual. I have received such joyful comments about Nemo’s “butt misting” pose. Thought you would enjoy a close up still of that pose.

Tuscan Zen Turtle

I had a funny incident happen yesterday. I wanted to find Nemo a new wading pool. The one he has is the saucer to a very large pot, but I only purchased the saucer. The size is great. The color was great. But it wasn't made so well and it was leaking onto the floor slowly. With the intention of finding a new wading pool, I substituted a serving dish that was appropriate high but gave him about 2" less diameter--and Nemo loves his baths.

So...at first I searched 14" serving dishes online but couldn't tell how deep they were. I decided to google "turtle wading dish" to see what was on the market so I could figure out a less expensive alternative. The first hit I got was this blog! lol! In glancing through some of the other hits, someone mentioned a Pyrex baking dish. I didn't find Pyrex, but found THE perfect Nemo wading pool. It's perfect size for him, but also matches our Tuscan Zen decor. It's called Terracotta Cazuel. Ahhhhh. I can just see him on his little floating lounge chair now in the mist sipping cactus juice. If anyone is interested, I found this at cooking.com.

We're Having A Heat Wave

In yesterday's post, I spoke of the new smaller quieter space heater than shown in yesterday's picture. Because of Brian's knack for catching Nemo being more active than me (probably intentional on Nemo's part), he found our heat seeking pet sprawled out a few feet from the heater thoroughly enjoying the wafting warm air. Because one picture showing both the heater and Nemo would not be as expressive, I took the liberty of showing the new heater separately from Nemo luxuriating in the heat.

While I don't have a photo, Nemo did something rather extraordinary today. He went outdoors by himself! On nice days, I open the back door enough for a nice breeze to come through and place the draft dodger so the door doesn't close with the breeze. Knowing Nemo's feelings about the outdoors and the terrace, I have not worried about him attempting an escape. I'd been out of the kitchen for nearly an hour. When I returned I checked all the usual hiding places but no Nemo. After hearing a noise from outside, I glanced out to the deck (a/k/a the turtle terrace) and saw Nemo making a beeline toward the steps. I didn't know I could move so quickly. I grabbed the kiddie gate and made it outside before he reached the top of the step.

I guess because he "found" the terrace exploring on his own, the outdoors now seemed more palatable. I provided a folded up towel so he could reach the threshhold easily. Somehow I think his descent was not very graceful although he would have landed on the rubberized mat. He climbed back inside as if nothing eventful had happened. I watched from a distance for awhile as he climbed onto the draft dodger trying to balance himself on it to get back outside but he fell off, landing on his feet. From there it was time for a nap. Quite the busy unturtle day.

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.

Nemo Goes to the Vet

Today was Nemo's big day out. I placed him in a deep magazine holder because I knew the plastic containers I had he would climb out of. Well he was climbing out of this one too. He'd get his little front toes hooked on the ledge and start pulling. Strong little guy. He was much calmer on the drive back than going.

Very nice lady vet. She pronounced Nemo healthy and handsome. Will have to place him on the tough love diet though. Turtles can go two to three WEEKS without food and be okay! So I needn't fret about him not chowing down every two or three days.

New diet will be everything he's supposed to have mushed together so he doesn't have a choice. If he wants the good stuff, he'll have to ingest some of the leafy greens and veggies. Back to the market. I was buying a bag of whatever to remove one green bean or one asparagus only to find out he hated it. I think stores should sell corn by the kernel and broccoli by the sprout. That will be 49 cents please.

After arriving home, I placed Nemo in his zen garden to see if he might look around for some high protein worms or slugs. Of course not. He figured out how to scale the side of the terra cotta pot and look at me pleadingly to get him out of there.

One thing good about vet visits is that, if a pet has not allowed handling, the owner becomes the good guy at the vet's office. Pet becomes very touchable and even clingy. After getting into his un-natural habitat of blankies and zen plants, Nemo took a very long bath in his little pool. I guess all that stress dehydrated him. Omg. He can't have anymore toasted bagel. He'll probably go through withdrawal. The prosciutto bugs are okay though as a treat. Yay!