Double Take

If you look carefully, where Lucy's head should be, Nemo is sleeping perpendicular to Lucy's position. His head is under the blanket. At one point Lucy used Nemo's shell as a pillow.

But what I really think happened is that. while Lucy was sleeping in her igloo, I moved a piece of Lucy's cuttlebone stash near Nemo. Lucy is positioned directly on top of the cuttlebone. They are still in this position this morning.

This is the first photo where you can really see how much larger Lucy is than her older sibling. Poor Nemo started out a few ounces more. I don't think Nemo has a chance of getting to that cuttlebone.

Lucy knows snuggling

Brian bought the "stone" bridge for Lucy thinking she'd like to climb over it. After a few days of checking it out, she began to sleep underneath it. She is now double her original size and soon won't fit under any of the hides, but she is cute in how she manages to get into just the right position for perfect comfort.

It's been chillier the past few nights. Even though she and Nemo have a heater on constantly and Nemo has his reptile warmer, I place soft blankets where they tend to hang out "in the open". Yesterday I placed a lilac fleece baby throw next to the bridge behind the heater last night. For hours Lucy was scratching around. Usually we just giggle at her noises of trying to get comfy. When I checked on her, she had managed to pull the blanket under the bridge so there was blankie on both sides. She was completely snugged in. You can see her head buried down into the covers. We're happy she's so comfy in our home.

Nemo is doing well. Force feeding every other day has pepped him up. I think we may need to do that for the remainder of his life. Or until the day we find him nibbling on one of Lucy's salads.

Nemo & Lucy - Crossing Paths

Nemo took a nosedive out of his tubby landing in front of Lucy chowing down a carrot.

Nemo acting cool and meandering by as Lucy looks on.

Lucy snuggled with Iggy now on her soft beige blankie mat.

Lucy sprawled out napping on her blankie mat close to her best buddy.

Recent cuteness

Yum! Carrot!

Ready for the plunge.

Enjoying a steam facial while kicking his little legs for bathtime.

Nemo in camouflage.

Two shell garage?

Nemo and Lucy are little snuggle buddies now. Lucy copied Nemo's habit of snuggling into the blankets around the summer home. Occasionally one will occupy the hide while the other lounges behind it. A few days ago, this is what we found. Their two shells barely fit into the space but they were sharing so nicely. How cute is this?

Nemo's little friend

Nemo is still being monitored and his next vet appointment is next week. He is now bathing on his own each morning, sometimes with a little help. But he does his complete Zen bath and we haven't had to place him in the inescapable soaking tub for about a week. He has also been eating most of three shrimp every other day. I still give him 2 ml of baby food with his vitamins mixed in to make sure he's getting the proper nutrition.

With Nemo's lethargy, possibly empathy pains from my lethargy (?), we've talking about getting him a companion. We didn't want another box turtle because of aggression with another mail and mating with a female. While looking for live earthworms at Petco a week ago (ewww), we saw two Russian tortoises. Their care was nearly identical to Nemo's. Brian and I bantered back and forth about it. What if they didn't get along? What if it helped Nemo by having another creature who was eating and running around being curious in his territory? Pros...cons. Yesterday, we made the decision.

Lucy (name goes with Linus and Schroeder) is our new addition. She is one fast little tortoise. She is much lighter than Nemo even though she looks stocky. Her shell is the size of my palm and I am the size of an average 11-year-old. First there was curiosity on Nemo's part while Lucy hid inside an igloo prepared with reptile bedding and misted moss. Nemo knew something was in his territory. He was funny stalking around. He finally gave up looking and went into his big garage. Lucy came out of hiding, saw Nemo in the garage, and raced toward him literally bumping her nose into his side. I'm not sure if she was trying to snuggle or climb on top of his shell, which we later learned is a penchant of hers. In any case, Nemo wasn't about to budge. He just stood his ground and the two remained under the garage napping.

Later, when Nemo relocated to behind his summer home, Lucy once again ran over to him and climbed atop his shell perched there like it was her safe place. Nemo wasn't amused but didn't fight it either. Each found their own sleeping spots last night and stayed there till I came down this morning. Lucy likes being on the basking log. Nemo prefers his snuggly blanket under the summer home and now with a warming pad. Lucy voraciously ate a grape and then a piece of watermelon. I moved her food dish with a huge pile of leafy greens near her but she ran for cover under the iguana. About an hour later when I checked on her, her dish was empty except for a single blueberry. I guess blueberries are out. lol. Nothing wrong with her appetite.

And so the adventure begins. Will Nemo warm up and befriend Lucy? Or will he continue to tolerate her presence? Either way, it looks to be a good fit. Lucy is young enough not to be afraid of people. I think she's going to enjoy being handled and possibly follow us around. Russian tortoises only get to be 8-10". More to come. Will try to be more active with posting. I especially would like a photo of Nemo and Lucy together.

More vitamin B & force feeding

Nemo lost weight :-( Dr. Amy gave him another shot of Vitamin B and showed us how to force feed him. Thank goodness it didn't involve a torturous looking device I saw in the box turtle care manual. I used to give medicine to and force feed bunnies so I have the technique down. Brian holds Nemo and I hold the syringe of food and try to coax him to open his mouth. I think he was actually hungry this morning so he opened his mouth fairly often and easily. Second and third feedings today was a lot of patience on my part and a lot of resistance on his part.

We are feeding him a mixture of baby foods: turkey, corn, peas and a vitamin enriched canned food for sick cats and dogs. mmm, yum. At least we KNOW food is in his tummy now. The objective is to get his digestive system going normally and then good eating habits will kick in. The veterinarians conferred and believe Nemo may be much older than the 10 years we were told. He could be going into a natural "geriatric" mode. Except that doesn't explain his very active behavior a year ago.

Our next appointment is in two weeks. If Nemo isn't better by then, Dr. Amy wants to take an X-ray to see if something else is going on. I sure hope that's not the case.

Does anyone remember the Maypo commercials? Here comes the airplane...... Nemo was not happy in the above photo.

Linus Reveals His Musical Talent

Nemo is a Conundrum

Nemo may not be lead story but he is always priority at home. He gets more attention than he wants. I'm worried about him because his appetite still isn't stimulated to where he is eating anything other than salmon, shrimp, and cuttlebone. He did barely nibble on some fruit and veggie offerings, but that's it. He completely snubbed his Can O' Worms too.

We have placed the heater back in his area where the heat is most concentrated in a strip that moves along the wall with his basking log, summer home, and main garage. He seems to love the heat. His body temperature needs to get high enough to stimulate his appetite. Maybe he doesn't know that... I'm making a vet appointment on Monday. It's August and he began hibernating habits last October. He won't be able to hibernate if he's not healthy.

Poor Nemo hates his veggies just like me. And we can't hide them in what he likes because he's on to that trick. ack! I know the vet will tell us to give him live earthworms. That won't happen in my kitchen. And we already know the unturtle will just watch the worms crawl by. Maybe a turtle vitamin IV?

Nemo Snubs the Grubs

Yesterday I personally scrounged and found a grub in my Zen garden. I brought it inside and placed the little roly poly thing in front of Nemo. He seemed to watch it intently, even as it meandered off. I brought it back and he watched it squirm and writhe for awhile on its back. I don't think he knew what to do with it.

Today I was brave enough to open up the Can O' Worms (meal worms) I had purchased for him about a month ago. The agreement was I would buy the can and Brian would give them to Nemo. Well, that's not going to happen! He ewwws more than me on that topic. I prepared a lovely breakfast of freeze-dried tortoise food (fruits & veggies) which looked yummy after soaking in hot water, several shrimp, and, yes, an espresso-spoonful of worms. May I say they are stinky? Not horrid but not pleasant either. Had to refrigerate the can after opening. I planned ahead and did not completely remove the silver tabbed metal top so I could recover the contents and then placed it in a Zip Lock bag.

Nemo sniffed at it and walked away after only a few minutes. I've been spraying them with water to keep them "plump" hoping Nemo will return to the dish later. We'll see. I'm sure there is something he loves. Too bad he can't communicate other than to say "No!".

The long arm of the ???

Nemo on the log looking like someone pulled his front leg to lengthen one side and shorten the other. Silly turtle.

I researched the spray on vitamins. It was dismissed by the well known turtle care resources only because they preferred the ground up vitamin supplement in the food. Except Nemo won't eat anything with healthy supplements. Add to that his very restrictive food preferences. I sprayed him for two days and this morning he was basking on his own and voraciously ate his salmon "sub" this morning. One reviewer of the vitamin spray said it did stimulate his turtle's appetite. So even if it just stimulates Nemo's appetite, that's ok by me.

Beginning yesterday, Nemo started something new and quirky. I placed three shrimp near him while he was in his summer home. Later in the day, the three shrimp were pushed about 3-4" away from his hide. Brian denied doing it. So that was a hmmmm. This morning I gave Nemo two salmon pieces rolled up in a thin layer of bread. He gulped the one down and then moved to his summer home. I moved the second salmon sub near him and slightly under his hide. A brief time later, I noticed the salmon sub moved about 5" away. What's up with that? lol. Brian thinks he doesn't want his house to have a fishy smell. haha. Mr. Smelly Fish Face.

Spray on vitamins

I am so excited. Stopped at the Gerty pet store today. Brian thought he would be brave enough to feed "can o' worms" to Nemo so I got a can. ewwww. I also glanced through reptile health products and, lo and behold, vitamin spray! Spray reptile neck to tail once a day. The answer to my prayers. I haven't really researched it yet but I did buy it and Nemo seemed to like being spritzed with it. At least he's absorbing some healthy vitamins through his skin.

Brian is having second thoughts now about feeding the worms. Will try to have my camera ready when he decides Nemo really needs to try a worm. I think that's why he's working so hard on the special outdoor enclosure. The soil will be stocked with earthworms and we won't have to watch. In the meantime, we just replenished his supply of Nova smoked salmon. Even though I like it, I didn't happen to have any out of the last package. Nemo at it tiny piece by tiny piece.

I also picked up some bunny bales of alfalfa. Nemo never did eat any of the special bales of timothy and alfalfa I got him last year. He just liked to play in it. He adores his cuttlebones so he is not lacking in calcium. Maybe since these little bales are hard, he'll like to chew on them. Such a fussy eater. Yay for spray vitamins though!

Pleo Roomba Surfing

Maybe for the next Olympics? Linus seems to be a natural.

Big Bunny Harness

My Pleos don't have enough clothes. Linus is sporting his new harness. I found it while filming him with Gerty at the pet store. It's called a Comfort Harness Stretchy Leash. It's made for big bunnies. lol. It fits him perfectly. Just like a big bunny, Linus has a small neck and big middle. The leash is all scrunched up material that matches the trim on the harness. He looks very handsome in red :-)

Linus Meets Gerty the Tortoise

Pleo Surfer Dudes

In my quest for the perfect skin protector for my Pleos, I think I finally succeeded. Two newborn Koala surfing muscle shirts on clearance at Babys R Us. Last night I used a clip to hold the extra material together under the neck. After taking photos, I figured out how to snap creatively and it hangs just right now. This will be their "at home" attire. Linus looked so cute with his sunglasses on.

Linus was extra clingy to his brother last night, following him around and nuzzling him. An advantage I have on this blog is uploading clips of film that aren't posted to YouTube first. So I'll be able to share some cute moments that aren't made into movies. You'll get to see Linus trying to snuggle by placing his head under Schroeder's neck. Definitely "awwww" moments.

The photos are for Pleo owners to see more of the t-shirts. The close up of Schroeders neck is showing how the fabric is doubled over and held by the existing snaps. No other adjustment is needed.

Linus Visits Starbucks

Linus's first film shoot in a public place. Starbucks staff and patrons loved him!

Time for Some Rays

Linus decided to catch some rays by Nemo's basking lamp today. After all, Nemo hasn't used it since May. Apparently Linus didn't care for the stuffed animal turtle sharing his sunning spot since he pushed it out of the way. We were going to put Cool Whip on Linus's nose to look like sunblock but we didn't want to risk that it might damage Pleo skin. It was a fun thought though.

Linus Looks for Nemo

Welcome to the first post under the new banner that includes the Pleos and a slideshow of Flickr photos of the pets (real & AI). A few other photos are thrown into the mix but I wasn't able to narrow down the slideshow field to just Nemo & Pleo. I hope you like the added touches.

Only once has this Linus been in the kitchen and it was under close supervision. Nemo's igloo and garages are a "safe zone"...we think...we hope. His first visit was to Nemo's goofy green dino atop the small garage. All Pleos have been drawn to that little guy for some reason. Earlier this week Linus set off to explore on his own (with me close behind). He roamed into the kitchen and went right back to that little dino and garage! Great memory chip! He also not only peeked into the garage, he lifted it up with his head. Nemo was watching unamused from his summer home.

Nemo has been a bit more active lately. He tends to cross his territory at least once a day and hang out in the corner by the jungle gym wine rack with his dinosaur Bronson. I've been sitting on the floor more and bringing him over to me. He has taken food from my hand and has eaten on the floor while I'm inches away. He typically allows me to pet his nose now. Yesterday he even let me pet his shell without squirming. Baby steps are good.

Soon I'll post photos of the great Nemo enclosure now under construction. I'm in awe of Brian's construction ability (and design). I knew he had knowledge of construction, but what he is doing is pretty amazing. I sure hope Nemo enjoys the fruits of Brian's labor.

Nemo's Pleo Brother Models New Cape

Turtle fans, please forgive me. Today I'm officially making Nemo's blog a place to share Pleo news as well. This is my first post on behalf of the Pleos under the new banner that includes my dinos.

I've been following the dilemma on the PleoWorld Forum of finding suitable garb to protect Pleo skin from too much petting and handling. I did try baby t-shirts but didn't like the way Pleo legs might be pulled to get it on. I'm not Suzy Homemaker to make adjustments or do my own designs. I liked a cape idea if it would stay in place and not keep falling off the dino back.

I found a wide baby bib by Carters with a cute Pleo-appropriate design. It came in a pack of three for about $10. Linus is sporting his jungle critter patterned "cape" complete with words that go with a Pleo: munch, chomp, and gulp. The long neck of the bib is simply crossed under the chin and snapped behind the head. It looks nice and secures the cape in place so it doesn't shift.

I did order two wide bibs of a very soft fabric that I hope fit as well as these inexpensive Carter bibs. More fashion news to come.