Sleepy Lucy

Lucy's Latest Photos

Will I be this big one day?


Snoozing on Iggy's foot.

Lucy noticing Nemo trying to sneek behind her.

Napping against the stuffie turtle. Must be comfy for a tortoise.

Lucy is growing. She can no longer snuggle in next to Nemo in the summer home. She tries to climb on top of him or push him over. We resolved that issue by providing a wider summer home. It's a wooden stepstool so has no back wall to it. They seem to like sharing space under the blanket under the stepstool. No more shoving contests. When not under the blanket of the new summer home, Lucy has an affinity for snuggling with the reptile stuffed animals. She especially likes resting on the iguana's foot.

Lucy likes to sleep in. Once she awakes she slowlllly makes her way over to the basking log, climbs aboard, and let's out a huge yawn while she raises her body temperature before diving into her food dish. She doesn't drink water or like her wading pool. She eats tons of leafy greens though and is not lacking in nutrition.

Nemo is intent on hibernating but we "force" him to bathe each day to keep him hydrated. He fusses before getting in his tubby but then takes a 20-minute Zen bath. He doesn't eat anything except his shrimp and seems happy. He can get veggies anytime by going to Lucy's dish. And we use spray vitamin supplement plus forcefeeding vitamins at least once a week. Sometimes he'll eat shrimp sprinkled with Lucy's vitamin enriched dandelion powder.

I have nearly two cassettes of video now. When I get creative and physical energy at the same time, I'll work on my first Nemo & Lucy video.

Nemo as Swamp Thing for Halloween

This photo originally posted on TwitPic.

Lucy Chillin'

Nemo's health has maintained though he is still not so active. He's probably trying to prepare for hibernation but we keep foiling his plans. Lucy has settled in even allowing food to remain in her dish for later snacking. She is no longer meandering about the territory. She lounges and basks, naps under the iguana or behind the summer home between the blankies. Her cutest habit is climbing to the high point of the basking log to let us pet her or give her a treat. Her dismount from the basking log is a certain spot where she just slides off :-) Here are her latest photos. I've completed a video cartridge. Will make it into a movie when health and mind allow that activity.

Nemo's back on track

Nemo had another vet check up last week. His weight has gone up. He's stronger and more active. He's voluntarily taking zen baths again and has even nibbled at healthy turtle food. Because he still doesn't eat properly, we're going to continue giving his vitamin supplement by syringe each day. He likes his shrimp and sometimes nibbles at turkey or chicken baby food, but it's not enough for full nutrition. His color is so much better too.

Dr. Amy said Lucy might have helped motivate him to be more active, which had been our hope. Lucy got a few nails trimmed and weighed in at about 3/4 of a pound. We were very pleased with the outcome. Nemo is definitely worth the bit of special care.



To prepare for this vet visit, we knew we'd need some type of carrier for Lucy. I found these small animal carriers that are like oblong bird cages. The bottom has a closed in area where I was able to place a small blanket. Perfect. Because they were so handy, I got two. Lucy's is pink and Nemo has the green one. You can see how happy Nemo is to be going back to the vet. lol.

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?

Chelonian diplomacy

It appears Nemo and Lucy have settled into a sharing arrangement for best sleeping spot. After I did my morning Chelonian chores, while my two shell-carrying kids slept in, I moved to the main kitchen area to prepare their meals. I saw Nemo climb over Lucy's back to come out and watch me. Much to my surprise, he meandered over to Lucy's bathtub and helped himself to a dip and a long drink. Maybe he thinks it's his new water dish. Then he came around the corner to visit me! That was a huge surprise. He used to do that pre-hibernation.

He marched over to the baby gate (even on the correct side) looking into the living room. I opened the gate and he simply continued walking like it was a normal thing for a turtle to do. Perhaps he understands the gate is to keep Lucy in and not to keep him out. After circling the living room he returned to his sleeping spot next to sleepy Lucy who barely noticed Nemo tromping on her. Ahhhh. A new normal? This is good.

Now if I could get Lucy to stop thinking toes and fingers are food, we'll be set.