Frankie took his first walk around the neighborhood this year. Up to now he has been limited to walks around the gecko room, to and from the side yard, from the gecko room into the back yard and recently it's been warm enough for Frankie to actually walk around his yard.
Physical limits to Frankie's "get around" can make Frankie cranky. It does worry me when Frankie seems to accept his limited walking time and his limited space. I know it's time for "The Big Walk."
Frankie really likes The Big Walk. The Big Walk means getting out of the house and out of the yard and walking around block in our neighborhood. The course is routine. We go down the drive way, turn left on the street, continue down the street, make a slight left turn at the bottom of the street, and continue up the street. After that it gets a bit tricky. Without me he would end up in someone yard, garage, or other places I don't want him. Regardless of what he thinks, he needs my assistance. And I insist.
So on the day of The Big Walk the weather is exceptionally warm. Frankie had been in his yard grazing and basking since 8:00 a.m. The time is 10:00 p.m. and I completed all morning chores. I decide to take him on The Big Walk.
"Want to go on a walk?" I ask Frankie. This is a phrase I absolutely know that Frankie understands. No matter what direction he is facing or what he is doing in the yard, this question will cause him to turn on a direct course for the gate. Occasionally he will look at me as if to say, "You aren't teasing me, are you?" I repeat the invitation to walk and the reassured tortoise starts his steady walk in the correct direction.
As Frankie walks from the yard to the gate and down the drive way, I gather essential supplies: a bottle of water, a skate board, and a handful of straps stuffed into a messenger bag. By the time I have the alarm set and door locked Frankie is half way down the drive and ready for the first left turn.
Frankie's pace is not as quick as a dog: a large dog, small dog, or even a three legged dog. A eighty year old grandmother could out walk Frankie even if the lady had crutches. I would say that Frankie has the pace of a three year old child. I have learned to take the steps of a three year old child which is about one-fifth the stride of a small woman in orthopedic shoes. You would think we would get no where but don't count Frankie out.
The legend of the tortoise and the hare is based in reality. Frankie is one serious walker. He is concentrated, persevering, steady: a tortoise with a mission. Nothing stops him. . . . . . except perhaps dandelions and carrots. Children, parked cars, pot holes, piles of leaves, garbage cans, and even my feet are all things to plow through. Frankie walks a straight line and pity the object in his path. This is another reason Frankie needs me as a guide: to get him safely around obstacles.
This being the first Big Walk since last year, I wonder if he will remember the normal course we always take. Frankie answers this with seeming complete knowledge of said path by requiring no course corrections. . . . .up to the regular point where Frankie and I always disagree as to the direction we are go proceed. He would like to go straight forward, over a curb and into oblivion which is a short bit of weeds and then a twenty foot drop into an undeveloped area of the neighborhood. I have been so tempted to let him discover the foolishness of this so called desired course of his but the "mom" in me always insist on forcing a turn.
Forcing a turn means blocking his path with my legs and feet. He will bump, step on and attempt the basketball fake on me to proceed his intended direction. The fight for control over the direction is as brutal as any professional sporting event. If I start loosing the battle I bring out reinforcements: the skateboard (you were wondering about the skateboard weren't you).
If Frankie refuses to quit fighting and take my direction I put him on the skateboard. The skateboard has a pull rope attached so once he is loaded up I pull the skateboard and him back to the desired path. The straps are for extreme situations. I will wrap the straps on so Frankie can't slip off. I can pull him up steep inclines without him falling off the back. The skateboard has saved me many, many times. Once I get Frankie re-orientated to my direction, I will take him off and we will proceed with The Big Walk.
This day being the first Big Walk of the year and first in several months, we only go half the route. We return exhausted (okay, I return exhausted) and Frankie is ready to hit the back yard for some serious grazing. I can't wait for a nap.
We've been gone for thirty five minutes. It's a walk that I can do all by myself in eight minutes.
It's not called The Big Walk for nothing.
Frankie
February 15, 2009
February 8, 2009
A Sulcata's Perfect Day
So what does a sulcata think is a perfect day? Well, Frankie clued me in to his idea of a perfect sulcata day. And he should know because today he had a perfect sulcata day.
His perfect day started the night before. Frankie was tucked into his newly cleaned "cave" in the gecko room. Newspaper was crumpled around him like a blanket and he sat on his nice and warm thermal pad. Frankie was dreaming tortoise dreams of endless green grass fields and buckets of carrots when I came in the room about 10:00 pm to check on him and all the geckos. Now most tortoise or people would consider being waken late at night to be a bummer but for Frankie it's a treat because he gets a carrot. A carrot is just the right late night snack to make any sulcata sleep like a tortoise.
As I left turning out the lights behind me, Frankie returned to tortoise dreams until the gecko room lights come on about 7:45 am. As the lights come on so does Frankie's overhead ceramic heater. Frankie gets up and moves under his ceramic heater and waits for me to come downstairs to water the geckos.
When I finally get down to the gecko room about 8:30 am Frankie gets the biggest surprise of the day: the temperature outside is already a sunny 50º F. No breakfast of hay this morning, Frankie gets to head straight outdoors. After weeks and weeks of dreary cold, a warm sunny day can transform a grumpy tortoise into a "tip toe through the tulips" happy Frankie.
Frankie is greeted by an unbelievably wonderful morning. The sun is out in full and the temperature is perfect for a hour bask in the sun. Frankie picks his very favorite basking site under a very tall pine tree and next to Greg's weather station. Frankie spreads his back feet out from under his shell and stretches his front feet out in front of him. Frankie is truly a sun worshiper!
Following his hour long bask in the sun, Frankie is toasty but not hot. He starts his walkabout around the yard. Finely it is time to do some serious grazing. There is plenty of winter grasses and weeds in the yard so Frankie feasts. For the rest of the afternoon Frankie alternates between grazing, basking and walking. Since the temperature doesn't pass 69º F Frankie never overheats nor is he too cold to be a busy sulcata.
I too take some time to go outside and walk around the yard with Frankie. This is my daily task to check for hazards which I find none. Frankie appreciates the company. After I leave Frankie selects another fine basking spot and sits until shade passes over him.
Shade is Frankie's cue that its time to head for the house. He moises across the lawn eating all the weeds and grass that cross his path. By the time he is at the back gate I am there to lead him back inside into the gecko room.
With no complaint or fuss, Frankie walks the trail from the back yard, through the driveway, into the garage and back into the gecko room. His nice comfy "cave" awaits. His heat pad is already warm. Frankie digs his way through the tall pile of crumpled newspaper. His butt does not quite get covered so I do the honors tucking him in for the night.
Frankie is asleep immediately dreaming of his perfect sulcata day.
His perfect day started the night before. Frankie was tucked into his newly cleaned "cave" in the gecko room. Newspaper was crumpled around him like a blanket and he sat on his nice and warm thermal pad. Frankie was dreaming tortoise dreams of endless green grass fields and buckets of carrots when I came in the room about 10:00 pm to check on him and all the geckos. Now most tortoise or people would consider being waken late at night to be a bummer but for Frankie it's a treat because he gets a carrot. A carrot is just the right late night snack to make any sulcata sleep like a tortoise.
As I left turning out the lights behind me, Frankie returned to tortoise dreams until the gecko room lights come on about 7:45 am. As the lights come on so does Frankie's overhead ceramic heater. Frankie gets up and moves under his ceramic heater and waits for me to come downstairs to water the geckos.
When I finally get down to the gecko room about 8:30 am Frankie gets the biggest surprise of the day: the temperature outside is already a sunny 50º F. No breakfast of hay this morning, Frankie gets to head straight outdoors. After weeks and weeks of dreary cold, a warm sunny day can transform a grumpy tortoise into a "tip toe through the tulips" happy Frankie.
Frankie is greeted by an unbelievably wonderful morning. The sun is out in full and the temperature is perfect for a hour bask in the sun. Frankie picks his very favorite basking site under a very tall pine tree and next to Greg's weather station. Frankie spreads his back feet out from under his shell and stretches his front feet out in front of him. Frankie is truly a sun worshiper!
Following his hour long bask in the sun, Frankie is toasty but not hot. He starts his walkabout around the yard. Finely it is time to do some serious grazing. There is plenty of winter grasses and weeds in the yard so Frankie feasts. For the rest of the afternoon Frankie alternates between grazing, basking and walking. Since the temperature doesn't pass 69º F Frankie never overheats nor is he too cold to be a busy sulcata.
I too take some time to go outside and walk around the yard with Frankie. This is my daily task to check for hazards which I find none. Frankie appreciates the company. After I leave Frankie selects another fine basking spot and sits until shade passes over him.
Shade is Frankie's cue that its time to head for the house. He moises across the lawn eating all the weeds and grass that cross his path. By the time he is at the back gate I am there to lead him back inside into the gecko room.
With no complaint or fuss, Frankie walks the trail from the back yard, through the driveway, into the garage and back into the gecko room. His nice comfy "cave" awaits. His heat pad is already warm. Frankie digs his way through the tall pile of crumpled newspaper. His butt does not quite get covered so I do the honors tucking him in for the night.
Frankie is asleep immediately dreaming of his perfect sulcata day.
January 29, 2009
Where Socks Go
For Christmas I don't ask for big ticket items like a new car or a food processor or a TV. I like getting a lot of small silly items. Greg has adapted to my preference for cute little gifts. This year he got me a sign that said "Beware of Attack Tortoise", a set of little plastic turtle figurines, a small frog flashlight, a pack of Christmas pencils, and two pairs of socks: gecko socks and a beautiful pair of socks featuring Laurel Burch cats. Yep, I am easy to please.
A pair of fun socks for Christmas is a tradition for us. Greg really has to scavenge around to find just the right ones. I know he mail ordered the gecko socks and he found the cat socks locally. He remembered how much I like Laurel Birtch cat designs. He did great because I love my cat socks!
....but I am sidetracked a bit.
The other night we were watching Modern Marvels on TV and it featured underwear manufacturing. They did a bit about socks. It was mentioned that the sock company, despite lots of research, could not explain what happens to socks that go into a washer machine but never emerge from the dryer. It's a big mystery.
But I know.
Yesterday the morning was cold but we had sun thus it could warm up before it plunged into the twenties that night. Frankie, who slept the night in the gecko room, was interested in going out.
I predicted Frankie would not get past the gecko room door or just go outside long enough for a couple of bites of grass. I escorted Frankie from the gecko room through the garage and opened the back door. He stopped inside the open back door, noticed the cold temperature and refused to go farther. He was not going outside. Frankie was contented to sit inside and look outside. I left him there and returned to the gecko room to carry on daily chores.
I am smart enough not to leave a large sulcata unsupervised for any length of time in a garage full of potentially dangerous items. Since he seemed content to just sit at the door I decide it was safe to let him sit there if I returned every five minutes or so to checked on him.
At the end of five minutes I return to the garage and find no Frankie at the back door. Instead I find him next to the washer machine eating something. You guessed it -- Frankie is eating one of my lovely Laurel Burch cat socks.
I grab the end of the sock that Frankie has not yet eaten and begin the process of slowly pulling the sock out of his mouth (retrieving items from turtle mouths is a basic keeper skill). When the sulcata opens his mouth to chew you tug a bit of the item out of his mouth. It may take a few minutes to get the whole object out so keepers must be patient.
I manage to retrieve the whole sock intact. Frankie returned to the gecko room where a pile of wet soggy hay awaits him.
Absolutely this is a very dangerous event! This is a potential veterinarian visit which means picking up the monster, putting him in the car, and a possible very expensive surgery to removed a impacted object from the digestive track. This is why sulcata owners regularly walk around their property checking for dangerous items, supervise their sulcata when they are in new places, and never never leave a sulcata alone with socks.
Missing any socks?
A pair of fun socks for Christmas is a tradition for us. Greg really has to scavenge around to find just the right ones. I know he mail ordered the gecko socks and he found the cat socks locally. He remembered how much I like Laurel Birtch cat designs. He did great because I love my cat socks!
....but I am sidetracked a bit.
The other night we were watching Modern Marvels on TV and it featured underwear manufacturing. They did a bit about socks. It was mentioned that the sock company, despite lots of research, could not explain what happens to socks that go into a washer machine but never emerge from the dryer. It's a big mystery.
But I know.
Yesterday the morning was cold but we had sun thus it could warm up before it plunged into the twenties that night. Frankie, who slept the night in the gecko room, was interested in going out.
I predicted Frankie would not get past the gecko room door or just go outside long enough for a couple of bites of grass. I escorted Frankie from the gecko room through the garage and opened the back door. He stopped inside the open back door, noticed the cold temperature and refused to go farther. He was not going outside. Frankie was contented to sit inside and look outside. I left him there and returned to the gecko room to carry on daily chores.
I am smart enough not to leave a large sulcata unsupervised for any length of time in a garage full of potentially dangerous items. Since he seemed content to just sit at the door I decide it was safe to let him sit there if I returned every five minutes or so to checked on him.
At the end of five minutes I return to the garage and find no Frankie at the back door. Instead I find him next to the washer machine eating something. You guessed it -- Frankie is eating one of my lovely Laurel Burch cat socks.
I grab the end of the sock that Frankie has not yet eaten and begin the process of slowly pulling the sock out of his mouth (retrieving items from turtle mouths is a basic keeper skill). When the sulcata opens his mouth to chew you tug a bit of the item out of his mouth. It may take a few minutes to get the whole object out so keepers must be patient.
I manage to retrieve the whole sock intact. Frankie returned to the gecko room where a pile of wet soggy hay awaits him.
Absolutely this is a very dangerous event! This is a potential veterinarian visit which means picking up the monster, putting him in the car, and a possible very expensive surgery to removed a impacted object from the digestive track. This is why sulcata owners regularly walk around their property checking for dangerous items, supervise their sulcata when they are in new places, and never never leave a sulcata alone with socks.
Missing any socks?
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