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  1. RosemaryDW

    Hibernation everywhere!

    Goodness, I came in to note my Russian is getting ready to brumate which always makes me a little sad; I'll miss her. Turns out you're all already here! I don't think I've ever seen so many brumation questions. The nights are getting longer, telling your tortoises to slow down whether they're...
  2. RosemaryDW

    Oops, wrong forum.

    you didn't see this.
  3. RosemaryDW

    Boo! Got owned by this tortoise :/

    Last week I was renting a place in the central coast of California. I have been near here two years in a row, during a drought. This year, with record rain I thought to myself "I'm going to get out there and see what amazing things I can bring home to this spoiled tortoise." Cant say I found...
  4. RosemaryDW

    ID plants straight from your iPhone camera roll, no software needed

    If you've got a newish iPhone it likely has a feature that will identify plants directly from any photo you take or download: visual lookup. It's quite reliable for me and very simple. Here is the brief tutorial...
  5. RosemaryDW

    Fat Russian? Again

    Our tortoise had a checkup before we put her into the fridge this year and the vet said she was overweight. What? "No," I said. "Look at those beautiful fat pads on her rear legs; that's how she's supposed to look." The vet said she had a duty to tell me and left it at that. Addy is big, over...
  6. RosemaryDW

    It's Giving Tuesday; show tortoises some love

    Today is Giving Tuesday, with plenty of charities matching any donations that are made! It's a good opportunity to take a look at any tortoise or reptile organization you support to see if they are doubling gifts right now. Or hey, just donate! There is always an opportunity to add or change...
  7. RosemaryDW

    Giving Day!

    It’s Giving Day in my area, many, but not all, charitable organizations here have set up matching programs, where a special donor agrees to match all other donations up to a max cap; at our house it’s day where we pick some special, usually smaller groups that can use financial help. Some of us...
  8. RosemaryDW

    Hahaha, as usual, tortoises do whatever they want!

    I posted a bit ago that I was looking forward to bring my tortoise out of hibernation but was also thinking some barriers my husband had built around our plants weren’t going to cut it. https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/ready-for-hibernation-to-end.189761/. She came out super fast this...
  9. RosemaryDW

    Ready for hibernation to end!

    I am expecting to bring my tortoise out of hibernation in the next ten days or so. My Russian is destuctive! Last year she climbed over/thru most of the plants we‘d put wire fencing around so my husband is walling off some fragile plants this galvanized metal edging. I don’t think it’s tall...
  10. RosemaryDW

    So Cal Russian estivation? Brumation?

    My Russian left her “summer” burrow and moved into her fall/spring nightbox after our super hot weekend three weeks ago and basically hasn’t come out since. She’s never done this before. While she has brumated early once before she was clearly digging down outside in the spot outside she always...
  11. RosemaryDW

    How hot is it in Southern California?

    It’s so hot my Russian actually took a drink when I soaked her today; this is the first time she’s ever drunk in the summer. I think she is actually in aestivation; she rarely comes out or eats. She kept disappearing and I finally realized she’s not always hanging out in her burrow; she’s...
  12. RosemaryDW

    What is this gorgeous little thing?

    New to me. I wasn’t able to get very close it put me in mind of a thistle, or something else in the sunflower family? Maybe? It was growing low to the ground in a very scrubby roadside here in Southern California. The taller thin green plants/leaves are Russian thistle (tumbleweed) and...
  13. RosemaryDW

    Would a tortoise instinctively know to avoid a rat/rodents?

    Our tortoise has been avoiding an area of our yard on her regular patrols for the last few days. It’s not her favorite spot but she never skips it, particularly when our rose is dropping petals as it is right now so I’ve been wondering if anything is up. This morning we found two of our cats...
  14. RosemaryDW

    Laser Thermometer gun “not for human use”

    Can someone smarter than me explain why this laser thermometer gun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00837ZGRY/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 —now marked “not for human use”—is radically different from this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087TTL5C3/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20, other than costing $75 less?
  15. RosemaryDW

    Now here’s something I never thought I’d see

    Walking for weeds today, as Coronageddon continues, when I see this in the field next to the community garden. Looks like wild carrot but it doesn’t grow here; we do have hemlock, which looks similar but this isn’t it. Could some carrots have seeded themselves outside of the garden fence? Stuff...
  16. RosemaryDW

    Preparing for Coronageddon

    We’ve yet to shop for toilet paper or water, no human hoarding! Our tortoise could live in our backyard presumably forever with what grows out there. But naturally I’m convinced I should stockpile for her, Our farmers market has been converted to a drive thru and what could happen if we couldn’t...
  17. RosemaryDW

    Don’t baby your tortoise by cutting up their food!

    My Russian got very lucky today with a chunk of lettuce (she rarely gets it). She finished it, including the hard core and stem. Took her a while but no help needed. She’ll eat the very hard stem of a zucchini as well, the rind of a winter squash, the bottom of a brussels sprout. Your tortoise...
  18. RosemaryDW

    Trip to a Mexican market

    We don’t have Mexican markets close to us but I was near a popular one in “North County” and stopped in to buy some cheap spices and meat; Mexicans eat the whole cow so you can find some interesting things for not a lot of money. Beef neck bones anyone? They cook up like oxtail but with less...
  19. RosemaryDW

    Out of fridge hibernation!

    After a long four months we were able to match our schedules to a sunny weather forecast; she's been in her night box not quite 36 hours. One night to herself and then into the tub. She has drunk a ton in her soaks; more than I think I've seen her drink in her entire time with us, combined: 50...
  20. RosemaryDW

    Early So Cal hibernation? Mystery illness? “HAHA fooled you,” says tortoise

    Our Russian started her fall slowdown a little early this year but hey, she makes up her own mind. She seemed a little slower overall as well, but again, she does what she wants. Then out of nowhere she eats an unusually high amount of dead plant matter on Saturday; decides to use her night box...
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