Blind tortoise keepers?

[leigti]

Hello. As I have mentioned I am legally blind. I am also relatively new to tortoise and turtle ownership. I was just wondering if there are other visually impaired tortoise keepers out there , And if so, if you could share with me how you have adjusted to certain aspects of caring for your animals. For instance, if I put the solar meter where it needs to be to get the correct reading then I can't get my eyeball close enough to read it and sometimes finding my critters in their outdoor enclosure is quite and adventure. Luckily my Russian tortoise and my Boxturtle do not mind if I hold them 3 inches away from my face so I can give them a good looking over I am waiting for the day one of them reaches out and bites me on the end of the nose. Dealing with an almost completely silent critter is not that easy when you can't see them, sometimes I'm tempted to put a bell on them. Anyway, I would be interested to know how people with visual impairments, or any other impairment as far as that goes, takes care of their tortoises. None of my friends own reptiles and none of my blind friends have ever even thought about it.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Sorry! I'm not, but I DO have a suggestion of something to help find your torts My russian has a large yard, with a lot of vegetation to hide under... hides and burrows, and it is very hard to check everywhere. When I put him out for an extended period of time, like for a whole day (he comes at night, WAY too many raccoons here) I tie a small neon orange and pink flower with a large, wobbly Christmas bell in the middle to his shell, and I can find him almost instantly! The flower is small enough so that it doesn't block sun and UVB, and the bell is not heavy at all, and he even can move under bushes and things.
I tried the bell alone, it kept falling off

 

[leigti]

I will have to try that when I let them roam the yard. My dog will find them if I tell her to otherwise she ignores them. But I do not leave them unsupervised with her, I have read all the terrible dog/turtle stories.

 

[smarch]

I can't say I fall into your category of visually impaired but I can make a comment about them biting your nose, nights I tank my Russian Tortoise in from exploring outside i'll give him this little "nose-kiss" type thing this has been going on over 2 years he's never even tried to nip my nose, just brightly nail polished fingers
But from what I've gathered, tortoises are much more timid when it comes to things like that, my cousin used to have turtles that very much would have bitten your nose and kept doing it. So you're probably good on that, though it would be a story to tell
And is your dog a service dog? because I feel like if you needed the tortoises found and she is a service dog, its just like another job for her and wouldn't bother to pay attention to them otherwise (like she already does). But its good you've gotten the tortoise/dog warnings many find out too late. I do however feel like this is a special case if you couldn't find them.
If I may add a smart-a** suggestion about finding your torts after being out during the day: larger tort! more to see/look for

 

[leigti]

Yeah, and I'll Barbara tortoise would be good

 

[leigti]

I can't say I fall into your category of visually impaired but I can make a comment about them biting your nose, nights I tank my Russian Tortoise in from exploring outside i'll give him this little "nose-kiss" type thing this has been going on over 2 years he's never even tried to nip my nose, just brightly nail polished fingers
But from what I've gathered, tortoises are much more timid when it comes to things like that, my cousin used to have turtles that very much would have bitten your nose and kept doing it. So you're probably good on that, though it would be a story to tell
And is your dog a service dog? because I feel like if you needed the tortoises found and she is a service dog, its just like another job for her and wouldn't bother to pay attention to them otherwise (like she already does). But its good you've gotten the tortoise/dog warnings many find out too late. I do however feel like this is a special case if you couldn't find them.
If I may add a smart-a** suggestion about finding your torts after being out during the day: larger tort! more to see/look for

Gosh darn it I hit the reply button instead of what I plan to. And I blame Siri for misspellings because I dictate all my replies. I think I could probably find an Aldabra tortoise now, at least til my visions all gone. But they would be easy to strap a bill to my dog is not a service dog, just a very smart, calm dog. She doesn't bother any of my other animals including the chickens or the cats. But I am still aware that a dog is a dog so I still don't leave her alone with the turtle and tortoise. She is 13 years old now, still hanging in there, but I know the day is coming when I will have to say goodbye to her and it almost killed me. My next dog will be a German Shepherd guide dog one of the hardest things I have to do is read the different monitors such as the temp gun and the solar meter. At least the temp gun keeps the reading on there for a little bit so I can bring it up to my face to read it, but the solar meter stops the minute you let go of the button. And the reading changes as you move it away so checking the UVB lights has been interesting.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I thought the headline was there anyone who kept blind tortoises and I do...but as far as really being blind I have no clue. I'm sure you've tried a magnifying glass? Hook a flag on your tortoise like the 4 wheelers at the beach .A nice high flag on a bendable material in case they burrow. Or put them in a smaller habitat so they are easier to find. I'm sorry about you plight...
You can use super glue between the scutes, not on a line...

 

[Tom]

You could also somehow affix one of those key finding beeping key chains. Maybe tape it on the tortoises back. When you push the button on the base unit, the little keychain beeps.

 

[leigti]

I made the outdoor enclosure small enough that I can in the worst case scenario I'll crawl on my hands and knees and reach all parts of it. That's why it's small and enclosed, see the L-shaped enclosure thread. I don't let them out in the yard often unless there in the pin, It is separated part for the Russian and part for the Boxturtle. But it is amazing how much they can hide even in that small area I've seen a lot of blind animals but not a blind turtle or tortoise, it seems like they could do pretty well in the right environment and with the right care. And they would probably definitely have to live alone I would think. I was hesitant to get a tortoise, knowing that they would probably outlive me and knowing that my vision was going to get worse but I decided I could make it work. So far I have but I may need some help after my vision is totally gone, mostly reading the monitors and gauges etc. They don't seem to make talking to versions of these contraptions yet. Actually just as I said that I forgot about my iPhone, I could take a picture of the gauge and then look at the picture. Wow I may have to try that today, I just got a bunch of stuff in the mail to remake my new indoor enclosures so I will let you know how it works.

 

[leigti]

I do use a very strong magnifying glass for reading but it's not much help for distance.

 

[smarch]

I feel like they should make uv/temp guns that read you what you need outloud. that would be brilliant. Any inventors on here needing something to sell?!

 

[leigti]

I feel like they should make uv/temp guns that read you what you need outloud. that would be brilliant. Any inventors on here needing something to sell?!

Many things to do actually talk but not everything yet. I can always take a picture of something with my iPhone and it will tell me what it is. But sometimes that's just not all that darn convenient. Sometimes I think that is the hardest part of being blind, inconvenience. To get a small idea of it, all anybody has to do is blind for themselves or put on a pair of goggles that have been made foggy. I am used to it, I never had great vision and I am losing mine slow enough that I'm adapting without even realizing it. But it's still a pain in the butt some days

 

[smarch]

Many things to do actually talk but not everything yet. I can always take a picture of something with my iPhone and it will tell me what it is. But sometimes that's just not all that darn convenient. Sometimes I think that is the hardest part of being blind, inconvenience. To get a small idea of it, all anybody has to do is blind for themselves or put on a pair of goggles that have been made foggy. I am used to it, I never had great vision and I am losing mine slow enough that I'm adapting without even realizing it. But it's still a pain in the butt some days

I guess temp/uv guns aren't a big enough thing for them to make talking ones.
I feel like inconvenience would be the hardest part of blindness too. I mean literally EVERYTHNG I do relies on vision I read (a lot because of school) type and need to see the keys still, working, texting, driving, movies... I mean everything! I could never fully grasp it! One day in my life I do want to "blind" myself and see how it is, fully understand what its like, because I like to be able to understand things like that.
Your foggy goggles reference made me wonder, I've never known anyone wish vision problems, so I've always just sorta assumed blind means sees nothing (although I know that's not true since technically legally blind I believe is defined by not being able to be corrected to 20-20 so correct me if I'm wrong) but I always ignorantly though nothing meant black like if I close my eyes, but foggy means you can see light right? So its more like a white that you see not black?
I believe I've completely strayed from the topic now, sorry about that, I just get curious. Usually people are glad to share when someone like me comes along wanting to understand, but if I ever ask something dumb or wrong feel free to ignore me or say hey that's not cool... I should come with a warning lol.

 

[leigti]

I guess temp/uv guns aren't a big enough thing for them to make talking ones.
I feel like inconvenience would be the hardest part of blindness too. I mean literally EVERYTHNG I do relies on vision I read (a lot because of school) type and need to see the keys still, working, texting, driving, movies... I mean everything! I could never fully grasp it! One day in my life I do want to "blind" myself and see how it is, fully understand what its like, because I like to be able to understand things like that.
Your foggy goggles reference made me wonder, I've never known anyone wish vision problems, so I've always just sorta assumed blind means sees nothing (although I know that's not true since technically legally blind I believe is defined by not being able to be corrected to 20-20 so correct me if I'm wrong) but I always ignorantly though nothing meant black like if I close my eyes, but foggy means you can see light right? So its more like a white that you see not black?
I believe I've completely strayed from the topic now, sorry about that, I just get curious. Usually people are glad to share when someone like me comes along wanting to understand, but if I ever ask something dumb or wrong feel free to ignore me or say hey that's not cool... I should come with a warning lol.

You can ask anything you want that's okay. Most people don't understand they think you were either totally blind or you see just fine but there is so much in between. Right now my vision, if they could charge it which they can't, would be something like 20/5000 you're right, there is not enough of a market for companies to make things that talk. But the adventure of the iPhone and iPad have changed a lot of things for visually impaired people, as well as people with other disabilities. I have a friend who is deaf and blind and she can use and I put phone or Apple computer. Like I said, I have never had reptiles before and they come with their own special needs, much of which truly do require vision. So I'm winging it

 

[smarch]

You can ask anything you want that's okay. Most people don't understand they think you were either totally blind or you see just fine but there is so much in between. Right now my vision, if they could charge it which they can't, would be something like 20/5000 you're right, there is not enough of a market for companies to make things that talk. But the adventure of the iPhone and iPad have changed a lot of things for visually impaired people, as well as people with other disabilities. I have a friend who is deaf and blind and she can use and I put phone or Apple computer. Like I said, I have never had reptiles before and they come with their own special needs, much of which truly do require vision. So I'm winging it

I'm one of those who though total blind or totally ok... but i'd never actually thought about it. If you think about it people thinking its all good or total blindness completely fail to take into account people with glasses, I mean I fall into the perfect category yet a friend has very strong prescription lenses.. and technically my mum can only have 1 eye corrected to 20/20 the other ones wonkey. I took a hearing and speech anatomy course in college a couple semesters ago and after taking it really wished they had an anatomy of the eye/seeing because I learned so much about how we actually talk i'd love ot understand how sight works as in depth... yeah i'm a nerd haha never enough knowledge!

 

[leigti]

I also like to analyze things, research them. It's actually a good thing. I should know a lot more about the ice than I do, I just know about mine and that's enough to confuse a lot of doctors.

 

[smarch]

I also like to analyze things, research them. It's actually a good thing. I should know a lot more about the ice than I do, I just know about mine and that's enough to confuse a lot of doctors.

My friend is like that, she has a rare disease called Chiari Malformation pronounced Key-ar-ee and i'm hoping the phone/computer can read out that pronunciation well! And actually its the awareness month so I'll share a little about it, basically the back of her brain, the cerebellum, the bottom part of it pushed its way down and out the bottom of the skull some and puts extreme pressure on her spinal cord so she gets headaches all the time that meds cant fix, balance is off, and also leads to many other rare illnesses that I'll just leave out explaining to not confuse more! But she always confuses the doctors with how much she knows about her own condition... since its so uncommon many doctors don't even know about it!
Everyone learns about situations that effect them personally or closely.

 

[leigti]

Sometimes when you don't have "normal" issues doctor s don't quite know what to do with you. I have puzzled many specialists, because I have issues in both the front and the back part of Mayeye the front doctors don't know what to do and the back doctors don't know what to do. It's amusing sometimes, frustrating other times.

 

[leigti]

Right now I am working on new indoor enclosures. I am feeling a little stressed because my vision is getting worse and I don't know how much longer it will last. I would like to get these enclosure set up right so that I don't have to worry about it once I can't see anything at all. It's getting there but sometimes it's difficult to be patient.

 

[smarch]

Sometimes when you don't have "normal" issues doctor s don't quite know what to do with you. I have puzzled many specialists, because I have issues in both the front and the back part of Mayeye the front doctors don't know what to do and the back doctors don't know what to do. It's amusing sometimes, frustrating other times.

I didn't know there were doctors for different parts of the eye, that's interesting, I guess I just assumed the eye is much more simple than it is... although yes I know its actually quite un-simple, but I didn't know that. Its like my friend always says... why don't my doctor have meetings and discuss/work out things rather than getting no where.