Gomez and his wood pile

[thatrebecca]

One of my CDTs has become obsessed with this pile of wood from a camphor tree we trimmed. After his morning sunning, he goes in here and stays until I drag him out at dusk. Of course he has plenty of other hides in shade and sun, but he has chosen his favorite. If we let him, I'd bet he'd brumate here (sorry buddy, not happening).

I took two of the camphor logs and put them next to the opening of his concrete burrow, and sure enough he dug in under them and slept all night. He must prefer the wood to the concrete for some reason, so I'm thinking when he goes down for the winter and I redesign the enclosures I'll try to fashion a more permanent wood hide of some kind. Anybody ever made one?

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Oops looks like pix didn't post. Trying again.

 

[luvpetz27]

Super cute and funny!!

 

[ascott]

Medicinal[edit]
Camphor is readily absorbed through the skin and produces a feeling of cooling similar to that of menthol, and acts as slight local anesthetic and antimicrobial substance. There are anti-itch gels and cooling gels with camphor as the active ingredient. Camphor is an active ingredient (along with menthol) in vapor-steam products, such as Vicks VapoRub.
Camphor may also be administered orally in small quantities (50 mg) for minor heart symptoms and fatigue.[13] Through much of the 1900s this was sold under the trade name Musterole; production ceased in the 1990s.
Camphor has been used in ancient Sumatra to treat sprains, swellings, and inflammation.[14] Camphor is a component of paregoric, an opium/camphor tincture from the 18th century. Also in the 18th century, camphor was used by Auenbrugger in the treatment of mania.[15] Based on Hahnemann's writings, camphor (dissolved in alcohol) was also successfully used to treat the 1854-1855 cholera epidemics in Naples.[16]

Small dose[edit]
Its effects on the body include tachycardia, vasodilation in skin (flushing), slower breathing, reduced appetite, increased secretions and excretions such as perspiration, diuretic. [17]

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Camphor has a strong, penetrating, fragrant odour, a bitter, pungent taste, and is slightly cold to the touch like menthol leaves; locally it is an irritant, numbs the peripheral sensory nerves, and is slightly antiseptic; it is not readily absorbed by the mucous membrane, but is easily absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue- it combines in the body with glucuronic acid, and in this condition is voided by the urine. Experiments on frogs show a depressant action to the spinal column, no motor disturbance, but a slow increasing paralysis; in mankind it causes convulsions, from the effect it has on the motor tract of the brain; it stimulates the intellectual centres and prevents narcotic drugs taking effect, but in cases of nervous excitement it has a soothing and quieting result. Authorities vary as to its effect on blood pressure; some think it raises it, others take an opposite view; but it has been proved valuable as an excitant in cases of heart failure, whether due to diseases or as a result of infectious fevers, such as typhoid and pneumonia, not only in the latter case as a stimulant to circulation, but as preventing the growth of pneumococci. Camphor is used in medicine internally for its calming influence in hysteria, nervousness and neuralgia, and for serious diarrhoea, and externally as a counter-irritant in rheumatisms, sprains bronchitis, and in inflammatory conditions, and sometimes in conjunction with menthol and phenol for heart failure; it is often given hypodermically, 3 to 5 grains dissolved in 20 to 30 minims of sterile Olive oil - the effect will last about two hours. In nervous diseases it may be given in substance or in capsules or in spirit; dose 2 to 5 grains. Its great value is in colds, chills, and in all inflammatory complaints; it relieves irritation of the sexual organs.

http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Herbs/masterlist.html

Just a variety of references for you....could offer some reasons for the desire to rest near or within the pile...

 

[wellington]

Pretty cool pile, I would pick it too.

 

[thatrebecca]

Medicinal[edit]
Camphor is readily absorbed through the skin and produces a feeling of cooling similar to that of menthol, and acts as slight local anesthetic and antimicrobial substance. There are anti-itch gels and cooling gels with camphor as the active ingredient. Camphor is an active ingredient (along with menthol) in vapor-steam products, such as Vicks VapoRub.
Camphor may also be administered orally in small quantities (50 mg) for minor heart symptoms and fatigue.[13] Through much of the 1900s this was sold under the trade name Musterole; production ceased in the 1990s.
Camphor has been used in ancient Sumatra to treat sprains, swellings, and inflammation.[14] Camphor is a component of paregoric, an opium/camphor tincture from the 18th century. Also in the 18th century, camphor was used by Auenbrugger in the treatment of mania.[15] Based on Hahnemann's writings, camphor (dissolved in alcohol) was also successfully used to treat the 1854-1855 cholera epidemics in Naples.[16]

Small dose[edit]
Its effects on the body include tachycardia, vasodilation in skin (flushing), slower breathing, reduced appetite, increased secretions and excretions such as perspiration, diuretic. [17]

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Camphor has a strong, penetrating, fragrant odour, a bitter, pungent taste, and is slightly cold to the touch like menthol leaves; locally it is an irritant, numbs the peripheral sensory nerves, and is slightly antiseptic; it is not readily absorbed by the mucous membrane, but is easily absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue- it combines in the body with glucuronic acid, and in this condition is voided by the urine. Experiments on frogs show a depressant action to the spinal column, no motor disturbance, but a slow increasing paralysis; in mankind it causes convulsions, from the effect it has on the motor tract of the brain; it stimulates the intellectual centres and prevents narcotic drugs taking effect, but in cases of nervous excitement it has a soothing and quieting result. Authorities vary as to its effect on blood pressure; some think it raises it, others take an opposite view; but it has been proved valuable as an excitant in cases of heart failure, whether due to diseases or as a result of infectious fevers, such as typhoid and pneumonia, not only in the latter case as a stimulant to circulation, but as preventing the growth of pneumococci. Camphor is used in medicine internally for its calming influence in hysteria, nervousness and neuralgia, and for serious diarrhoea, and externally as a counter-irritant in rheumatisms, sprains bronchitis, and in inflammatory conditions, and sometimes in conjunction with menthol and phenol for heart failure; it is often given hypodermically, 3 to 5 grains dissolved in 20 to 30 minims of sterile Olive oil - the effect will last about two hours. In nervous diseases it may be given in substance or in capsules or in spirit; dose 2 to 5 grains. Its great value is in colds, chills, and in all inflammatory complaints; it relieves irritation of the sexual organs.

http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Herbs/masterlist.html

Just a variety of references for you....could offer some reasons for the desire to rest near or within the pile...

So Gomez is basically sleeping in a pile of Vicks Vaporub? Fascinating. Didn't even think of camphor's therapeutic properties. Although the wood smells fantastic in the fireplace. Smart little tort.

 

[ascott]

LOL...I would also make sure that you move him from the location a few times a day...the smell can be intoxicating and literally offer a type of paralysis which would have him missing out on food time and sunning time....lol...

 

[thatrebecca]

Medicinal[edit]
Camphor is readily absorbed through the skin and produces a feeling of cooling similar to that of menthol, and acts as slight local anesthetic and antimicrobial substance. There are anti-itch gels and cooling gels with camphor as the active ingredient. Camphor is an active ingredient (along with menthol) in vapor-steam products, such as Vicks VapoRub.
Camphor may also be administered orally in small quantities (50 mg) for minor heart symptoms and fatigue.[13] Through much of the 1900s this was sold under the trade name Musterole; production ceased in the 1990s.
Camphor has been used in ancient Sumatra to treat sprains, swellings, and inflammation.[14] Camphor is a component of paregoric, an opium/camphor tincture from the 18th century. Also in the 18th century, camphor was used by Auenbrugger in the treatment of mania.[15] Based on Hahnemann's writings, camphor (dissolved in alcohol) was also successfully used to treat the 1854-1855 cholera epidemics in Naples.[16]

Small dose[edit]
Its effects on the body include tachycardia, vasodilation in skin (flushing), slower breathing, reduced appetite, increased secretions and excretions such as perspiration, diuretic. [17]

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Camphor has a strong, penetrating, fragrant odour, a bitter, pungent taste, and is slightly cold to the touch like menthol leaves; locally it is an irritant, numbs the peripheral sensory nerves, and is slightly antiseptic; it is not readily absorbed by the mucous membrane, but is easily absorbed by the subcutaneous tissue- it combines in the body with glucuronic acid, and in this condition is voided by the urine. Experiments on frogs show a depressant action to the spinal column, no motor disturbance, but a slow increasing paralysis; in mankind it causes convulsions, from the effect it has on the motor tract of the brain; it stimulates the intellectual centres and prevents narcotic drugs taking effect, but in cases of nervous excitement it has a soothing and quieting result. Authorities vary as to its effect on blood pressure; some think it raises it, others take an opposite view; but it has been proved valuable as an excitant in cases of heart failure, whether due to diseases or as a result of infectious fevers, such as typhoid and pneumonia, not only in the latter case as a stimulant to circulation, but as preventing the growth of pneumococci. Camphor is used in medicine internally for its calming influence in hysteria, nervousness and neuralgia, and for serious diarrhoea, and externally as a counter-irritant in rheumatisms, sprains bronchitis, and in inflammatory conditions, and sometimes in conjunction with menthol and phenol for heart failure; it is often given hypodermically, 3 to 5 grains dissolved in 20 to 30 minims of sterile Olive oil - the effect will last about two hours. In nervous diseases it may be given in substance or in capsules or in spirit; dose 2 to 5 grains. Its great value is in colds, chills, and in all inflammatory complaints; it relieves irritation of the sexual organs.

http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Herbs/masterlist.html

Just a variety of references for you....could offer some reasons for the desire to rest near or within the pile...

So Gomez is basically sleeping in a pile of Vicks Vaporub? Fascinating. Didn't even think of camphor's therapeutic properties. Although the wood smells fantastic in the fireplace. Smart little tort.

Oh man. You mean he could be a camphor junkie? I knew the hibiscus was just a gateway drug.

Anyway today, which was very cool here, he was all over the yard eating every sprig of clover he could find. And no interest in his wood pile. I'm wondering if the coolness was the allure.

 

[ascott]

Oh man. You mean he could be a camphor junkie? I knew the hibiscus was just a gateway drug.

LMAO....

 

[thatrebecca]

I went to grab some wood for the fire last night and got a scare -- a snakeskin in the wood pile. Apparently Gomez was sharing his favorite spot with another reptile tenant. It wasn't that big, so I'm assuming it was a gopher snake. Would that harm a juvenile? In an ideal world it would go after the gophers that are eating my lawn, and have no interest in Gomez or Morticia.