oh thats great!! espicaly since i am almost math illitreate. lol I can read and understand most everything i read but numbers and math it might as well be greek! lol
I need help in setting up my russian tortoise habbit.
- Thread starter Dragon
- Start date
im not sure about the humidity....i'll have to learn how to find out what our humidity is in the house and then how to control....we do have a dehumitver....because if the humity is to high it triggers my migrines...( thank God for bowtox!! we finally have them under some kind of control now) so now i have to discover what the humity for sissy should be and hope its not so high it triggers the migrines and then how to control it....any suggestions on websights i could go to to learn this?
sissy is doing great, she spends a lot of time in her cave but comes out to get under her heat lamp and to eat, and of course i get her out to soak. spike got me a good sized clear plastic tub to soak her in, i put the tub and her on my lap while she soaks and i rub her shell with a toothbrush...Im just waiting for her to come out of her cave so i can soak her.....hopefuly she come out soon....she missed her soak yesterday....i may have to vairy the times i soak her so she cant hid on me. lol dont know if she likes it or not but she hid yesterday at soaking time and shes hidding again today.... i might have to start taking her out of her cave to soak her so she gets it weather she wants it or not. lol iv been a mommy for a very long time with both human children and various animal children lol they all get what they need one way or another. lol we can do it the easy way or the hard way....lol
For an adult Russian it's around the same as people. It is 40-60% for people being the healthiest. I have a little battery operated digital clock, temp, and humidity device on the wall of his room. I don't worry about it in the summer because the humidity is always up but in the winter I do. So I run humidifiers in his room. I also run them in my living room. Our air can become so dry that I shoot electricity at anything I touch ⚡. It was showing 1% on my living room device when I wasn't. So I had to go ahead and run the humidifiers in there also.
ok thank you now i will just have to get a device with a humidity senser.... as long as its not to high i should be fine lol 40 to 60% and if we find we have her humity levels right and i start having trouble with the migrines we shall just have to move her in to a different room. I like having her here in the livingroom with us but her health is the most important thing. my poor spike i had to promise him i wouldnt get any more animal children if he let me have a tortos lol we have 2 dogs, a cat a bird and now sissy. lol poor man is beginning to feel like hes living in a mini zoo!! lol the cat and dogs have free rain of the house and holms birdcage is at the entrence to the kitchen, and sissy is of course right in the livingroom. she seemed to enjoy her soak better today and yes several times she came to the side i was on and walked right up the wall of the tub lol Shes in her cave now...or not! lol now shes sitting in her food dish she must be ready to eat again lol
I am so glad Sissy is settling in so well. It is ok to take her out of her hide to soak her - she will soon learn the routine, and expect it. She probably likes having her shell brushed too.
It is great that she is coming to see you - she probably realises you are going to be her food person, and that will make you her favourite person, too ! I find that Zola really enjoys my company, usually, but we have had him for 20 years, so he is very used to us now - Sissy will get to trust you and Spike, and become really friendly, given time, I think.
Angie
It is great that she is coming to see you - she probably realises you are going to be her food person, and that will make you her favourite person, too ! I find that Zola really enjoys my company, usually, but we have had him for 20 years, so he is very used to us now - Sissy will get to trust you and Spike, and become really friendly, given time, I think.
Angie
In the summer in Ohio I don't have to run a humidifier because the humidity is always sky high. I don't worry too much about the higher humidity for him because he's outside most of the day. Even with an air conditioner for my living room the humidity level is high. I have a device for there also but it's also wifi and reads the front yard temperature and humidity also. I keep Sapphire in a separate room and don't run air in there through the summer. My little device didn't cost very much though. It was somewhere between 15-$25. The one for my living room was around $50 and has an atomic clock Then lol I have another one in my living room that reads the back yard temperature inside Sapphire's enclosure but not the humidity. I don't remember what that one costs but it's somewhere midpriced. They are all made by la crosse technology. I also have a temp gun but have found that my devices are accurate enough for me to feel he's safe. Do you find you have more migraines in the summer? I figure your humidity levels are about the same as here or maybe higher because of the lakes.
I think your right. lol she comes to the plexglass more and more often... she also tends to stay on the side of her soaking tub that im on. lol I set her soaking tub on my lap when i soak her lol and yes she does like having her shell rubed with the tootbrush. I look forward to a lot of years with sissy, and i will be teaching my grandson how to take care of her when he visits so when i pass on and she becomes his he will know how to take care of her. .... I have several health issues including copd which worsens every year so I took that into consideration before i decided to get a tortus She will still have her inside habatat and im sure his father will be able to help him take apart her outside habbitat and rebuild it at there house and she will already be fimular with her new human father. lol
I have rather adnormal migrines and headaces. Before I started the bowtox shots I lived with 10+ mirgines on a constant and regular basis as well as tension headaces also with the 10 plus pain factor for 10 + years....they just never went away, before that i had had cluster migrines and cluster tension headaces which would last for days, weeks and months at a time without a break. When they got to where it was a constant 24 hour a day 7days a week I had to quit work and go on disablity...I just couldnt work through them anymore. Spike was a God send....He spent our first 16 years together searching for something, anything that would give me some relief. Id been taking meds that are suppose to help keep the migrines and headaces under control but they didnt work, nor did the various pain meds perscribed... I spent most of our first 16 years together lying in bed in a dark room with icepacks over my face trying not to cry as that just made the pain worse. Last year i ws sent to a nuro dr and perscribed botox shots. I get 33 botox shots in my head face and neck ever 3 months. There like getting 33 bee stings... sharp and hot....but for the first time in decaides I am pratricaly pain free for those 3 months and the headaces and migrines i get now are few and far between and normaly last no more then 4 hours at a time.... the new pain meds im on take time to work, but at least they work. I still do all the preventive things iv been doing for decaids.... wearing dark sunglass when every im out ( at least now they dont have to be the dark welders glasses) our house is still darker then most and i still avoid caffeen....( instead of helping my migrines like they do most people the caffiee triggers mine. ) I still check to make sure nothing i eat has msg in it as well. another major migrine trigger. This past year has been so wounderful for me.... Iv been able to do my many crafts again and i can even read for short periods of time. but yes humity and any drastic change in barametric pressure , and humity can trigger the headaces, but like i said at least now there not as severe and dont last as long as they did before the shots. I'll have to wait and see how things go. Hopefuly with the shots i wont have to much trouble id hate to have to put sissy in another room or worse case secineo give he away... so i just add that to my prayers too
I am so sorry to hear about your headaches - I have pretty bad headaches too, but not as bad as yours - I have been having botox injections too, for several years,but they stopped during the worst of the Covid, as the hospital was so busy - the treatment was started again a few months ago, though, and I am managing better now I also have something called a Greater Occipital Nerve injection, in the back of my neck,in between the botox sessions,which also helps. I have never really noticed the effect of humidity, though - I must look out for any differences.
How lovely that you have Spike - and of course, Sissy now to help you - My husband Richard is wonderful, and Zola is such a happy calming little tortoise person - often,just holding him for a while makes me feel better. We have had him for 20 years, and he is a real treasure.
You sound very positive about Sissy, and I think you will have a great relationship with her - she trusts you already, and the more time you can spend with her, the better things will get. That is my experience with Zola, anyway.
Angie x
How lovely that you have Spike - and of course, Sissy now to help you - My husband Richard is wonderful, and Zola is such a happy calming little tortoise person - often,just holding him for a while makes me feel better. We have had him for 20 years, and he is a real treasure.
You sound very positive about Sissy, and I think you will have a great relationship with her - she trusts you already, and the more time you can spend with her, the better things will get. That is my experience with Zola, anyway.
Angie x
I think you and Spike are off to a great start with Sissy.
She's on a good diet, getting soak's which can be a bonding time, in addition to hydrating.
As mentioned above, be calm, were all here to help, with any questions you may have, to alleviate any fears you may have also....
As far as the migraine's, I have no concept of the pain you must go through. I hope the Botox injections help with your day to day life.
I get sinus headaches at night, In the middle of the night my face will feel as though it is on fire.
I used to take a washcloth, get it wet, and microwave it for 25 seconds,then go back to bed and put it on my face. the heat would help break up the impaction in my sinus's. Then my primary care Dr. had me do nasal flushes with a saline solution, which pretty much stopped the "Fire face". Now I do a flush like once a week, and have been pain free for the most part....
Keep up the good work with your lil Sissy ?
She's on a good diet, getting soak's which can be a bonding time, in addition to hydrating.
As mentioned above, be calm, were all here to help, with any questions you may have, to alleviate any fears you may have also....
As far as the migraine's, I have no concept of the pain you must go through. I hope the Botox injections help with your day to day life.
I get sinus headaches at night, In the middle of the night my face will feel as though it is on fire.
I used to take a washcloth, get it wet, and microwave it for 25 seconds,then go back to bed and put it on my face. the heat would help break up the impaction in my sinus's. Then my primary care Dr. had me do nasal flushes with a saline solution, which pretty much stopped the "Fire face". Now I do a flush like once a week, and have been pain free for the most part....
Keep up the good work with your lil Sissy ?
There's others here on TFO that have bad migraine headaches also. I feel for all of you.? One of my brothers has dealt with them for years. He has finally found a way to manage them but at one time they would literally paralyze him. Sorry. I hate it that my tortoise has to be in another room but I don't think he minds it. I'm the one that does. My daily care keeps me in some kind of activity with him through the day every day though so he does know and interact with me. The main thing on his agenda though is to get to go outside in his enclosure ?or food.
Sorry to hear about your headaces as well. Im glad the bowtox shots are helping you to. I go to a nuroligest every 3 months to get mine. They have really given me my life back! Iv been able to start doing all my crafts again which i really missed doing and if im careful i can read almost a whole chapter of a book lol.... I used to be an avide reader , reading a paperback a day while still being able to take care of my children, animals, and do crafts for craft shows....ah but that was a very long time ago. lol I still have all my books packed in boxes in the gragrage....but im thinking about building a bookcase and getting some of them out again. ....... yes sissy is fitting in here quite well. since my kids have grown I have filled my life with animal children, 2 dogs, a cat , a bird and now sissy. I promised spike i wouldnt add any more animal children to home. lol we all live in harmary.... and anytime spike and i both have to be out of the house at the same time we put ivy(cat) in the bedroom and shes kept in there at night as well in order to keep everyone safe. I put sissy in a gray restrant tub to soak and sit it on my lap.... my little sheba gets a little jelious when i soak sissy but shes getting used it lol I just give her a little extra attention after i put sissy back in her house and everybody is nice and happy again lol
sorry to hear about your brothers migrines and am so glad he has them under some kind of control now.... I pray everyone who has them find relief from them that will countue to work. So far sissy is doing ok, as soon as i get my check i'll have spike get something to measure the humity in here and we can go from there to make sure its what it should be her. She really is a sweet heart and comes to the windo almost all the time now when walk over to check on her. She has a good apptite to and she is really settleing in here. sissy to is mainly interested in food....lol come summer i'll see about making an outside habbit for her
oh im so glad you have relief with your sinus headaces regardless of what kind of headace you get when its all the time or on a constent and regular basis it sucks.... Thank you for saying spike and I are getting a great start with sissy thats so reassureing lol I do have a couple of things I want to ask about....When I soaked sissy along with her bm she seems to eliminate some white stuff as well.... and today i found a small chip on the top of her shell and then what looks like a bigger wound? on her shell.... I didnt notice them before but for the life of me i cant think of any way she could have gotten injured in her house....all thats in there are her food and water dishes and her little cave to hide in. I took pictures. im glad i did to as i didnt notice the one on the side of her shell until i saw the picture. I dont want to disturb her now as shes resting in her cave but i will check her over more carefuly tomarrow when i get her out to soak to see if theres anything where els her shelll might be damaged. Now that iv seen them is there anything I should do for her? or should i call the vet? I plan on calling her tomarrow anyway to ask if she takes care of tortous and if not if she can recomend someone who does.
The white stuff that Sissy eliminated is called urates, and is perfectly normal - it is just impurities, and all tortoises do it, I think - some produce it every day, some only now and then. Zola does it a lot, and sometimes just a little bit, sometimes more. It is a sign that Sissy's insides are working properly, so a good thing. As for the marks, they are probably just little scratches, but remember her shell is growing all the time, and they will probably just grow over with new shell quite quickly. Can you feel them with your finger?
I don't think they are anything to panic about, and they may have happened before you got her, but are now visible because you are soaking her daily, and she is cleaner. However, if you are taking her to the vet, you can check then. Could they just be bits of urate stuck to her shell?. Try gently brushing with her toothbrush. And Don't Panic !!
Angie xx
I don't think they are anything to panic about, and they may have happened before you got her, but are now visible because you are soaking her daily, and she is cleaner. However, if you are taking her to the vet, you can check then. Could they just be bits of urate stuck to her shell?. Try gently brushing with her toothbrush. And Don't Panic !!
Angie xx
lol panic is what i do best lol but no i wasnt in a total panic just concerned....I usuly get a book on a animal iv never had before so i can look these things up. I have to call my vet and see if she takes care of tortoises. I dont trust the information on line concerning tortoises since iv found out most of the information I gathered before I got her was wrong. I am so grateful i found this sight. and thank you for letting me know she proubly had them before I got her...the first time i soaked her the water was almost black when i took her out so its no wounder i didnt see it at first. I give her shell some little rubs with a tooth brush everytime i soak her... lol she seems to like it. I have noticed she tends to stay on the side of them tub im at and she usuly stays in one of the corners... the tub is clear so i dont think she understands she cant go any farther.... I pick her up and turn her around but she just goes back into the corner. lol she will get used to it in time lol we are still getting to know each other and of course i still have a lot to learn but she seems to be doing great! lol when shes not eating or sunning herself she spends a lot of time in cave..... she seems happy....I just want to make sure im doing everything i can for her to make her life comfortable and happy. I already love that little lady....shame i cant make cloths for her lol her and the bird are the lucky ones i guess lol im always making and putting things on the dogs and cat. lol Sheba has always liked it and now that shes so old and loosing her hair it helps to keep her warm in winter and keep her skin from burning in summer. my new dog bonnie has taken off every fancy collor iv made her and tried to eat it! l tried a cute bandana on her the other day but she managed to get it off and nibble on it anyway lol.... i found a pattern to put on the cat its shaped like a piece of bread and its worn like a coller lol she tore it off 5 mins after i put it on her lol
Can you do crochet? There is someone who makes crochet shell covers which are really cute - Zola had a calendar with photos of them several years ago one Christmas !
I make shell hats most years for his birthday, but not crochet. This is probably his best one
Angie
oh thats beautiful!! yes i crochet an sew as a matter of fact lol i also do hand and machine emboridy...Id love to find a sight with crochet and or sewing patterns for shell covers! lol I make stuff for both my dogs and cat...why should sissy miss out lol now the bird I leave alone lol If youd like I could machine emborider some patches you could use to put on some of zola's shell covers. I think that is just so cute!! lol
I would love to see you trying to fix a bonnet on your bird !!
Angie
