Hello all!
I am prettyremarks (AKA Mea-- short for Meagan) and a first-time tortoise owner! My little tortoise, whom I will introduce in just a second, was a bit of an impulsive buy when I went to a reptile show about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I had, however, been looking at tortoise care and types of tortoises for a couple of months prior to purchasing one... and I found this forum about 2 weeks ago and have learned TONS from it already! Generally every question I've had so far has been answered by doing just a quick search on the forums, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who has wondered the same things as some of the other new tortoise owners!
A little about me: I live outside of Huntsville, TX -- approx. 2-ish hours north of Houston and 3-4 hours from the Dallas area. I'm an Animal Science major with a minor in Equine Science and a COMPLETE animal lover. I have 3.5 horses (one is a broodmare), a donkey, 9 llamas (whom are my mother's - I stopped claiming them after they spit on me the first day), 4 cats, and 1 dog. Another little fact about me is that I was in a car accident about 10 years ago that left me paralyzed and in a wheelchair.. but I try not to let that stop me. I still show/raise my horses, go to college, drive a truck, and do most of what I could do before.. even when I run into challenges, I always try to find another way of doing something that I want to do!
So now for the real star.. my little tortoise has a biography, too!
Hi, my name is Speed Bump and I'm a Leopard Tortoise! Sometimes my Mommy calls me Tortellini, but I always give her dirty looks when she does. I'm 3 months old and my breeder thinks that I am a girl based on the temperature that he set the incubator at. (This has yet to be determined, however.) I like long walks on the track that I've made around the perimeter of my box, nomming on veggies, and having my head scratched. I also find it funny to go potty in my water dish just minutes after my Mommy soaks me in the evenings. Just recently Mommy has gotten her act together and found me more suitable dishes and a hide than the tupperware top and Triscuit box she had given me at first. Now I have a nice little food dish, a water dish deep enough that I can get into and play in whenever I want, and a large cave-like hide that I disappear in! Right now Mommy has been feeding me an organic Spring Mix with various types of lettuce and anything else she can find in her fridge that's deemed tortoise-approved until her family's winter garden really comes in. (I am also a frustrating little tortoise because I don't always like to eat what she gives me.) I've even heard her talking about plans for a Tortoise Garden with all sorts of nommable goodness in it! I can't wait until I get bigger, because Mommy already has plans for a nice little tortoise run attached to one of the stalls of the barn so I can go in and out of a nice, comfy stall!
I am prettyremarks (AKA Mea-- short for Meagan) and a first-time tortoise owner! My little tortoise, whom I will introduce in just a second, was a bit of an impulsive buy when I went to a reptile show about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I had, however, been looking at tortoise care and types of tortoises for a couple of months prior to purchasing one... and I found this forum about 2 weeks ago and have learned TONS from it already! Generally every question I've had so far has been answered by doing just a quick search on the forums, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who has wondered the same things as some of the other new tortoise owners!
A little about me: I live outside of Huntsville, TX -- approx. 2-ish hours north of Houston and 3-4 hours from the Dallas area. I'm an Animal Science major with a minor in Equine Science and a COMPLETE animal lover. I have 3.5 horses (one is a broodmare), a donkey, 9 llamas (whom are my mother's - I stopped claiming them after they spit on me the first day), 4 cats, and 1 dog. Another little fact about me is that I was in a car accident about 10 years ago that left me paralyzed and in a wheelchair.. but I try not to let that stop me. I still show/raise my horses, go to college, drive a truck, and do most of what I could do before.. even when I run into challenges, I always try to find another way of doing something that I want to do!
So now for the real star.. my little tortoise has a biography, too!
Hi, my name is Speed Bump and I'm a Leopard Tortoise! Sometimes my Mommy calls me Tortellini, but I always give her dirty looks when she does. I'm 3 months old and my breeder thinks that I am a girl based on the temperature that he set the incubator at. (This has yet to be determined, however.) I like long walks on the track that I've made around the perimeter of my box, nomming on veggies, and having my head scratched. I also find it funny to go potty in my water dish just minutes after my Mommy soaks me in the evenings. Just recently Mommy has gotten her act together and found me more suitable dishes and a hide than the tupperware top and Triscuit box she had given me at first. Now I have a nice little food dish, a water dish deep enough that I can get into and play in whenever I want, and a large cave-like hide that I disappear in! Right now Mommy has been feeding me an organic Spring Mix with various types of lettuce and anything else she can find in her fridge that's deemed tortoise-approved until her family's winter garden really comes in. (I am also a frustrating little tortoise because I don't always like to eat what she gives me.) I've even heard her talking about plans for a Tortoise Garden with all sorts of nommable goodness in it! I can't wait until I get bigger, because Mommy already has plans for a nice little tortoise run attached to one of the stalls of the barn so I can go in and out of a nice, comfy stall!
However, I've answered to "Mia" before, too.. a group of online friends always knew me as Mea, then when we met at the Breeder's Cup (for those of you who aren't horsey-people, it's one of the larger races that's been in CA and KY for the last couple of years), I had to break it to them that they were saying it wrong! One of my childhood friends always called me "May" when we were growing up just as a nickname, then when she started spelling it, she realized Mea was short for Meagan and could be pronounced "May" too! 
