Tortoise Tales

Sunbathing

2010-01-21T22:16:00.004+08:00

This is how one enjoys sunbathing in seclusion. Ah....tranquility, warmth, privacy....

And...this is sunbathing on a public beach.......

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-20T21:08:00.002+08:00

Feeding time!

2008-05-30T10:27:00.002+08:00

Today's special: Cockerals

Once Upon a Dime

2008-02-09T16:55:00.000+08:00

This was how big Slow Coach looked like when I bought her from a pet shot in Chinatown 12 years ago. About the size of a dime. She used to eat 5 tortoise pellets a day.

Now she is the length of a size 8 shoe from her head to tail & eats half a dozen corkerals or 1 crabstick a day. Yeap, she has certainly grown in size & in personality.

Happy New Year 2008! Bye Bye 2007!

2008-02-09T16:28:00.000+08:00

Slow Coach & Charlie would like to wish all their friends a Happy New Year!

Slow Coach & Charlie had been busy at the year end of 2007 as they were busy moving to a new home. Will be posting some pics of Slow Coach & Charlie from their new home soon.

Take care everyone & be happy always! =)

We are back!

2007-09-08T22:16:00.000+08:00

Both Charlie & Slow Coach are doing well. Just a little busy to update on their developments until now.

After spending 5 days sun bathing in the balcony under the tropical sun, Charlie's lungs have cleared up. No more sneezing.

While Slow Coach has recovered as well after 1 week on tortoise pellets diet.

Both of them are on a mixture of carbsticks, fish & tortoise pellets diet.

Tortoises sick

2007-07-20T10:26:00.000+08:00

News update from Slow Coach & Charlie after a long break.

However, it is no good news yet. Both the tortoises have fallen ill. Charlie has caught cold due to the rainy weather lately. He has been sneezing all day long for the last few days. Luckily, his appetite for food is not affected. Everday Charlie will spend some time basking in the sun to help clear his lungs. Hope his cold will go away in another few more days.

Slow Coach, well... She has eaten too much sushi lately & her tummy is not taking it too well. Her stools are watery & orange in colour. She will have to go on dry food diet (tortoise pellets) until her stool returns to normal. She's under observation & if her condition doesn't improve in a few more days, she will have to see her vet.

Wardrobe Malfunction

2007-04-24T14:44:00.000+08:00

Last week Slow Coach has a wardrobe malfunction episode. She has outgrown her old shell & while climbing out of her tub, 2 pieces of shell under her tummy just came off. Like snakes, tortoises also shed their old skin which is their shells at certain phases in their life. She last shed all her old set of shell pieces by pieces 3 years ago when she was 8 years old. It took her almost 2-3 years to completely shed off all her old shell. This is her second time. It started last week & will continue on for the next 1-2 years. This is why she enjoys a good scrub with the toothbrush as the scrubbings help loosen the dead skin/shell of her faster.

Looks like a pair of wings, eh? Now she is spotting 2 new pieces of light green shell at her underbelly.

Give your tortoise a good rub today! =)

Help Save the Turtles!

2007-04-03T14:15:00.000+08:00

Lately, there has been lot's of news on the illegal poaching of the protected sea turtles in the Malaysian waters. Most of them didn't survive the ordeal. They weigh 50 to 60 kgs each & are between 70 to 80 years old. They could easily live to more than 100 years old in the wild.

Those poor turtles. Already dwindling in numbers due to sea pollution & lack of nesting places. Now, those poor buggers are on the fashion magazine & also restaurant menu. A small Hawksbill is worth about RM1,000 and its shell can be made into spectacle frames and other accessories. Green turtles are valued for their medicinal properties (hearsay terrapin meat cooked with some Chinese herbs can increase ones sexual libido), which according to some may be worth up to RM70,000 each!

I wonder if tortoises & terrapins will risk being tortoise-napped as well. In any case, I'm not taking the risk & my tortoises will stay indoors for a while until things cool down. Otherwise, I will have to think of some ways to camouflage them from the eyes of their tortoise-nappers so that Slow Coach and Charlie will not fall into the same fate as their cousins at sea. Hmm... perhaps planting some grass on their shells so that they will blend nicely with the surrounding garden...

Ok, on the serious side. Do you know that the Hawksbill is the Melaka's Marine Ambassador? WWF Malaysia has come up with various projects in their effort to safeguard the Hawksbill turtles. Find out more from the link below:

http://www.wwfmalaysia.org/turtles/index.htm

Please support WWF-Malaysia's work to save the critically endangered hawksbills turtles from extinction. You can make a meaningful difference! Please donate today to WWF Malaysia's save the turtle campaign.

Note: Under Section 15 of the Fisheries Act, Malaysia: If convicted of illegal poaching of the protected turtles, the skipper of the ship would face a maximum fine of RM1mil, while the ship's crews could each face a fine of RM100,000 in default imprisonment.

Weather Report: Tortoise Style

2007-04-02T13:36:00.000+08:00

Slow Coach has different favourite activities according to the ever changing weathers in Malaysia:

Fine sunny day: Slow Coach sunbathes on the balcony with all legs outstretched.

Hot & windy day: Slow Coach naps under the shades of the flower pot while enjoying the breeze.

Hot & humid day: Slow Coach sits under the coffee table (sometimes watching us human going about our daily activities) in the living room with the fan in full swing.

Hot, hot, hot day!!!: Slow Coach sits in the bathroom waiting to take cold baths with us! Alternative: Sleep in front of our bedroom doors to enjoy the cool air from the air conditioner seeping out through the gap between the door & the floor.

Cool day: Usually spends her time on the balcony looking at cars passing by with head out stretched passed the balcony's grille, enjoys sticking her tiny head into the water outlet or rearranging flower pots into a straight line.

Rainy day: Enjoys sticking her nose into the rain puddles at the far end of the balcony, taking a stroll in the rain or just sit in the rain puddle & splashes with her flapping feet.

Cold day: Spends her day napping underneath the fridge, enjoying the warm heat generated from the fridge's motor.

Yesterday's weather report: Slow Coach had 4 cold baths in 1 day! Yeap, yesterday was a very hot day indeed. =)

$ making machine?

2007-03-28T15:59:00.000+08:00

Dear Slow Coach & Charlie's fans,

Today I have accidentally come upon a website (inspired by Tristan Louis's research) to test how much Tortoise-Tales.com is worth. Guess what? This humble blog is worth $564.54. What a pleasant surprise! =)

Soon, Slow Coach & Charlie can go supermarket shopping for their food with their own $ & maybe take me out for a nice seafood dinner. =)

Cheers everyone!

Slow Coach & Co. - Wedding services

2007-03-09T09:15:00.000+08:00

Dream of having a unique wedding? Allow us to gracefully lead you & the love of your life to walk down the aisle of eternal bliss.

Services include:

1) A pair of well-mannered tortoises (1 male & 1 female) - Very friendly. Not known to bite strangers. Welcome pats on the shell. Eagerly accept rewards by hand (handfed crabsticks/cockerals/prawns,anchovies, etc.)

2) Well-groomed & highly presentable - perfectly manicured nails, well-polished shells with fish oil & always smiling.

3) Customary ceremonial costume - Double happiness & bright red ribbon tastefully decorated on their shells.

4) Western ceremonial costume - Black butterfly bow for male & flower of your choice with soft ribbon for female

5) 1 time rehearsal in the location of your wedding - church, house, garden, etc.

Service fees: 10 freshly peeled prawns
Payment terms: P.O.D. (Prawn on delivery)
Bookings: 14 days in advance

Interested? Make your appointment with Slow Coach ( that's me in the picture! ) via http://tortoise-tales.blogspot.com/ now.

Mozzila Attack!

2007-03-01T22:20:00.000+08:00

Last week, my niece visited me to collect her first Chinese New Year's ang pow (red packet) from her newly wed Aunt. Chinese New Year is a very pricey affair for married couples because you will need to distribute ang pows to kids & also single adults. But it is part of the Chinese New Year tradition. So, everyone distribute ang pows with a smile on their face. Haha!

An interesting conversation between my 2 year old niece & myself.

Niece: Auntie, where are the tortoises? I want to see them & wish them Gong Xi Fa Chai.

Me: Sure, they are in the bathroom right now. Sleeping but I'm sure they will be happy to see you.

Soon, niece & I are playing with the tortoises in the bathroom. Slow Coach showed off her diving skill in the tub while Charlie was demonstrating his version of moon walking in the water.

Note: Charlie's moon walking: 4 legs wading in the water without moving an inch because he lifted his legs with only his shell in contact with the tub's bottom. Tortoise version of running on the spot, I guess.

Me: What's that red spot on your arm?

Niece: *scratching her hand* It's Mozzy bite! Auntie, do tortoises get mozzy bites too?

Me: Well... *took a deep breath while figuring out the answer*.

In the end, my very deep breath came & went but the answer didn't come. That night, I took up an experiment, determined to find the answer to a 2 year old's question.

************************************************************************
Experiment Objective: Do mosquitoes suck tortoises blood?

Steps: I sat with the tortoises in the dark at the balcony at night. It was a hot night & my body was sticky with sweats. Nothing to do while waiting for the mosquitoes to take their bait except feeding the tortoises.

Bait: Slow Coach, Charlie & myself.

Results: The mosquitoes had a great time indulging in their blood buffet on my account but the tortoises were spared.

Conclusion: No, mosquitoes do not suck tortoises blood.

But why? Darn! The answer right in front of my eyes after all. Mosquitoes can only sense heat & tortoises are cold blooded reptiles. Therefore, where there is heat, there are human, there are food! Eureka! Duh...

*Scratched myself to sleep that night*

Pet's Hotel

2007-02-15T21:28:00.000+08:00

Unlike countries like Japan, United States or Canada, the hotels from where I come from (no matter how many stars they are) have a policy about not allowing pets into the hotels.

With the week long Chinese New Year holidays just around the corner, it's that time of the year again for many pet owners - looking for home boarding for their pets while they go on vacation. Luck ones will get help from friends or relatives, while others opt to send their pets to boarding centres such as the Pet's Hotel which could cost a paw & a tail if your pet poodle is staying for many days there.

When Slow Coach & Charlie were young, they were sent to my husband then boyfriend's house for a couple of days when I went on vacation. Back then, it was a piece of cake taking care of them. For one, they were kept in a plastic container. Therefore, no missing tortoises when I come back from vacation.

Secondly, they fed on tortoise pellets. Therefore, no headaches when it comes to feeding time. At that time, the tiny tortoises ate very little but frequently, just like human babies. Nowadays they eat like birds if they don't like the food or eat like hungry tigers if the food is to their likings. Very picky & difficult to please indeed.

Lastly, they don't need to be taken out of their container for their walk or daily exploration. They were just as happy being in their small enclosure, oblivious to the changes in the surrounding. Though their container is tiny, the lid above their heads gave them a sense of security. Now, nothing can keep them indoors if they don't want too. *sigh* Those were the good old days.

When the tortoises were much older, home boarding didn't work for Slow Coach & Charlie anymore. Having already outgrown their plastic container, they were moved into bigger plastic bathtubs & were free to roam around in the house. Soon they began exploring their surroundings & found their own favourite spots, like under the fridge or under the coffee table. When they were sent to home boarding, their were checked-into a presidential suite (in the tortoise world for a large bathroom). However, when I called the owner of the presidential suite (a.k.a. my boyfriend), I found out that both Slow Coach & Charlie sat at a corner each in their suite & have neither budged an inch nor ate anything since checking in. A picture of depression. I guess they must have really missed the hands who fed them, bathed them & took care of them. You'll be surprised that they can recognised people as well as their surrounding very well.

Since then, I realised that they prefer to remain at home when I go on my next vacations. To them it's always home sweet home! When they are left at home on their own (so far, no more than 2 nights) I will usually feed them at frequent intervals for a few days before I go off (up to 2 meals a day) to make sure they are well fed, so that they can hibernate at their favourite spots until I return. Remember that adult tortoises need to be fed only about 3 times a week. So, they'll be alright on their own for a couple of days.

It will be so again this year unless they decide to build sandcastles with me at the beach. =)

Wishing all of you a prosperous piggy year. Happy Chinese New Year & Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Hunger Strike!

2007-02-07T21:17:00.000+08:00

For the last few days Charlie didn't finish most of his meals while Slow Coach has been eating her food like a chicken pecking on the ground. Both showed lack of interest in their food. According to the tortoise guide, it is very common for adult tortoises to eat only 3 to 4 times in a week. At other times they will go into deep sleep or hibernation. At times like these I will usually let them skip their meals but make sure they get a healthy amount of water.

3 days have passed & they are still not taking to their usual food, i.e. tortoise pellets & crabsticks. They came out from their hiding place for drinking water but left the tortoise pellets floating in the water untouched and took only a bite or two on the crabsticks. They just sniffed their food & gave me that "Duh, crabsticks again...?" look.

Don't be fooled if you think something is wrong with them. From my many years experience of taking care of them since their hatchling days, this is actually a cheeky plot by the two green buggers. They are on hunger strike!

Usually if you feed animals the same food everyday, they will not easily develop picky eating habits. For Slow Coach & Charlie...well, the next day I bought some fresh shrimps from the supermarket specially for them. Guess what? As soon as they sniffed the fishy smell, they gobbled up the shrimps like hungry tigers!

See? Those two lucky buggers would rather go on hunger strike if the dish of the day is not to their liking. Bah! Spoilt brats! I must say though, for an animal with only a pea-sized brain, they are quite clever! =)

The Mystery of the Missing Stool (please read before looking at the pic)

2007-01-29T12:09:00.000+08:00

We left the tortoises home alone yesterday for our brunch. Slow Coach was sleeping under the coffee table as usual after her morning walk on the balcony while Charlie was swimming in his tub. I have double checked that all doors were locked to prevent any *ahem* runaways & also unwanted break-ins.

3 hours later, we returned. Tummies bulging with pride from a hearty dim sum indulgence. Mum stumbled upon a dustpan in the hallway on her way to the kitchen. She was dumbfounded as to how the dustpan ended up there because she was very sure that she had put it on a little red stool after sweeping the floor that morning. The red little stool was missing too. We use the little red stool to stand on so that we can reach for things high above the cabinets. Mum thought that someone must have forgotten to put the stool back under the table after using it. She thought no further about the displaced dustpan & the missing stool.

We happily proceeded to a few strokes of dry swimming a.k.a. the actions of our hands mixing the mahjong tiles after every game mimics closely the breast strokes. Ah, mahjong. A very healthy game, mentally (lot's of mind strategies & also maths) & physically (continuous dry swimming for the next 4 hours!!!). Hehe! 3 players to a table.

1 hour into the game...

Me: Sshhh...I hear something.

Mum (sitting opposite facing me): What? Must be the wind whistling.

Uncle (sitting between mum & I on my left): Geez...Come on, I'm on the roll here. Don't stop.

Me: I thought I hear some dragging sound. Never mind. Must have been the caffeine from the Chinese tea kicking in.

Uncle: Oh my God! *Trembling voice*

Mum: What?

Uncle: Don't turn. Something is moving behind you.

Me: I don't see anything... but..but...I can hear that dragging sound again...

Mum: Hey, that's not funny. You are giving me the goose bumps, man!

Uncle: You know...about the missing stool...?

Mum & I: Yeah.....?

Uncle: Well, it's moving behind you....

Mum & I: What?!

*All of us turned at the same time & broke into laughter until our belly hurts*

Apparently, Charlie crawled under the stool from the wider side & got stuck on his way out at the front between the stool legs. He took to the stool so naturally, just like his second home *ahem* shell.

Geez, I should have known that he was house hunting.

The mystery of the missing stool: Case solved.

New Year's Egg!

2007-01-02T22:29:00.000+08:00

Here's wishing readers of Slow Coach a Happy New Year! May the new year continues to bring happiness & joy to everyone.

On the 1st day of 2007, Slow Coach has laid her 1st egg of the year. A very good sign indeed.

Slow Coach & Charlie are back!

2006-12-27T21:17:00.000+08:00

After 1 month of disappearance, my favourite tortoises are back in action! Watch out for this space. New post coming soon.

Wishing fans of Slow Coach & Charlie a Merry Christmas!

The Caviar

2006-11-29T21:23:00.000+08:00

Someone asked me how does Slow Coach and Charlie’s caviar look like? Does it look like does tiny red eggs on a sushi? Well, actually the caviar that my tortoises eat is more like caviar in its most original form. The tiny white eggs are contained in a sac taken from the fish stomach.

I’ve attached a picture of the caviar that Slow Coach and Charlie are going to eat tonight. It’s a delicacy for them. Makes them go crazy! They like to eat it raw just like sushi.

Star Tortoises in the Making

2006-11-25T11:12:00.000+08:00

You won’t believe this! One of my friends has caught the shutter bug’s fever. She asked me if I would like to be her model. Well, though I would love the chance to flex my hair and pout my lips, I don’t know if I still have what it takes to grace the glossy covers, considering the extra flaps here and there. Hehe!

Instead, I asked her if she would like to capture pictures of my tortoises in action, though tortoises have very limited facial expressions. Their most common expression being the cool smile formed by the natural upward slant on both sides of their beaks. Nevertheless, my friend has accepted my counter offer. I sure am one helluva good publicity manager. Hak!

I plan to use the fish oil (from my Sevenseas supplement capsule) to polish up Slow Coach and Charlie’s shells to bring out their shine during their photo shoot. If that doesn’t work, I’m using Kiwi shoe polish. Yeah, shine like a star!

Tortoise Anatomy

2006-11-23T23:20:00.000+08:00

Found an interesting picture that I want to share with all the tortoise lovers.

This is the closest of how a tortoise looks on an X-ray. It is interesting to know that the shell is actually the tortoise’s rib cage & it forms part of the spine that runs along its back ending at the tail.

The empty space inside the shell contains the internal organs and liquid. So, you can imagine how important the shell is to a tortoise. A broken shell is equivalent to a broken spine! I saw on a documentary show before that if you can seal a tortoise cracked shell with the help of Super glue and allow time to slowly heal its injury, the tortoise may just survive.

Remember to always be gentle when you handle your tortoise. =)

The Great Escapes

2006-11-20T19:54:00.000+08:00

Slow Coach has performed some very interesting escape tricks.

Escape #1: The suicide climb from her tub.

I ignored her many failed attempts to climb out of her old tub because I needed her to deposit her golden poos before she can roam free in the house. She used her chin to 'hook' onto the top side of the tub while her 2 front claws scrambled to push herself up so that her 2 hind legs could catch hold of the side of the tub. She then used her chin (again) to prevent herself from slipping back into the tub when her attempts failed. This resulted in a cut on her chin & I had to send her into the animal hospital on emergency at 11:30pm for the doctor to put a plaster on her chin to stop the bleeding. I didn’t have any tortoise's size plasters. She was put under observation there for 3 days 2 nights (like a holiday package man for her – I guess she had slept in the dog’s cage). Cost me RM150!!!

3 days, 2 night and RM150 later, she was discharged from the hospital & once again broken the newly healed skin on her chin on her 2nd attempt to climb out of her tub. This time, I applied the blue colour liquid (iodine) on her chin & took her out onto the balcony. A few minutes later, the bleeding had stopped & she was happily strolling on the balcony.

Now, she eats in a new blue tub which has lower sides so that she could climb out easier. Anyway, she hates her old tub. Maybe because it's red colour. =P

Escape #2: The side push

She tried to climb out from the living room to the balcony via the grille door. Grilles are vertical & close to each other. Her shell is wider than the grilles. How did she escape? She turn her shell sideways with one side of her front & back legs dangling in the air (say left side) & the other side (right side) are on the floor. Dangling legs claw for the side of the grilles & pushed herself out. Voila, tortoise on the run!

Escape #3: Sky diving

She did the same stunt in #2, except it was the grilles ON the balcony. The ones that were supposed to prevent her from straying beyond the balcony into...erm...open space. She landed on the ground floor. Finally, she had a taste of gravity & the notion of heights. She also got the shocked of her life. Peed in her pants er..shell. She still climbs in/out from the living room to the balcony & vice versa but doesn't do the sky diving stunt anymore. =P

Escape #4: The head peeler

She was too naughty. Locked her in the toilet. She used her head to peal open the metal plate at the bottom of the wooden door. This is to prevent water from splashing out. The attempt resulted in a cut at the back of her neck. No blood sighted. Only a thin piece of skin peeled off.

Escape #5: The squeeze

She was too naughty...again. Gave her time out on the balcony. Closed the grilles & the sliding glass door. Did Stunt #2, then uses her head/shell/legs, find a gap between the glass door & the side of the wall, squeezes herself sideways in between & slowly uses her hind legs to push open the glass door.

Escape #6: The shell butt

Closed the wooden door leading to the prayer room to prevent our friend from digging up the ash (one of her favourite activities) incense container for one of the deities located at the lower part of the altar. Our friend uses her shell to push/bang on the door until it opens. Old doors aren’t made to last. The next time I saw her, I ran ahead of her to close the door. She picked up speed trying to out walk (running in tortoise speed). If I reach the door first and closed it, she turns to other places to play. But when I walk away, she goes back to the door to try her luck again.

Escape #7: The vertical climb

When she was a little tortoise, with a much smaller shell & better agility, she even climbed up the chicken netting before that we used to have in the kitchen to prevent stray cats from coming into the house. When I saw her she was already half way up.

Escape #8: The monkey bars

Same time back then, she used to live in a small plastic container with the opening on top. She would stand on her 2 hind legs while her 2 front legs reach for the top netting covering her container & did the monkey bar trick all the way to the middle of the cover where the opening was & lifted herself up.

I think I have gotten myself something more than a tortoise.....

Charlie's Recovered

2006-11-16T22:58:00.000+08:00

Just a short note to all of Charlie's fan out there that he is no longer wheezing. He had a good session of sunbathing today and he will be sleeping indoor tonight. =)

Charlie’s Wheezing

2006-11-15T21:42:00.000+08:00

It’s been raining everyday in the evenings. Many days it rained in the afternoons and then it rained again in the evenings. Certainly cools the weather.

Slow Coach and Charlie love to play in the rain. When it rains both of them will walk around on the balcony under the rain. Slow Coach especially likes to stick her head into the water puddles and does her stunt of drinking water through her nose. Haha! They are not afraid of the thunders and lightning. The heavy raindrops falling onto their shells are like God’s way of giving them a good massage. They just love it.

However, Charlie is a little softie. He needs a lot of warmth after playing in the rain. Otherwise, he will catch a cold like today. He is wheezing like an asthmatic patient. Can you believe it? A tortoise wheezes. Oh, they fart too. A little bit of bubble popping sound in the water but no smell though. Haha! Just nice for you to know that too. =)

As there isn’t much sun these days and it rains everyday, the weather has been rather cold for Charlie. Tortoises are cold blooded animals; therefore they need external heat to keep themselves warm. So, tomorrow I will have to get Charlie to bask in the sun to dry his lungs.

Visitor

2006-11-13T22:15:00.000+08:00

Today Slow Coach and Charlie had a visitor. My friend, Little Cloud dropped by for a visit in the early evening. Though Little Cloud started off as my friend, eventually she became my tortoises’ friend when I introduced them to her last year. She loves to listen to me telling her their mischievous antics.

She even brought them little gifts! Today, she brought them home cooked skinless fillet chicken meat!!! What do I get? 3 mangoes. *pouting*

I fed Slow Coach and Charlie the chicken meat for dinner just now. I took a small bite at the meat, curious what flavour it was. Guess what? The chicken tasted like those in Caesar Salad!

Huh, lucky buggers!

Slow Coach’s Personal Chopsticks

2006-11-09T23:01:00.000+08:00

Do tortoises bite? Many people believe that when a tortoise bites, it will only let go when the thunder roars. On the contrary, you don't really need the thunder to save you.

Generally, tortoises do not bite unless provoked. Well trained pet tortoises are gentle animals. As long as you do not abuse them, they will not open their mouth and threaten to bite you when you approach them. After all, it is only natural to protect themselves from danger.

Of all the 11 years that Slow Coach has been with us, she had just bitten me once and I have to stress that it was an accident. She was overly excited when I showed her a piece of raw luncheon meat. I hand feed her personally every meal. It was her first introduction to raw meat and she was only 3 years old. I thought she had wanted to taste a small bite of the meat but I guess the seduction of the juicy meat was too great to keep her cool. She took a bite a little too large for me to handle and ended up accidentally bitten my finger but as soon as she realized that, she quickly withdrew herself. No thunder needed. Hehe!

Though it was just a bite, nonetheless my finger bled a little. Tortoises in the wild eat small fish, fruits and leaves. They do not have any teeth to chew like us. Instead, they have blade-like beaks. The cut on my finger looked more like a paper-cut. So, it was not a big deal. Anyway, Slow Coach was sorry for the accident. She was a bit shy to take the second bite. I had to coax her before she lightened up and gobbled up the rest of the luncheon meat.

The next day, Slow Coach has her own set of chopsticks for her meals. I realized she has grown quite a bit and I should be more careful when feeding her in the future.

However, the Alligator Snapping Tortoise is totally another story. It is the ugliest, fiercest and most vicious tortoise in the tortoise kingdom. Imagine it being equivalent to a shark. The Alligator Snapping Tortoises have powerful jaws and can bite off a finger. They will attack and eat just about anything. They are not something that you can play a fool with. Most importantly, they are not suitable as pets. I saw one in the petshop recently and I don't think I would dare to feed it at all. Nope. Not even with the chopsticks.

The Fan Dance

2006-11-08T22:32:00.000+08:00

Once again I was clueless as to Charlie’s gender when I first got him. That was why I had named him Charlie. In case he turns out to be a female, well Charlie can be the nick name for Charlene. Fast thinking, huh?

Charlie’s growth picked up speed soon after he joined the family, eating up to 5 times a day! His favourite food when he was growing up was KFC’s chicken nugget. =)

It was only when Charlie grew to a considerable size before he was introduced to Slow Coach for fear that she would squashed him in case she tramples over him or stacks herself on top of his shell sunbathing.

When Charlie was introduced to Slow Coach, he was curious of her. He sniffed her out from head to tail and followed her around consistently. She hated his attention. *Ouch* Every time he goes near her trying to get to know her better by sniffing her, she pushes him away and then walks the opposite direction from him. Sure took a long time for them to be friends.

They may be friends now but Slow Coach still prefers to have her own tub. She likes privacy. A lot! She will not hesitate to kick him with her hind legs or push him with her front legs just to get him out of her private chamber.

Then, one fine day… something that I had not seen before happened. I was observing the both of them on the balcony having their daily walk. I noticed Charlie kept circling Slow Coach before stopping in front of her. Then, he started vibrating his front out-stretched claws. Either Charlie was desperately trying to get Slow Coach’s attention or he was trying to pick a fight with Slow Coach. Their eyes were locked onto each others’. I was certain there were sparks flying between the two of them.

Romance or feud? None of them. Once again, Slow Coach, the ice queen pushed Charlie out of her way and continued on her morning walk. Sorry for the anti-climax. =P

That same day, the same scene repeated itself every time Charlie found Slow Coach in his proximity. I googled and found out that Charlie was actually performing the fan dance for Slow Coach, which is part of the tortoise mating ritual.

Then, I added one to one together and I came to a very important conclusion. No, make that an important discovery. Here’s my hypothesis:

Female tortoises lay eggs.
Slow Coach lays eggs.
Therefore, Slow Coach is a female.

Male tortoises do the fan dance to mate with female tortoises.
Charlie was trembling his claws like a Parkinson patient.
Therefore, Charlie is a male tortoise!

I am happy that Slow Coach has finally found a partner to enjoy some mating rituals with, though she isn’t too impressed by his dancing skill.

Huh, she’s a girl?!

2006-11-07T21:54:00.000+08:00

Slow Coach’s true identity was actually revealed by accident. There are many birds in my residential areas like a few king fishers, mynas, pigeons and the pesky crows, of course. Naturally, one could spot bird nests on the trees nearby. Sometimes, I would find a bird nest on the giant bougainvillea plant in my garden. Many times I had found bird eggs there. I think it belongs to my favourite pair black and white mynas. Mr. and Mrs. Myna are wonderful singers. Every morning their sweet melodies fill the tranquil air. It’s a wonderful feeling to wake up to chirpy mornings, thanks to the mynas.

One day I found an egg on my balcony. I looked around but couldn’t find any nests nearby where the egg could have fallen from and the size of the egg was a little big to belong to a bird. The only other creature who roams the balcony was Slow Coach. I couldn’t believe my tortoise laid an egg. I thought she was a male?! Even her doctor said so.

It was only when I saw her pushing the egg out from her tail did I believed that my Slow Coach is a female. Geez, can’t believe everything a doctor say, can I?

Tortoise eggs are long and white in colour. You can see the orange yolk from the thin almost transparent white shell. When the eggs are laid, they felt warm and soft. It only hardens after a few minutes. If you leave it, the egg will become dented after a few days. Each time, Slow Coach would lay 1 to 2 eggs but it could be up to 4 eggs in one day.

As Slow Coach’s eggs are not fertilized, I let Slow Coach and Charlie eat them. They love eggs. There is no wastage at all because they even eat the egg shell as it is still soft when newly laid. Once Charlie found out that Slow Coach lays eggs, he started waiting behind her tail for his protein fix. Sometimes, when Slow Coach has not been laying eggs for a while, Charlie would bite her tail, as if asking her, “Hey babe, where’s my food?”. Hah, typical male!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

2006-11-06T17:44:00.000+08:00

Today I had Hainanese chicken rice for lunch. What has chicken rice got to do with my tortoises? A lot.

Last count on their food inventory - this morning:

Tortoise pellets: 1 tablespoon full (that’s enough to feed Charlie only)

Crabsticks: Nil

Now, before you get any wrong ideas, I had replenished their food supply the Sunday before last week. I had actually bought a large pack of crabsticks for them from the market at Mil’s (mum in-law) place. It’s just that yours truly here have been quite absent minded lately. I kind of forgotten to take the crabsticks home with me after dinner 2 Sundays in a row! *shaking head at myself*

Had I not eaten chicken rice today, I think I will have to ransack mum’s freezer for her smoke sausages which she has reserved to make fried rice this coming weekend. However, those buggers in the green shells prefer chicken meat floss over sausages. I guess, it must have something to do with the meat textures because Charlie especially tends to bite a little too hard into the cut sausages, often resulting in the sausage meat being stuck in his beak.

~ Menu for tonight: 1/3 portion skinless chicken breast meat floss (Hainanese style) ~

Ps: I finished the rice and 2/3 of the chicken. What to do… All in the name of L-O-V-E!

Chicken Soup for the Tortoises

2006-11-03T22:27:00.000+08:00

Tortoises like human welcome a change of menu once in a while to keep them stimulated. Slow Coach and Charlie love meat. No vegetable, please. They would rather fast than swallow a piece of green leaf.

Tonight, Slow Coach and Charlie are having chicken soup (minus the soup) for dinner. Actually, they are sharing the chicken from our soup. They are our de facto back-up in case we can’t finish our food. That is meat only, of course. Vegetable is totally out of the question.

I shred the chicken meat into small pieces, like chicken floss. It is important that I remember to add a dash of soy sauce onto the meat for seasoning. Both Slow Coach and Charlie are picky eaters. Especially Slow Coach. The first time when I fed them meat from the soup, they refused to eat. They took a sniff at the meat and then looked at me.

It was as if they were telling me, “Hey dude, can’t expect me to eat that chicken, man. It’s totally tasteless!”

Then, I tried to add a little soy sauce onto the meat and voila! They finished their food. Mum wasn’t exactly pleased of the soy sauce intervention. It took me a while to convince her that there was nothing wrong with her cooking. =P

They sure have distinctive palates for tortoises. =)

Introducing Charlie!

2006-11-01T22:29:00.000+08:00

I adopted Charlie when Slow Coach was about 4 years old. One day, my childhood friend asked me if I would consider having another tortoise to accompany Slow Coach since Harriet, her first mate, had already gone to heaven.

Ms. Childhood had bought him for a bet with her colleagues. A bet that Charlie could stay afloat in the water for 2 weeks! What a cruel thing to do to a poor baby tortoise. Baby tortoises have soft shells and they should not stay in the water for too long. Charlie had been staying afloat in the little portable plastic tank which had been filled to the brim with water for a week already when Ms. Childhood brought up the adoption question.

I had agreed to adopt Charlie on the condition that Ms. Childhood would call off her bet immediately. Charlie arrived at my doorstep that same night.

Charlie was a timid, insecure and aggressive little tortoise when he first arrived. He opened his mouth (beak) every time he was picked up, ready to strike even the hand that feeds him. It took a while to retrain him and regain his trust. Can’t blame him after what he had gone through within the first 2 weeks of his life.

Now Charlie eats from my hand directly, just like Slow Coach. What a long way we have gone together. Sometimes, he will stretch out his neck and enjoys a stroke or two on his head.

Probably because of his past, Charlie looks different from the rest. The front and back of his shell curve out, like the letter ‘W’, giving him the rebellious look. Don’t let his look fools you because Charlie is really a very sweet tortoise.

Tortoise + Egg = Facial Time!

2006-10-30T21:28:00.000+08:00

In the early evening of last Saturday, I felt rejuvenated after my slumber marathon. I decided to do a little bit of facial to further enhance my appearance. Hear say that the egg white is very good at taking out stubborn black heads from our facial pores. So, I cracked open an egg into a bowl, poured the egg white into a small bowl and left the egg yolk for the tortoises. Both Slow Coach and Charlie were more than happy to have the egg yolks.

Someone told me to add water using the ration of 1:1, just like the ration for making steam eggs. So, I used the egg shells to measure the water and mixed the water with the egg white. I used a fork to beat the mixture, making sure that the egg yolk was well diluted in the water. Then, I used my fingers to apply the magic potion onto my face. It was a very messy process with the egg white mixture dripping all over the floor, my neck and my hands. Then, I quickly put facial cotton squares all over my face before the magic potion dried up. The cottons are supposed to help pull the black heads out from my pores when I peel the dried cottons off my face.

After I had applied the egg whites on my face, there was still lot’s of egg whites left and I didn't want to waste it. So, I gave my mum a free round of facial. Brownie points for me! Of course, I covered her face with the facial cotton squares as well. It was difficult to hold back our giggles as we looked at each other's face. We looked like a pair of fluffy albino Bigfoots! Even after sharing the magic beauty potion with mum, I still couldn't finish the egg whites. I decided to throw the balance into the drain.

Next, the egg yolk. I beat the egg yolk & fed it to Slow Coach & Charlie using a small spoon. Both of them have their own eating set (shared) which comprise of a plastic bowl, a pair of chopsticks and a small plastic spoon. Feeding them is like feeding a baby. You need to have patience while waiting for them to open their mouth (beaks, actually). After the first gulp, they were so excited by the food, they scrambles all over their respective tubs with the food in their mouth. It's ok if they are eating solid food but when it comes to liquid, well.... in the excitement; some of it tends to spilt out from their noses, which was so in this case. =P After that, they leaned against the wall of their tubs on their two hind legs which made the subsequent feedings easier. Slow Coach was more ladylike when she eats. She will usually wait for the food to arrive right in front of her before she opens her beak to take the bite while Charlie lunges towards his food. Most of the time, he accidentally knocked into the spoon and spilt the egg yolk onto his head.

After watching the tortoises feasting on the egg yolk, it was time to peel off the cottons soiled with egg whites.

Wastage Statistic:
Egg white: 50% (dripped on the floor and gone done the drain)
Egg yolk : 0% (the tortoises ate all of it)

Facial Result:
Black heads: (Me) Still visible, especially on the nose. *sigh* / (Mum) No visible black heads (actually she had none to start with).

Tortoises: Tummies full and free facial (from the egg yolk residue spilled onto their heads during feeding time)

From the statistics, I felt bad for so much wastage since I was the one who initiated the egg breaking ceremony. Later, I found out that I was not supposed to add any water to the egg white because it will over dilute the egg white. Duh...

Slow Coach Grounded

2006-10-23T10:33:00.000+08:00

Yesterday Slow Coach and Charlie were left home alone for almost the whole day. It is a long weekend with the Hindu’s Deepavali festival and Muslim’s new year on Saturday and next Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. Everyone in the family is busy attending open house of their friends celebrating these festivals during these few days.

I had left both Slow Coach and Charlie in their tubs after their breakfast of tortoise pellets. Slow Coach usually poos in her tub before climbing out for her daily exploration while Charlie prefers to sleep in. Yesterday was no exception. I made sure she had poo-ed before she left her tub.

When I came home yesterday night, Slow Coach was walking around in the kitchen. Mum was home early and she reported to me that she saw Slow Coach emerging from under the coffee table as soon as she saw my mum. Mum added that Slow Coach has not left the kitchen the whole night.

I sensed mischief from Slow Coach. You see, Slow Coach has a habit of running away from the havoc she has caused. I quickly checked under the coffee table and true to Slow Coach’s spirit. She had left her mischief tell-tale sign in the form of 3 patches of dried pan cake like poos sticking to the floor….again!

One of her favourite mischief is playing with her poo. She poos, then sits on it thereby quashing the poo flat before flapping her legs making a poo angel. Then, she would make a run from it before any family members find out and report her mischief to me.

Fortunately, because she was on dry food (tortoise pellets), the smell from her er…. poo was rather kind to my sense of smell this time around. However, it still took me 20 excruciating minutes to scrub the dried poos off the floor.

Slow Coach was grounded for the night.

Why a pet tortoise?

2006-10-21T13:16:00.000+08:00

1) Tortoises make an interesting pet. New discovery everyday on what makes them tick; such as tortoises make hissing noise and they change shell like a snake changes its skin.

2) Tortoises live a long life. They can be expected to live up to 50 years. Some species could live up to 100 years old. So, you don’t have to deal with the grief from its loss so soon. A pet dog could only live up to 18 years max. Then, you will have to find a new pet. If Slow Coach and Charlie outlive me, I’ll include them in my will to my children or grandchildren.

3) They are solitary and calm animals. Much appreciated by people who enjoys tranquility. Lesser mayhem and commotion in your house.

4) You don’t have to walk the tortoise. They require very little exercise.

5) No grooming necessary. No hair to comb and no free floating hair like cats and dogs. An ideal pet for asthmatic patient.

6) Lower maintenance cost on supplies, food and vet care compared to bigger pets such as cats and dogs. For example, hospital boarding fees are based on the animal’s body weight.

7) They don’t chase the postman or the milkman. They don’t shred your letters and newspapers.

8) No pet license fee to renew every year.

9) Non existence of tortoise ticks or fleas problem.

10) No neutralization required. You don’t see tortoises shagging 24/7 during mating season. Low breeding rate. So far, Slow Coach has laid many eggs but non of them were fertilized. Don’t have to worry about unwanted babies.

Cat Food

2006-10-19T22:36:00.000+08:00

One month after Slow Coach and Harriet came into our family, I took them for their first outing. Our garden compound. It meant a whole new world to these two fifty cent size tortoises.

As soon as they were lifted out from their plastic container and released on the ground, they crawled away in excitement. They explored every corner of the garden under the protective gaze of their guardian (ahem…angel). I made sure they played hide and seek away from the human traffic, just in case my little sister decides to practice her cycling skill.

They were never out of my sight until I heard a soft meowing sound behind me. It seemed that I was not the only one who had my eyes on them. The way the alley cat crouched on the waist-high wall screamed cat food! Immediately, I scooped the oblivious baby tortoises into my hands and carried them safely indoor.

After such a close call, they were never allowed to venture further than the living room until they grew larger. I’m sure the alley cat would have loved to try some exotic seafood.

Stinker Pot

2006-10-15T08:40:00.000+08:00

Slow Coach has all the freedom a tortoise can possibly dream of. She gets to decide where she wants to sleep, when she wants to eat, etc. When she is hungry, she will emerge from where ever she might be and walk to her blue tub near the bathroom. It means she wants food. If you don’t see her then she doesn’t want to be seen and she is not hungry.

Slow Coach roams all over the house but she has a few favourite spots for her zzzzzz moments. The night before yesterday she was sleeping at one of her favourite spots which was under the coffee table at the corner of the living room. She loves it there because it was dark and cooling. This morning, she was still on the same spot. She has not moved an inch from the last time I had checked on her which was more than 24 hours ago. She must be hibernating.

I was sitting nearby the coffee table when I smelled a funny smell, like the stench from the rubbish truck. I decided to investigate the source of that funny smell and it drew me to where Slow Coach was. As I approached closer to her, I saw some dried brown marks under her tail.

“Slow Coach, you stinker pot you! You are supposed to poo in your tub, not here.”, I said while trying to lift her up to check the brown mark, which was obviously her doing.

Accidents happen, I thought.

“Oh, oh! She’s stuck!”, I cried to no one in particular while silently hoping that her 'hibernation' has nothing to do with her being glued to the floor by her own poo.

She must have ‘poo-ed’ many hours ago and now it had dried under her shell. I pulled her from her ‘glued’ spot and took her into the bathroom to clean her up before putting her back into her tub. Then, I had the gruesome task of removing the brown mark. The smell was equivalent of a human’s. Eww! This happens when she eats too much raw food instead of the tortoise pellets. It is the wet food versus dry food science. Consuming wet food produces wet er… poo and vice versa.

“Slow Coach, you gotta go easy on the sushi and caviar.”, I said to her.

I managed to get the mark off but not without some good scrubbings while holding my breath. Next was the smell. I tried spraying the air freshener onto the floor but it still stinked! Then, I tried the insect repellent hoping to contra whatever smell that was still lingering behind. Hmm, it didn’t work either, at least not immediately. The stench only went off after 3 hours.

Ah, the fun of having tortoises!

Menu for tonight: Definitely tortoise pellets!

First Mate Harriet

2006-10-13T21:38:00.000+08:00

Charlie is Slow Coach’s second mate. Her first mate, Harriet passed away when she was 3 years old.

Slow Coach is very careful when it comes to food. She was such a picky eater. She usually takes her time to smell what is given to her before she eats it. Slow Coach loves meat such as raw sushi or anything that’s fishy but doesn’t flick an eye for vegetables. The day when she really does take a bite on the greens, it means they are very fresh and sweet. She would make a very good quality controller. Hehe!

Harriet, on the other hand was a fast and impulsive eater. She would gobble up whatever that was offered to her within seconds. That was why she was much larger than Slow Coach though they are the same age. It was more fun watching Harriet eating than Slow Coach who suspected everything given to her was laced with poison.

My sis handed me down her pet hamsters one day after she received them as birthday present. The idea of feeding and cleaning the two cute hamsters everyday for the rest of their lives (which doesn’t exceed two years, really) didn’t entice her at all.

Now, what has the two hamsters got to do with a tortoise’s death? Well….. the hamsters killed Harriet ~ indirectly.

The hamsters’ cage was put on top of a coffee table while the tortoises’ plastic tank was on the floor next to the coffee table. The tortoises grew up watching TV from their transparent tank. Maybe that explains their above average IQ (based on tortoise’s standard)? Anyway, the hamsters love to burrow themselves in the wood shavings. One fine day, they decided to kick up a notch their digging power which sent the wood shavings flying all over the places. I found Harriet very quiet that day & had lost her appetite. Poor Harriet had mistaken the wood shaving for food and one thing led to another. She passed away the next day.

Though it was a short three years but Harriet had lived her little life to the fullest. She had enjoyed lot’s of delicious food, chased baby frogs with Slow Coach, climbed up the chicken fence used for our kitchen grill door (to prevent the tortoises from going out of the house), swam in the gold fish tank (and of course chased the fish), dived into the wash basin, followed me (in their little travel tank) out dating with my now husband and lot’s of other silly things that we had done together.

I hope she is having fun on pet’s heaven now. We miss you, Harriet.

Hide and Seek

2006-10-09T23:39:00.000+08:00

Everyday, Slow Coach and I will play a game. She will hide and I shall seek. Well, it’s not as easy as you think to find a tortoise in a house. She’s free to roam around in the house. So, she could be anyway within 2,000 sq ft. You have to be really creative to be able to imagine where she could hide. The odder the places, the better like under the cupboard, under the bed, behind the flower pot, in between the boxes, etc. If she stays put in a spot, it’s pretty difficult to know where she can be without any sound or sight from her. Sometimes, if I’m lucky I could find her. Other times, the game of hide and seek could last a few days. Though I would usually find her in the end but I would still lose the game because I couldn’t find her in the same day. See how challenging our game can be?

Well, today I’m lucky. I found her under the fridge sound asleep. I left her where she was, in dreamland. She only emerged from there when it was time for her dinner. Menu for tonight: shellfish (cockerels).

Mistaken Identity ~ ♀or♂?

2006-10-04T15:36:00.000+08:00

Would you name a female tortoise as Slow Coach? Probably not. When I bought Slow Coach from the pet shop, I had not idea what was her gender. The shopkeeper helped me chose a pair from a small tank containing 20 something of these small fifty cents size terrapins.

According to the shopkeeper, males are generally smaller than the females. Males may also have a slightly curved inward under belly or under shell (concave or dented-in plastron). Both of us were quite sure that Slow Coach's under belly was slightly concave. Furthermore, she was definitely physically smaller than her then mate.

So, that's how her journey as "Mr." Slow Coach started ~ a tomboy "tom-tortoise"! Her personal vet had reassured me that "Mr." Slow Coach was indeed a male when I brought her for a general check-up when she was 2 years old.

The truth was only revealed by Mother Nature 1/2 a decade later.

Happy Birthday Slow Coach

2006-10-02T22:49:00.000+08:00

Slow Coach is 11 years old today (in human years). This blog is a birthday gift to her. It tells the story of her life, not forgetting her (mis)adventures.

When she joined the family, she was only the size of a coin, short of an inch long & wide. Now she measures about 9 inches long and 8 inches wide. She weighs a healthy 3kg.

Slow Coach will be celebrating her birthday with her partner, Charlie, who is also a red-eared slider terrapin at 1/2 her age and size.

Their rendez-vous will start with a salutation to the morning sun; i.e. sun bathing with all four limbs out-stretched; followed by a lazy afternoon of back-massage; i.e. back scrubbing with a toothbrush (yes, tortoise can feel through its shell); and catching some ZZZzzz. In the evening, they will enjoy a sumptuous mouth watering dinner of fresh juicy prawns and her favourite caviar (actually, it’s a sac of fish eggs) under the mid-autumn moonlight on a balcony overlooking a beautiful park.

C'est la vie! What a lucky tortoise~!