The Great Escapes

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.....