A post from the Keeper of The Sleeper :)

As Georgey sleeps this winter, I've taken steps to ensure her safety, and warmth. Hay has been added to the outside of her house, to insulate her, during the cold months ahead. And since she has literally buried herself in the hay and coconut shavings (recommended by my Reptile supplier) on the inside of her house, I cut the top of her house cross-wise and added hindges so I could lift the lid (so to speak) and peak in on her. I check on her sleepy movements at least once every couple three days or so, by gently lifting the hay she is buried under and watching for movemnets of her legs. Which I see quite often, I'm happy to say :)

I am also concerned about those pesky ants that want to be roomates with Georgey, so I have place a barrier of cornmeal all around her house on the inside of her habitat. And amdro is laced around the outside of her habitat.

All is well in the land of the Sleeping Tortoise!

I'm getting sooooo Sleeeeeepppppyyyyyy.....yawwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn :)

Well it's that time of year. The body is telling the brain to ......yawwwwnnnnnnnn........sleep.  My kingdom was laced with hay so I could make a nest. So.....yaaaaawwwwwwwwwwnnnnn I did just that.

I crawled into my wooden house and pushed some of that hay in......well a lot of that hay in. And my "Keeper of The Sleeper" kept poking in the hay to see if I was ok, so I had to hissssss at her... LOL

And I've curled up for my winter nap... 

Good Night All! See ya in the Springtime!

Many Improvements have been made to the my Kingdom!!

Hello all....Hope the lazy days of summer has found you as fat as me! LOL! (Turtle Joke!) With all the construction finished, my Kingdom is finally secure. Nothing bigger than a June Bug can get in. Yayyy!

So of course the only other thing to improve upon is the "furniture" on the inside. Well the ants thought all this was a cool idea too, and decided to move in with me. What the ants don't know is our super secret weapon.... Corn Meal!!!!! Non poisonous to me, but deadly to ants! They love to eat the stuff, but they can't digest it so they roll over and die. Yayy! So operation "Ant Eviction" is almost over.

Several new plants have been added to my Kingdom, all eadible of course! I now have 2 Mulberry bushes, some Evening Primroses, and a few Bush Muhly's. Of course e few more stepping stones have been strategically placed as well :)

Below is a view of my roof, it's clear roof stuff, so I can get the sun, then it's covered with chicken wire, so I can get some rain, but keep out everything else. Closer to the other side is metal roof stuff so I can get the shade over my house!

My house was moved to the other side of the Kingdom, and a back patio was installed, so I can wallow in the cool mud during the hot days of summer.

And finally with all the new plants, an automated micro-sprinkler system was installed so the plants can get watered, once a day for 15 minutes. The sprinklers, also make some really cool puddles of water that I can drink from. So it's basically a never ending supply of fresh water for me. yippie! LOL

It's been a very good summer for me!  LOL! And I am one HAPPY Tortoise!!!!!!!!!!

Roof Construction in progress!

This is what it used to look like!!!!!

And here's another wood pile for the roof!

This is part of the new roof cover!

Now look at all that room!!!!!! SWEET!

The other half of my Kingdom roof still needs to be put up, but for now, bring on the rain, cause it's not getting to my house!!! LOL! Yipppie!

The Kingdom Walls! WoW!

For 5 long hot days....I've listened to the banging, ....OMG! LOL! But I'm happy to say, that the walls to my Kingdom are complete! With windows and everything! Awesome! Below is the wood pile from where all this came from!

This is what it looked like by the end of Day 3:

And this is what it looked like at the end of day 4:

Yep...those holes are windows! Made out of Plexiglass! Simply amazing!

And on the 5th Day....The gate is in place with even more windows!

I suppose you could be asking yourself ....what could possibly top this?  Well of course, silly! The roof still needs to be built..LOL!But isn't this a wonderful start! And look at all my extra room! WoooHOOO!

OK..... The Construction is in progress!

So like I said, it had to happen eventually, it was only a matter of time! Construction in my Kingdom is commencing!

6 - 3 foot holes were dug around my existing kingdom so we could sink the 10 foot 4x4's that will support the outer walls.

And then the framing for the walls was put into place!

This is actually going to increase the space in my habitat by about 3 feet on all sides! Yipppy! :)

Stay tuned! More pictures and stories about the new Kingdom to follow!

Well it had to happen eventually :)

Plans are being drawn up for new improved walls and ceilings to my Kingdom! Stay tuned.... as this newly developing Saga continues! LOL!

As the rain continues to pound my Kingdom....

Well, it being the 4th of July weekend, I was going to migrate inside to avoid all the firecrackers! But since God decided to let it rain, and rain, and rain some more, and my Kingdom was all kinds of wet....I moved into my winter habitat inside a tad bit early. Of course I'll go back outside once it dries up a bit, but for now, this is my indoor kingdom :)

And of course, I started out with a little cardboard house to crash in, but since I chased it all around my little kingdom trying to snuggle up in it....I decided that perhaps a brick house might be a tad bit better! 

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!

 

Worth my weight in gold!

Well I decided to step on the ol' scale this morning!!  I weigh 10 pounds! I suppose that's a good start for my winter nap! Yeeeee Hawww! Keep the grub a comin! LOL!

It always starts out as "something simple"......

With all the rain we had last week, my Kingdom was getting to be such a soggy mess of mud. So in came these great big flat rocks, that are so cool to sit on and bask in the sun! But of course....it didn't stop there!

Yep......that's me and the Watermelon!!!! 

So like I said.....It always starts out as something really simple....then Wham! My Kingdom is transformed yet again! LOL! Sand was the next addition....well I am from the Dessert aren't I? LOL! :)

Well the sand isn't every where ... I still can go to grass, then up to my lovely flowers! Geraniums, and Hibiscus! Yummy!  

My Hero- My Defender: The Scarecrow Sprinkler!!

Introducing My Hero! LOL! This is a "Scarecrow Sprinkler" there are two of them that defend my Kingdom! There is a motion detector underneath the sprinkler. So when it detects motion (obviously) it will start a sprinkler sweep from left to right. It scares off cats, birds, dogs, the Reliant meter reader, and anything else that happens onto my Kingdom! Very cool! So to speak!

As some of you know, I sustained some pretty serious injuries to my chest plate. When I first got to the Turtle Sanctuary I was sleeping most of the time, and only got up for an hour or two to eat and stroll maybe 2 feet before crashing back out in my house. I was exhausted! But as each day goes by I'm getting stronger and stronger. I now get up around 9am and stay awake until maybe 2pm. I did several laps today in my garden, stopping to eat a few hibiscus flowers, and nibbling here and there on the Pineapple Guava......sweet paradise!