Summer of 2012 Highlights

Well its been a long, slow, lazy summer here at the Georgey Paradise Ranch :)  Lots of good eats and good weather - well better than last summer anyway!

At the beginning of the summer when it seemed like it rained for weeks, and weeks, the Ranch went underwater. Yup, that there.... was soil erosion at its finest. I actually had to be rescued from the rising waters in my Ranch to the Big House for a day or two, until more dirt and lots of river rocks where put in to build up my turf.

Many modifications have been made to my Ranch over the summer months, including a mister for those overwhelming- hot - hot - to hot for even tortoises - days. It turns on all by itself everyday for one hour during the hottest part of the day. Pretty cool! Literally! But that wasn't all that was installed to help with the heat. A new window was installed facing the south side of the Ranch so now not only do I get a new view, but a south breeze as well! Yippie!

And as you can see from that picture new plants were planted. That is a rose bush under my new window.  Mmmmm I love to eat rose petals! And behind that is 'prolly one of my favorites... A Hibiscus bush that has **the** most delicious flowers on this planet!

And this is my Aloe Vera Patch....simply scrumptious!

 

And here's the real kicker......

 

 

These are "Super Dwarf" Banana Plants... They should only grow to about 4 or 5 feet tall and make really really sweet  banana's....Mmmmm can't wait til next summer to eat them!....Yes that's me over there on the rocks in the corner :)



Then came the real scary part of the summer. This happened about two weeks ago.....
a family of possums decided to pay the Ranch a visit. Oh My God! They were HUGE. Luckly...they were not able to gain access into the Ranch. However, it scare me so much that we decided to reinforce the entire area with more chicken wire and barbed wire on the outside.

 

 

 

 

But it didn't end there...The family of possums decided to take up residence in the near by palm tree. The only option left was to find something that preyed upon possums. Well the possums worst fear is a red fox! Yep... we sprayed red fox urine all over the palm tree and near by landscaping, and low and behold the possums belived that there was a red fox in residence....so they packed their bags AND LEFT!  lol Yayyyyyyyy!!!

 

 

Now all that excitment along with the colder weather movin in has made this Tortoise very very very ......Yawwwwwwnnnnn....sleepy. I've got the Ranch house packed in hay and I'm ready to go and get my beauty rest!

 

 

 

 



Ya'll have a good Winter! Happy Holidaze!

 

See Ya in the Spingtime!

 

Georgey Here....over and out :)

 

 

 

Cactus seems to be the winner this summer! :-)

Yes, cactus does seem to be her favorite this summer! She even has picked it over watermelon. Simply amazing... seeing how watermelon is the "ice cream" for tortoises!

Her other diet this summer has been a mix of Kale, Collard Greens, and Mustard Greens, with a side of red seedless grapes! Not green grapes, and not purple grapes...they have to be red seedless grapes. lol!  Her greens are chopped up and mixed.



This giant bowl of chopped greens usually lasts her about a week.  With all this eating...Her weight seems to be a pretty steady 12 lbs. that's up about 2 lbs from last year.

In the heat of the drought...

Georgey has found the Cactus Patch! She's even taken a couple yummy bites ...just a sweet summertime treat for her!

Georgey is AWAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, Georgey is finally awake!  Welcome to Springtime!!!!

The Ice Storm !!

As Georgey continues to slumber, the outside of her house is blanketed with 7 very thick blankets, and wadded up newspaper is laced around the entrance and bottom areas to her house. A temperature probe was placed near her slumbering body. As the temperatures were reaching 27 degrees outside her habitat, inside her house the temperature remained a steady 40 degrees. She never hit the freezing mark!

Hurry up Springtime! We miss you Georgey! :)



...

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!