Remember the tortoises I bought during about CNY? It has been more than a month since I had them and I thought I'd update about them a little bit. ^.^
Light (below) & Dark (above)
Them in their feeding container - I use a small tank now (which is bigger than the container).
I love Dark's colour and he was the first one I picked out because his shell is kinda blue-ish.
(Notice the white patches on Light's shell)
I asked my cousins to name them for me and Light was given Zif, while Dark was given Swifto (but I don't use that name because that didn't feel natural to me). 'Swifto' is very appropriate for Dark because he was swift in water!
I had been wanting tortoises since last year and finally when I got them, I realized how unprepared I was. I don't have a tank for them (well, we have an outdoor aquarium for the fishes - more on this later), nor a filter, nor whatever it needs to have a comfortable lifestyle.
They started off living in a kinda big plastic tank; I filled it with water and some rocks. Later on, I added more rocks so they could bask. Dark was the brave one, always being active, unafraid of human and basking. Light has a contrasting personality - she is always hiding and anxious. She would also not swim around and instead stay still at a not obvious place.
Sometimes I let them swim in the big outdoor aquarium and Dark would enjoy it very much whilst Light would hide underneath the plants/dark corners/parallel universe and it would take a few minutes (and several people) to spot her. OTZ
They would eat turtle pellets (I introduced blood worms later on and Light loved it) twice a day. When I have the time, I would watch them for a few minutes.
In case you're wondering why I'm referring to them as s/he, its because I discovered their possible genders one day when I held them both and noticed the difference in the shape of their plastrons.
(I later read that tortoises shouldn't be kept together because one would be dominating and the other would be stressed.)
Dark
Look at the structure of his shell - its so streamline.
No wonder he swims fast!
One day I came back in the evening and they were eating in a large tub. My neighbour from houses away brought his grandkids out for a walk and they came in to our house. The kids wanted to see fishes and later we showed them the tortoises.
"Why is that not moving??" the little boy inquired. "Oh, he's just resting. He always does that," I answered.
Later I went inside the house and Po Po (grandmother) told me that one of the tortoises is unresponsive so I went out to check. I picked Dark up, but he was not moving. I feared for the worst. His eyes were closed and he was not moving. His hands and feet were still soft and he was stuck at a position. Then I thought, oh no...
I turned him around but he was not moving. In the end, I decided to bury him (initially I had wanted to put him in the drain where I had put all my dead hamster pets years ago, but I felt that would be too unbearable). It was about to rain (but it didn't in the end, luckily) and I quietly went outside and dug a hole beside our pear tree. It was tough finding for a spot because the tree roots were all over the place under the soil.
I tried not to cry even though I was seriously sad. ;_; Even when my first hamster died, I tried not to cry even though I was seriously hurt. I have this thing where I don't cry in front of people but I cry a lot with myself. ._. And because it would be awkward to answer people when they ask why my eyes are puffy.
So I dug, and dug, and dug until the hole is deep enough. OK its still not deep enough but there's no way to dig deeper already so I dug the deepest that I could. I had wanted to put him in a small plastic container but I felt that it wouldn't be friendly to the environment and he can't decompose beneficially, so I let him be. I went upstairs, picked out a Japanese yuuzen paper (to lay him on) and went back downstairs.
I picked him up from the tub and talked to him. Oh damn it, I felt tears and I stopped myself. Sis was there to watch too so its only the 2 of us at his funeral.
Its so ironic how I have our first picture taken together when he's dead. I have never took a pic with him when he was alive... I feel so bad. So guilty.
In the above picture, he was actually already dead. ;_;
Bye Dark...
( I know the pit looks very shallow)
I still remembered him being so happy in the morning before I leave the house. I even went over to the tub, placed my palm in there to act as a platform and he swam up and held onto my palm. I was so happy. But now I will never see him again.
About 2 days before he died, I handled him and realized that his shell is soft at the side. I told Po Po about it but she said its because he's young. The next day I went to the pet shop to buy some calcium blocks, but then it was too late.
I went to search up about soft shells and found out that it was a major killer in young turtles. I cried a little when I read that it was causing him pain. /.\ I'm sorry...
Light out for exploration
She spent the entire time beside the pencil case because she
thought it was a place to hide.
Perhaps there is a lesson in this misfortune because I found myself handling and taking care of Light more than ever. In the afternoon, Po Po and Evelyn (my 8 y.o.) cousin take care of Light; give her food and sun time (because I don't have a UV lamp). At night just before I go to sleep, I give her food, clean her swimming container (I separated her wet and dry area because she always hides in the water so I have to carry her out to the dry area for her to sleep so that her shell can dry) and put her back in.
I enjoy doing these for her. ^.^ Before I had tortoises, I was lazy. LOL But after I had them, I begun to stop disliking doing dirty jobs and starting to be less afraid of them (when I first got them, I was a little scared of handling them cuz they squirm). Now I love holding Light so much - I'd use my one palm to cup over the other palm so its dark and she wouldn't squirm cuz she thinks that's a hiding place.
There was one time I tried using a tissue to wipe off the brown fungi on her shell, she squirmed and I accidentally dropped her. /.\ I almost had a heart attack! But luckily it wasn't that high up and she dropped without a sound. She was shocked for a moment but recovered. Omg... *slaps self*
Sun time!
Her swimming area was initially the whole cage, then I change it to a container
like in the first picture and then to this.
Her dry area got smaller but I don't think she minds cuz she doesn't walk around anyway.
The stones to the below right of the cage is her hiding area. She goes there to sleep.
Whenever she's in the water, I don't really see her sleeping. ._.
Then I realized that she sleeps when one time she was hiding below a stone so
I gave her a place to hide and she sleeps ever since!
I like the new modification I did to her house because it looks nicer and richer. LOL!
Now she's having black lines between her scutes because she's growing too fast. ._. Luckily the white patches (which was fungal infection) stopped spreading/growing after I made her a dry area.
Light, grow up to be healthy OK! >.<
