Sheldon's New Friend

So, days had passed

Dorothy had been picked up by Michael the owner

Sheldon feel so sad...

She doesn't have friend to play with anymore...

She became less active and just sleep on the corner of the terrarium

I feel guilty

I think I should get her a new friend so she can pay around again

Then I decided to buy another tortoise, another sulcata type

I look for it, asked my friends, asked pet shop, but I didn't find anything that caught my heart

Then I remember one of the tortoise seller (well, not a very recommended seller tho) who had a lot of sulcata for sale

Then I tried to asked him if there any thin line type sulcata

He said yes, and offered me a thin line (well, not really thin line I think) sulcata 7,5cm length for $160

Adapting To New Home

So, after Sheldon moved away from the babies, I took her and move her to her new terrarium

Big one of course..

She play happily in her new home

 Her terrarium is so big..
It has basking spot, feeding area, and a hiding hut for sleeping

Busy Months !

Geez...

It's been a really long time that I don't update my blog about my cute babies..

Well, I had to work and I'm not at home that often

Whenever I have time, I used it to play with my tortoises and take a rest, so I can't update the blog

Well, you guys still remember George, Avalena, Joshua, Katie, and Sheldon don't you?

Well, they are still with me, being so naughty and silly..

Makes me laugh and fill my day with their cuteness

But, even though they make happy enough, I still bought another tortoise

Again, again and again...

So now I have 10 tortoises..

I will put their profile soon tho..

Need to take pictures of them and upload it...

Remember, I have the slowest internet in the world, so you guys have to be patient

For next time, I will try to keep updating my blog

So I can share their cuteness all over the world :D

Sheldon, First Day In My House

I took Sheldon home
She looks like that she was so worried
She walk all over the container, climbing and trying to escape
Well, she looks so active and powerful, so I don't worry about her

After I got home, I introduce her to my other babies, including Dorothy
Sheldon was so shy, she hid in her shell and won't come out
Other tortoise are being mean with her too.. probably because she is different
Then I took a picture of them

Sheldon Personal Data

So this is personal data about Sheldon

Full Name : Sheldon de Brunellesci

Nick Name : Sheldon / Shelley

Sex : Female (based on comparing from website)

Age : 3 Months (based on her size)

Hobby : Climbing,Running around, Eating

Diet : Hibiscus, Fumak

Size : 6,5cm

Special Marking : Thin Line, Yellow Carapace

Bought at : Hendrik, Kepa Duri 21 March 2012

Dorothy, A Friend Who Stay For A While

Remember Patrick?

Sulcata who was living in my house for a week?

Well, he has a new friend named Dorothy

But she is so small, even the plastron still squishy

Patrick is so naughty so he likes to stomp and bite Dorothy

Well, it would be no problem when Dorothy is strong too, but she is weak because she is just a baby (2weeks old)

So Michale, the owner, decided to put Dorothy in my house for a while

At least until she is strong enough

 This is Dorothy
Cute, she has a big eyes, so sexy (well, Ava is sexier than her of course)
I hope Dorothy can get along with my babies and she will grow healthily

Sheldon, My New Sulcata

So, Wednesday, I took the tortoise from Mr. Hendrik's house at Kepa Duri Jakarta

I came to his house and saw a lot of tortoise

Most of them are Radiata Tortoise

I take a look at the sulcata that I bought, check its condition, no flu, no damage or scars

But it eyes is wet, probably because it feels too hot

And the last thing I check on it is, its gender

Well, first glance I saw it as a male so I decided to name it Sheldon

But lately it looks more like a female but I don't want to change the name because Sheldon is a given name from my boyfriend (first time he name my tortoise)

Sulcata Attack part II

After looking for a perfect sulcata (what I mean by perfect is the tortoise that I love, I like, and I want it so bad so that I'm willing to give anything for it), I found one, only one that caught my heart right away when I first saw it

So, there was my friend, changing display picture on his blackberry messenger and I had nothing to do so I check on it

I saw two sulcatas, yellow colored and nice lining

Then I saw him change his status to "For Sale Sulcata 6-7cm"

I asked him right away for the price and ask him if I can book the left one until tonight (really fell in love at the first sight)

He said, $200 and I asked the nett price (super nett) and it went to $180

Sulcata Attack !!

In the middle of the busyness, my friend ask me if I want to buy a Sulcata or not

Well, I don't have money at that time so I was just curious to know how much it cost

He said, it's a 10cm Sulcata, female, and want to be sold for $120

I was like, WHAT??? That's SUPER cheap, market price of 10cm Sulcata is around $220-$250

I asked him if the Sulcata is healthy or not and why his friend want to sell it

He said that his friend is bored and don't want to keep it anymore

I was like, no way.. Poor sulcata..

But then he added another information which are the sulcata is currently having a flu, and her plastron is not hard, yet

Busy Day and Sick

Sorry for the long break here

I was so busy and I was sick for a few days

Can't even play with my tortoise and take a picture

Tomorrow is holiday, so I can upload some picture and post something on the blog again
See you tomorrow :D

Photo Session In The Evening

So, Sun was not shining again for another 3 days

Not until now so I have to take them outside every evening when the sun shine brightly

For them to play

They look so happy, playing around the yard

And I took another pictures of them

Let's Enjoy!

Katie trying to sneak around

No Internet Connection

I wasn't around and not posting anything in the past 4 days
Why?

Well, beside that I was busy, I have no internet connection for 4 days

Well, I can browse, with a loooooong time of loading

And I can't upload picture because the connection is sucks

Now, it's better, so I will post some pictures of my babies

Just, Stay Tuned !

No Sun Shine

So, it has been 4 days that there were no sun shine in the morning

My babies can't get a sun bathing and they can't play at my front yard

They get bored and go around their terrarium, trying to get out and play outside

Because I feel bad for them, in the evening, I saw sun shine so brightly

I took them and let them play outside and take several photos of them

It's like a photo session and they love it

These are their photos, enjoy it

 Joshua is walking around

He looks so grumpy because everybody left him behind

Escape Artist Level: Family PART II

So, after Joshua got out, they want to get out too

But, only 3 of her left and they all big

So, they decided to push Ava up, but Katie said, No, I want to, let me

Well, since George and Avalena are close together, George choose to push Ava up

Let's just see the video :D

Poor Ava, she fell upside down, so I helped her and put her back :D
After all those efforts, I took them to their terrarium and have breakfast

Escape Artist Level: Family PART I

They are ninja, Ninja Tortoises

They can get out from my bathing container now

Just see the video

Well, I assumed that Joshua asked his sisters to push him up so that he can go out

after several tries, finally Joshua went out of the container, and....

Leave the sisters alone :D

Bad Joshua

See part 2 too for the continuation of this escape artist

George's Effort

George is a curious tortoise

Like I said, she always explore my front yard whenever I put her outside to sun bathing

Then suddenly, she fell into a stepping stone in my front yard and too bad, the grass around it is too high for her

So, let's see how she tried get out from there

Well, she didn't make it though.. But I love how hard she tried to get out

One Month Monthlyversary

So, yesterday, 28 February 2012, I celebrated the 1st month of having my babies George and Avalena

Well, I just gave them more food though, since I was busy yesterday and I don't feel really good

But they are still happy

Today, I take them to my room, and measured them again

Both of them have grew 0.5cm so now they are 5.5cm length

I haven't measure them since I don't have a mini scale to scale them, probably gonna take them to vet next week for a regular check up

So, these are their pictures

See how cute they are?

They look at the camera when I call them, so smart and photogenic

Can you tell which one is George and which one is Avalena?

Change of Terrarium's Design

So, few days after I changed the terrarium I watch them playing around there

When it's time to feed them so I put their food on their feeding dish

Well, everyone is eating except George

She was walking around the terrarium and trying to find out how to get out from there

So, this is what she did

New Terrarium (Again)

Well, when I design the terrarium like the last one I posted, I feel that the terrarium is too small

What if when they are grown up and the terrarium doesn't fit them anymore

People said that the larger the place is, the easier for them to walk around and grow faster

So I was thinking of giving them a bigger house and look for it

Well, all terrarium for sell is not that big, only have 5cm different with my terrarium so it's kinda a waste of money if I buy that

Then I thought about making one using wood and glasses then it's too expensive
Later on, one of the lamp seller told me that there is a nice container which is large enough to make as a terrarium
It's not too high so it perfectly fit for my little babies

Avalena and Katie Got A Flu

Well, two days ago was raining all day

No sun in the morning so I can't take my babies to sun bathing

Terrarium's temperature drop to 27 degrees Celsius and I do whatever it takes to make it to 31 as usual

And in the middle of my effort, I heard Katie sneeze

I was shocked, I check on her and her nose is wet

I wipe it and she has snot now *sad*

Then I check on Avalena because she just getting better from the flu and...

She has snot, again....

Oh God, it took me 2 weeks to make Ava better, and cost me lot of money for the doctor and medcine

Please, don't let them sick

I don't want they feel in pain, they are just a baby and I don't think they have to suffer like that

Please, get better my babies

George The Acrobatic Tortoise

Remember this?

George climbed up Avalena, and I don't know what she gonna do

Then, remember this when she fell upside down from the container because she tried to get away and Avalena kick her?

Guess what she did in any other days

My TMNT

Well, I named my babies same as The TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

I have 4 tortoise (and I hope I will not get more and more even if I want to) and all of them are extremely cute and the reason why I named them based on TMNT is because they are turtles...

just that, LOL

But, behind all of that, there are reason why I named each of my babies and why that TMNT's name

First, Joshua de Leonardo

Joshua named as Joshua, my friend, that is a real gentleman whom I've ever know

I named him Joshua so that soon when he grown up, he can be a gentleman tortoise like Josh.

Why Leonardo?

Leonardo in TMNT is the leader of the team, he is the oldest, and very skilled in martial arts

Joshua is not the oldest baby, well he is smaller but male tortoise is smaller than female tortoise, but I hope that he can be the leader of my babies since he is the only male among them

Patrick's Farewell Party

Today, Michael picked up Patrick, at 11.30PM, he came and take Patrick away

I will miss Patrick sooo much

So before that, I made a little farewell party, well, not me who make it but my babies, because they are sitting next to each other, and sleep closely

 Eating together before Patrick leaves

Patrick, sleeping with his friends at the very last night before he goes home

I will miss Patrick for sure
Hope that he will come by again and stay for a while

Another Vet Visit

Well, it's been a week since the last time I took my babies to check them up

Especially Avalena because she still has the flu and Patrick is having one of the symptoms
So I decided to bring them to the vet again on Wednesday to check them up, and also Katie since she is new and I haven't check on her
 
Well, I can bring them to the vet later at evening because the doctor will be there until 9pm so that I can take care few stuff first
I went to the shop and bought a container for my new terrarium (again) and then bought another lamp which is Night Glow lamp so they still can get the heat at night
I also bought a basking stone to make a basking spot for them (not necessary but I want it for my babies)
 And, not to forget, another small container to bring Patrick to the vet

Patrick's Thermometer Is Broken

Well, my friend bring Patrick along with his terrarium, feeding dish, lamps and other stuff,even his toy

I got briefed by my friend how he treat Patrick in daily life like the use of the lamp and so on

So, Michael, my friend's name since it will take so long if every time I want to refer to him I write my friend, said that Patrick never use lamp at night unless it's raining

Well, okay, I'll just follow his instruction and check the thermometer every night

The thermometer shows 31 degrees of Celsius so I think that it will be no problem

But later on, I saw that Patrick's nose is wet, and the thermometer looks weird because it show the same

Katie Personal Data

Katie Personal Data

Full Name :Katie de Raphael

Nick Name : Katie / Kate

Sex : Female

Age : 2,5 Months (based on the size)

Hobby : Eat, Eat, and Eat

Diet : Lettuce-Siomak, Mustard Green (Caisim or Chinese Vegetable), Pakchoy

Size : 5.3cm

Special Marking : Eye Catchy color, a little Pyramid shape shell

Bought at : Littlesta Kaskuser from Yogyakarta 11 February 2012

Katie, so Photogenic and active

She walk all over the table and I barely can take her picture

I have to make it on shutter speed to be able to take this picture

Patrick, Friends Who Stay for A Week

I've told you before, on Saturday, my friend came by to drop Patrick, his tortoise, and ask me to take care of him for a week because he needs to go out of town for his work

I'm very happy because actually I want this type of tortoise but I couldn't afford it and it can grow so big so when it has grown, I will have no place to keep it

Well, Patrick is so cute and active

more active compared to my babies because the personality of Sulcata breed is simply like that

I'm gonna talk about him a lot this week because he does so many cute things that everybody should know

So, This is Patrick, He smiles when I took this picture (even when he's eating)

Gettting To Know Katie Better

Well, You guys have known Joshua, Avalena, and George already
Since Katie is new, we don't know about her that much
Physically, Katie looks bigger than others, well, she is bigger than Joshua of course since Joshua is 4cm only
When I measure her, I wonder, why she is 5cm like other but looks bigger
then I realized that her shell is wider compared to George and Avalena

In this picture, you can see that she is bigger
She has a nice color of shell and nice pattern which I love it

When Katie arrived at my house for the first time, she had a weird kind of walking
When she walk, she is so fast but she looks like she is swimming

My New Baby, Katie and her story

Don't blame me for their cuteness !!

They make me to find another member of the family so they can be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortoise

I was interested in Sulcata, another type of tortoise who can grow as big as 70cm but it is so expensive so I can't afford it

But, My boyfriend said that if I bought another tortoise, he will break up with me

I was like, what the hell...Should you do that over a tortoise?

Well, since I can't afford that tortoise, I aim for another Istar and my boyfriend said, up to me

So, I looked at forum, probably gonna find some that I like

Honestly, I prefer to buy it right away, I mean like seeing the tortoise directly so I can choose it based on their personality and I can check on them right away

But, well, so far, no one sell Istar in my radius of 100km so I have to buy them online

I have seen several thread about selling tortoise Indian Star and I like some of them

When I tried to decided which one I want to buy, I opened another thread from Yogyakarta and see this picture

New House !!

The house (terrarium) for my babies looks like this before

Then people said that it is good for baby Istar to use a substrate like coco peat to maintain the humidity of the house
so that there will be no Pyramiding issue

I was thinking about that, I don't want my babies have a pyramiding issue (except for Avalena) so I looked for a seller who sell the substrate and bought one

As soon as it arrived at my house, I try to use that on my terrarium and it looks like this

Well, it says that I have to put it at least 2cm thick and spread it out

I did that and I put my handmade cave on it

Messy, and I don't know where to put the food for them

They seems don't like it because they were digging the substrate all the time

When I shared this to the forum, one of the member said that they might be overheated so they try to find a cool place by digging the substrate

Then I think that it will be best for them to stay on paper as it's substrate, not coco peat

So that I removed all the coco peat and go back to the paper

Silly Avalena

So this is a silly video of Avalena when they were eating for dinner

I put the food in front of them and start eating

I was recording Joshua eating his food because he looks cute but then I saw Avalena did a super silly thing that make me laugh over and over

So, just watch this video, and laugh

Finally she got it :D

Joshua Personal Data

Joshua Personal Data

Full Name : Joshua de Leonardo

Nick Name : Joshua / Josh

Sex : Male (confirmed by the Doctor)

Age : 1,5 Months (based on what Doctor said)

Hobby : Eat, Follows what George do, play dead (sleep)

Diet : Lettuce-Siomak, Mustard Green (Caisim or Chinese Vegetable), Pakchoy

Size : 4cm

Special Marking : Round Shaped Shell

Bought at : Reptile Freak Bazaar 30th January 2012

Shy little Joshua, hiding on his shell because it's the first time he had a photo session

Going To The Vet

Wednesday, it's the only day that Dr. Rotoro (Turtles Specialist) open a practice

So, on Wednesday. 8 February 2012, I went to him and bring my 3 little cute babies for a check up

 When I arrived, the Doctor hasn't arrived yet so I waited at the front desk, and put my babies on the table

They were silent at first, not moving and put themselves on their shell
But after a few minutes, this what they did

Walking Around the table, exploring the place

The Way They Sleep

You guys have seen the way they eat and other activities

Now it's time to see the way they are sleeping

So freaking cute

At first, I thought that they were dead

Because they look like no energy and so tired

Well. lets see how they sleep

Angel : " I wanna sleep with Geeoorgeee !!!"

Trying To Escape From The Container

Both of George and Avalena are silly

Sometimes they are enemy, sometimes they are friends

This video show you how they cooperate each other, trying to get out from the container

Too bad Avalena, you are too fat so you can't climb higher

Avalena's Flu

Well, actually Avalena is having a flu
The 2nd day I have her, I went to a relative's party and go home so late
When I got home, I checked on my babies and I saw drools on Avalena's left nose
I was like, OMFG, what should I do???
I read that flu can bring tortoise to death

I was completely panic and I messaged the seller (again, Bang Juju) and ask him everything about what I have to do to take care of her at least until tomorrow
Then he said that, go get a lamp and turn it on 24 hours so she can feel the heat (not getting cold)
That makes me went to the shop again to buy the gex and the basking lamp

So far, Avalena still eat passionately and she has snot, sometimes rainy nose
I took him to a veterinarian already, with a tortoise specialist
The doctor steam her so the snot can be released
So, these are some pictures of her and her flu

The steaming process
The doctor want to inject her with medicine but she is too small so we decided to steam her only

Avalena Personal Data

Avalena Personal Data

Full Name : Avalena de Donatello

Nick Name : Ava

Sex : Female

Age : 2 Months (based on what Doctor said)

Hobby : Pee in my hand, eat

Diet : Lettuce-Siomak, Mustard Green (Caisim or Chinese Vegetable), Pakchoy

Size : 5cm

Special Marking : High Dome (not that high, but compared to other tortoise of mine, she has higher shell)

Bought at : Reptile Freak Bazaar 27th January 2012

Front view of Avalena
Big mouth, has an upside down Heart-Shaped shell, sharp eyes and rainy nose (flu all the time)

George Personal Data

So this is personal data about George

Full Name : George de Michael Angelo

Nick Name : George / Georgee (because it is female so far)

Sex : Female (not sure yet, Doctor said might be male)

Age : 2 Months (based on what Doctor said)

Hobby : Running around on my front yard

Diet : Lettuce-Siomak, Mustard Green (Caisim or Chinese Vegetable), Pakchoy

Size : 5cm

Special Marking : Red color of body

Bought at : Reptile Freak Bazaar 27th January 2012

 

Side View of George

Nice marking, nice color of body (red instead of yellow) and super active

Angel, The New Family Member

Remember the reason why I chose Avalena as my second torto?

Well, before I chose her, I fell in love with a little baby Istar with the length of 4cm

She has nice marking on the shell and looks so cute

But I didn't choose her because I was afraid that she might die, she is smaller than George and Avalena so she is younger than them.

The third day I have George and Avalena, I went to the shop again (reptil freak) to buy the Gex / faunarium for my beloved tortoise since the container is too small for them.
When I got there, I saw that little baby Istar still there with another baby Istar (bigger one)
So I asked the seller (Mas Juju) how much it is and he said that that Istar will be keep by the owner of the shop.
I was like, Hell no.....

Fighting Over Food

Well, the most favorite thing that I love from Tortoise is, the way they eat
That makes me fall in love with tortoise and keep loving them
So, this time is dinner time again so I put them inside the container and give them food

They eat so excitedly and the funny thing is, they fight over a food
Watch when George took Avalena's beans

Well, I love the way they eat, so funny and cute
Make me feed them all the time and I know that's not good because it will make the shell make a Pyramid shape (A.K.A Pyramidi)
So, I try to control their diet now, feed them twice a day with a portion that until now I'm not sure yet
Hope they are fine and healthy

Sun Bathing Time!

After a long night of sleep, I took them outside in the next morning

It was 8am and the sun shine brightly, so it's a perfect time to sunbathing

So I put them on a container filled with a warm water so they can take a bath and drink

After 10 minutes (after they poo poo) I took them outside and put them on the Orange cover of their container

I put the food over there and put them there so they can eat

But, naughty George, She walked around and trying to go to the grass and running around

So this is the video that I took when they were sunbathing

Naughty Avalena kicked George so she fell down and can't get up
It was so funny but I feel pity to George so I put her back in the right way

First Day at My House

I feed them already and they are full now

I put them on the small container like this

yeah I know it's too small to keep two of them but this is what I have so far

So, I put them there, and put a lamp at the edge of the side so that they can warm theirselve

And guess what they did

First Meal at My House Part 2

The cuteness didn't stop right there..

Here is the 2nd part of the First Meal at My House video

Watch it, Enjoy it

First Meal at My House Part 1

First thing I did when I got home yesterday, I take my turtles to my room, and took a lettuce and feed them

I also put some calcium and D3 for them so they can grow big and stronger..

They were eating so excitedly and I love their face when they are eating

Cute and charming

Well, this is video of George and Avalena eating lettuce (which I just knew that it's not really good for turtles and now I feel like a bad mother who feed my children undernourished food)

George and Avalena

When I got home, the seller called me (I just got home like for 5 minutes) and told me that the Istar babies have come to the mall and ready to be sold

I was shocked and little bit upset because I just got home, so it's impossible for me to go back to the mall and choose them

So I told the seller to pick the one that is good and healthy and ready to be my pet, and he said okay and he will mark it and keep it for me

Again, I can't wait for tomorrow

The next morning, I woke up and quickly get ready to go to the mall and choose my pet

By the time I get there, there were only a few Istar (like 10 or 12 I forgot) and they are small like 4cm - 5cm (of course, they are babies)

I asked the seller which one is good for my pet, and he had marked some of the turtles which are good so I can choose between them

First one that he recommended is this one

 It has a nice marking, not too light and not too dark and it's clear marking so it is eye catchy

Its body is red (brownish red), not usual like other Istar with yellow color of body

and it is adorable

When I saw it, I fell in love with her

I love her face and her marking so I decided to take her with me (yes, she is female - based on what the seller said by looking it's tail, well, I don't know the different and I can't tell)

I named her George, based on my nickname on World of Warcraft (yeah, girl with nickname George, problem? :D )

Finding My True Love

Well, I've decided to have Istar as my pet so I was looking for seller who sells Indian Star.

I found like several seller who sell them with a shocking price

I don't know that Istar can be that expensive (come on...a turtle)

RES, the one I saw at the mall are sold for Rp 50.000 / pair (around US$5) but for Istar, the baby itself are sold for Rp 500.000 (US$50)

It's like 10 times from what I imagine

Shocked with the price, I was thinking to find another turtle as pet but I couldn't find the one I like.

Well, there is a small kind of turtles named Stinkpot but it is a water turtles and I'm too lazy to clean the Aquarium, lol.

So my hope of having Istar as my pet slightly reduced but I still try to find Istar with cheap price (I hope I got lucky)

After 2 weeks, I went to another mall near my campus and found another exhibition and found Istar at the booth.

It was a Pyramidi Hi-Yellow Istar and look very nice and cute

I fell in love with her (or him, I don't know the sex) and really want it as my pet

I asked the seller and he said that it is $75 but it's sold

I was like, damn, $75 and it's sold

I wanted it badly and I just got money (from Chinese New Year celebration) so I think that I could afford to buy it.

I asked the guy who bought that Istar and asking him if he wanna sell that to me, and too bad, he said NO..

Well, the seller said to me to cheer up because tomorrow, they will sell another Istar baby (just get imported) and there will be dozen of them so I could choose the one I like.

I was like "Seriously?" and so happy and can't wait for tomorrow.

The Beginning

Well, it has been 2 months since I was wanting to have a tortoise as a pet..

It all began when I was buying groceries in one mall, they were having an exhibition of plants, reptiles, and pets..

I saw a baby Brazilian Red Eyes Slider and it looks so cute. I asked the seller about it and he said that turtles can't grow big, the biggest was 20cm.

I feel like, well, that's cute, I have to have one. So I checked about them after I got home and it was a lie.. RES can grow so big (well, about 50cm) and I feel glad i didn't buy it.

Since then, I do a small research about turtles (and tortoise) and I'm in love with a land turtle (which known as Tortoise) named Indian Star (people call them Istar)

It's a land turtle from India and have a star-look like marking on their shell

They are so cute and they look adorable

The one that I love the most is, they are small and can't grow that big (only like 30cm)

So I decided to choose them as my pet.