Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Paddling around in Drizzle. Tortoise Rescue.

IF, and that is still, IF, I have the yard sale this weekend, I knew that there were a few things that I needed to get, and do, in the next town.  I can’t leave here once the sale gets going.

 Jay had a mess of clothes that he wanted to take to the “Designer’s Second Debut” consignment shop, so we put them all on hangers, and loaded them up on the back seat of the van.

 Jay hadn’t made provisions for his Russian tortoise with this cold weather.  It hadn’t been checked out for hibernation:

“Hibernation in captivity should not be attempted with a newly-acquired tortoise whose health is in question.  Every effort should be made to diagnose and treat injuries, disease and parasite problems prior to hibernation. Not only is the animal's metabolic rate reduced during hibernation, it immune system function is depressed, disease will progress during hibernation but at a reduced pace. A tortoise going into hibernation with a major disease will invariably deteriorate and may not survive. Temperature control is a factor in disease control. At 39° F (4° C), most disease organisms will cease to grow and multiply. However, at 45° F (7° C) disease organisms can reproduce quickly, causing the disease to progress rapidly.”


So this tortoise was supposed to be kept warm this winter, and not hibernate, as it had never been checked out.   I wasn’t going to let the poor thing suffer and die, so we brought it into the dog room, and set it up in a cage.  It isn’t in very good shape, so I hope he (Jay says it is a he) makes it.  Jay went out in my back yard to get him some dandelion leaves, and I gave him a tiny bit of banana, but he isn’t up to eating yet.
Patches and Prime, my foster cats, were so intrigued that he had one each side of the cage putting their paws in there, trying to make him play with them.  They couldn’t reach him, but he ignored them anyway.  Prime is still sitting there watching him!


On our rounds in the rain, we stopped at Wal-Mart to return a cordless drill that I was given, as it wouldn’t hold a charge.  But as it came from a different area, the scan code didn’t show up.

As I had to get a new battery for my door bell, we went to Lowe’s, and the drill didn’t show up in their computers either. I will try Home Depot next, as I don’t know where it was bought.

A stop at Petco to get Bobcat some Wellness cat food and the tortoise some pellet food, lunch at Taco Cabana, then the resale shop.  They took most of the clothes, and the rest will go in the yard sale. 
A stop at HEB to get some spring greens that were on sale, plus other stuff.  “Teacher” (‘cos he ‘tort’ us) and I will share them.

Then another stop at Petsmart to buy the other food that Bobcat eats.  We looked at a tortoise they had there, which they said they just feed some veges each morning. And it looked good and healthy.  Then I found out that the tortoise pellets are really just corn meal for $8.66 !, so I haven't even opened it. I'll exchange it for some vitamins for him.

We even managed to go to a thrift shop, and Krogers, too!

So we spent most of our time rushing in and out of stores with umbrellas, getting our feet wet today.

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