Happy Tort

Remember when I got the tortoise I have always wanted for my birthday a little while ago?  The first thing I realized was that having a Tort is a lot more complicated than I had expected.  I did some reading and discovered some things that I needed to do to upgrade his lifestyle, and make his habitat more Tort friendly.

In other words, his house has gotten an extreme makeover.

Here is Jarvis, happily finishing his dinner in his new home:

In creating a living space for my Russian Tortoise, I wanted to provide an optimal environment, and also build a beautiful terrarium.

Supplies For a Tortoise Terrarium

1.  Two light fixtures are necessary.  They can sit atop the wire lid of your terrarium or clip onto the side.

2.  A basking light which provides temperatures up to 90 degrees is important to keep the Tort warm and aids in digestion.

3.  A UV-B lamp helps your tortoise to absorb calcium, important to proper shell and bone development.

4.  This coconut fiber is a great substrate for a Tort.  It keeps moisture content in the terrarium, is ecofriendly and compostable,  and has the look and feel of actual soil.  Great for digging into.  This should be used as 50% of substrate.

5.  A Tort needs to have a little privacy, a retreat to hide in.  I like the look of this half log.

6.  White sand is used as the other 50% of the substrate.

7.  Two of these shallow feeding dishes are a natural looking option for feeding and water dishes. A tortoise should always have fresh water available, and feeding is a daily adventure with a huge variety of greens offered.


To give the terrarium a wild and natural feel, I picked out some artificial greenery and some stones.

The kids helped mix the substrate mixture of coconut fibers and sand.

We added the dishes, stones and plants in an arrangement that mimicked nature.

Then Jarvis got a bath.  Did you know that Torts should have a little bath once a week?

Jarvis was introduced to his new home and went straight for his log where he dug himself into a cozy hole and took a long nap.  When he came out the next day, he tried to nibble on a plastic flower!  

Now he is a happy little guy and looking handsome in his new surroundings.

For a really extensive source on caring for Russian Tortoises, please visit here.

Puppy Love To Brighten Your Day

I think these photos speak for themselves.  Hope you have a good smile.

Meet & Greet: Bella

Cutest Puppy EVER

I couldn't wait to share this little pup with you all!  She is only 9 weeks old and already weighs 7lbs!  She is a husky mix pup that Matt and I rescued from a local shelter....and she is the sweetest.  This surprises me, I thought all puppies were complete terrors.

When I adopted Reuben, he was insane, jumping and peeing everywhere..I thought he was SO cute.  Well, this girl is the complete opposite.  Mellow, quiet...she even slept through the night last night.  The two dogs already love each other and Reuben makes a great teething toy it seems.

Getting Bella was one of those serendipitous things that happens right when you just know it won't.  Matt and I fell for her immediately when we saw her advertised online.  But we kept running into glitches.

The shelter was closed when we first got there...then our other appointment went on way too long...then we went back to the shelter and the puppy we wanted to meet wasn't even there (she was being fostered).

But, as luck would have it, and because we were there at just the right time...the foster mom walked into the shelter right as we were waiting to find out how to get a hold of her!  She invited us to follow her home to see the pup.

But that wasn't all.  When you adopt a pet through a shelter, they are pretty specific about a few requirements, one of them being permission from your landlord if you're renting.  I just knew we wouldn't get the okay for a puppy.

Our property manager tried and tried to get in touch with the lady that owns our house...and we only had 2 hours before this huge adoption event that our puppy was supposed to attend.

Finally Matt emailed our property manager a photo of the puppy and explained that we needed to know now or we would probably lose her to someone else.

I resigned myself to the probable end that we wouldn't be getting this cute puppy today.  And I started working on my homework.  Matt distracted himself with his Iphone.

We waited.

We got a call right on the hour of the adoption event.  The homeowner had recieved the photo of our pup from the property manager and thought our puppy was so cute, she even wanted to adopt her!  So we were given permission and not even charged an additional deposit.

We were so excited!

We left the house, not telling the kids where we were going....and adopted this sweet girl.  We took her to the pet store for puppy goodies.  Matt named her Bella after a Jack Johnson song.  And we arrived home with our newest family member to two very surprised and delighted kids!

Welcome home Miss Bella, and to this blog where I am sure you will find yourself featured often!!

Meet and Greet: Mento

This is MyBoy's bearded dragon, Mento.  He has been in the family for about four years now.  I ordered him from a bearded dragon breeder for MyBoy as a Christmas surprise and he arrived in the mail in a tiny box, he was so small!  On Christmas morning all those years ago, I took my then 6 year old boy downstairs with his eyes closed, and when he opened them, there was a little baby lizard just for him..

Look how big he is now.

Mento isn't the only one that is bigger.  MyBoy is so responsible with his pet these days, feeding him lettuce and cricket kibble every day, making sure the proper heat lights are on or off, and cleaning the cage.  He even gives Mento a bath occasionally.

While MyBoy was cleaning Mento's cage this weekend, I was thinking about all of this, and got some great photos of Mento.  I just had to share!  Isn't he handsome?

Meet & Greet: Thomas, the Ferret

Meet Thomas.  He is the sweet little ferret who belongs to MyGirl!  She does a very thorough job these days taking care of him and she loves giving him a bath in her bathroom sink.  Tomtom is now about four years old, we have had him since he was a tiny baby!  He likes to eat peanut butter and cat food.  MyGirl likes to dress him up in doll clothes, and she makes leashes for him out of old socks and yarn.  Tomtom doesn't seem to mind.

Thomas gets along fabulously with Reuben, the dog.  I think Tommy showed Ruby who's boss when they were both babies, Reuben was caught with Thomas hanging from his bottom lip!  Ever since then, they've played well together. Ferrets aren't for everybody, but we love our little guy!  Here are some fun ferret facts.  Also check out this site for even more info. Ferret, Power Animal, Symbol of Keen Observation By Ina Woolcott Ferrets are members of the weasel family. Their medicine includes stealth, cunning, skilful hunters, cleverness, ingenuity, revenge, keen observation, ability to see hidden reasons behind things. Archaeological and historical sources suggest that ferrets have been domesticated for 2,500 years at least. Greek historical give reference to the ferret about 450 BC. Roman documents refer to the use of ferrets to hunt rabbits around the time of Christ. Very skillful tunnel hunters, it is believed ferrets were used by the Egyptians as well as farmers and seafarers to get rid of rodents in barns and on ships. However, the history of the ferrets domestication is speculative, without any concrete evidence, giving this small animal an illusive air. Ferrets are cheerful, playful animals with the inquisitiveness of the raccoon and the amiableness of a kitten. They are also opportunists, quick to take advantage and will filch anything they can drag to a safe hiding place to be used at a later time. Brainy and cunning the ferret shows us how to use our creativeness to build a safe haven for ourselves, and to stock up with things that may be needed - always be ready for any situation that may come into existence. The ferret is a good, helping ally to have around in hard time. more...