性情 Temperament (Eng. Only)

Most of the time, Tun Tun is very timid, friendly and nosy. She may be frightened the first time she goes somewhere but will remember the place the next time and explore bravely.

She recognized the park the second time she went. She likes seeing the petals and will walk to places with bright colour. African spurred tortoises are quite visual and attracted to vivid images. One time I lined newspaper on the floor and let her walked on and she ran to the green section and took a bit in the air.

Tun told me that she is hungry by staying on her eating tile and looks up to me when I pass her. And she gives me a stare if I do something she does not like (e.g., wash her under warm tap water).

Sulcatas are active animals. They spend lot of time to burrow, climb and roam about, often in search of food. They are very strong animals and can be very destructive. An adult sulcata can move a piano. They can break down fences and even walls.

These animals are very visual and will get attracted to items with vivid colors (e.g., flower petals). Then they will try to move through anything between the attraction and themselves.

When the tortoises are in heat they can be very noisy. Both males and females get aggressive as they aged.

- 洞穴＋反轉瓷磚 Cave + Upside Down Tile

我初時給盾盾買了一個小小的人工洞穴藏身，但幾個月後便不合用了。現在買給牠的那個比牠大很多，最少可用上半年。中午及晚間，盾盾都很喜歡躲在洞穴睡覺。盾臂龜在大自然中會自己掘地洞去躲避正午的太陽，只會在日間其他時段曬太陽。
Provide the tortoise a hiding place. I bought Tun Tun a small cave when she first came. Then she outgrew it in a few months so now I get her a very big cave which should last for at least half a year. Tun Tun loves to sleep inside the cave in the evening and her afternoon nap. In nature, they will burrow and hide there to avoid the sun. They do basking during daytime but will avoid the hottest sun around noon.

溫度低時，盾盾會在洞穴外睡覺以從暖燈中吸取更多熱力。有時太倦也會在洞口睡了。

Sometimes Tun Tun sleeps outside her cave to get more heat from the lamp when the temp is low. Sometimes she falls asleep just outside of her cave when she is very tired.

我在箱子中放了一塊反轉的瓷磚（較粗）供牠磨指甲及作吃東西的地方。牠肚餓時便在那裡伸伸頭望著我。
I also put an upside down tile (so the surface is coarser) for Tun to scratch on. That serves as an eating place for her as well.

- 不冬眠 Don't Hibernate

盾臂龜不會冬眠。African spurred tortoises do not hibernate.

- 嘶嘶聲 Hissing

在一次浸泡時，我用暖水沖盾盾時牠發出嘶嘶聲。初時以為牠發惡，後來才知道牠只是覺得被威脅，把頭和手縮回身內令肺部壓縮，噴出氣體的聲音。現在牠習慣了，只會把手臂極速左右移動以示不滿。
Tun Tun first hissed at me when I put her under the warm tap water during soaking time. I used to think she is angry but later I found out she just felt threatened. The action of pulling her head and arms compressed her lungs, squeezed some air out and caused the hissing. Now she is used to that and will only move her arms up sideway quickly to show her discontent.

- 有規律的生活 Routine Life

盾盾的生活很有規律，每天差不多在同一時間睡覺和進食。每天早上和黃昏前吃東西，大約6:30pm便睡覺，中午太陽高掛時躲在洞穴內避暑。

Tun Tun’s life is very routine. She sleeps at around the same time everyday and expect for food in the morning and in the late evening. She sleeps at around 6:30pm and hides in her cave to avoid the sun in the mid day.

- 尿尿 Urinate

浸盾盾時，牠會尿尿，沙漠龜排出尿酸以減少水份流失。牠們亦會在遇見水源，飲水後才尿尿。尿酸較尿液濃縮，是少許啡色的液體和一些像蛋白的半固體（龜龜夠水份時），有時像一堆小石塊（不夠水份時）。

Tun Tun urinates when I soak her. After desert tort access to water, they will drink from it and then urinate. Desert tort pass out urine as a form of uric acid to save water. Uric acid (Urate) is more concentrated than urine. It is like a mixture of brown liquid and some egg white like semi-solid (when the tort is hydrated). Sometimes is like massive of stones (when the tort is dehydrated).

培養每天浸龜的習慣，如在每天早上同一時段浸泡更會使龜龜習慣只在水中如厠。
Form a habit to soak your tort regularly. It is even better to do it at the same time in the morning every day. Then they will only do all their business in water.

- 心理準備 Prepare for the Mess

盾臂龜是世界第三大陸龜，所有動物小時侯都很可愛，但長大後生活環境要求更大的空間，食量和便便份量更會倍增。如果你打算養牠們，便要作好心理準備。

African spurred tortoise is the 3rd largest land tortoise in the world. They are cute when they are small but they will be big. Then they will need more space. They will also eat more and produce huge amount of waste. Prepare for that if you decide to choose this species.

See tortoise in napkins! 日本人幫龜包尿布-01
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=540_qVUeCYw&feature=related

- 曬太陽的樣子 Basking Position

第一次看見盾盾曬＂太陽＂（燈）真的嚇我一跳。牠把頭和四肢完全張開，好像死了一般。其實牠只是盡量露出最大面積的皮膚以吸收最多的紫外光，製造更多的維他命Ｄ。牠會維持這個樣子一段時間，有時還會打瞌睡呢！
It did scare me the first time I saw Tun Tun basking. She stuck her head and limbs completely out under the UVB light. Just looked like she was dead. In fact, it was her basking position which allowed her to expose as much skin as possible to synthesize more vitamin D. Sometimes she falls asleep while basking and will stay in that pose for a long time.

- 獨立飼養 Solo Animals

盾臂龜長大後（不論雌雄）會變得有侵略性，所以最好獨立飼養。雄的還會打架，嘗試把對方反轉。小時候還可以，大了打架便要送其中一些給別人，生病時還需隔離，飼養前一定要想清楚。

It is best to raise African spurred tortoise by himself. Both males and females get aggressive when they aged. When males reach maturity, they will fight with others, trying to flip the other one over. People may do ok when the tortoises are very young but need to sell some of the tortoises once they start fighting. They also need to separate the tortoises when one gets sick. Think about it carefully before getting more than one tortoise.

- 睡眠時間 Sleep Pattern

盾盾初來的第一天下午五時便做豬寶寶了！真是日出而作，日入而息．．．

後來睡眠時間才改至六時至六時半。但每當牠聽到我的聲音便會掙扎起來，看看我做什麼，有沒有食物，是否去公園玩等．．．

When Tun Tun first came, she slept at 5pm!!! Then we adjusted her slowly to fit our schedule so we could see her more. Now she sleeps at around 6:30 – 7:00 pm. Tun Tun recognizes my voice and will struggle to wake up and come to me. She sees me as a sign of food or going to the park time, sometimes she is just nosy and wants to see what I am doing.