Update

No much changes to Tun Tun's life except that she is almost totally fed on dried pellets.
Tun Tun is now 224 g. I soak her twice a week now.

準備到公園玩 Traveling to the Park (Eng. Only)

I bought a gas cushion basket and line it with a handkerchief and put Tun Tun in. In “cold” weather, I wrap a disposable heat pad with the handkerchief. Then I cover her lightly with a fish filter cotton. It only takes me 5 min to walk to the park downstairs. Tun Tun likes to go to the park and will get very excited in the elevator. You can see her walking very happily in the park.

I only take Tun out when the temperature reaches 23 or higher with no wind. Also if it is 23 C, I pick a time when the sun is high in the sky so the actual temperature may be around 25C.

In summer time, they can only go out in the early morning or in the late afternoon. Otherwise they might get a heat stroke and may get dehydrated easily. Tun Tun has not gone through her first summer but the sale person in the pet shop told me that it is hard to recover a tortoise with heat stroke. So we need to be careful.

- 種植食物和車前草 Plant and Herb

天氣回暖後，我打算種這草給盾盾作零食。
When the weather is warmer, I am planing to plant this for Tun Tun as a snack.

***後記: 種子可能放久了，沒有發芽。
Unfortunately the seeds did not sprout when I tried planting them in the summer.





　
車前草有助排石，我用熱水浸乾車前草，取其汁液，放涼後給盾盾浸浴。

The herb Plantain supposed to help rid of stones . I soaked the dried form in hot water, get the extract and soak Tun Tun with it after it is cooled.

也找到新鮮的車前草，但不知是否適合盾盾。
I found the fresh form too but not sure if it is ok to give to Tun Tun.

- 定期檢查表 Regular Checklist

每當行經籠子，養成檢查龜龜環境的習慣，例如：

• 溫度
• 濕度
• 龜龜是否安全, 有沒有反身, 鼻子有沒有吹泡泡等...

Form a habit to check on your tortoise whenever you pass him. Check the followings:

• readings of the thermometers
• reading of the hygrometer
• see if the tortoise is doing ok, not flipped over, not blowing bubbles from nose, etc.

浸龜時，留意龜龜的：

• 眼睛 (有沒有分泌物)
• 鼻子 (有沒有鼻涕，吹泡泡等等)
• 龜殼硬度 (有沒有變軟)
• 皮膚 (有沒有受傷)
• 指甲 (是否完整)
• 泄腔 (有沒有流血)，等等

While soaking, check these:

• eyes (heavy discharge?)
• nose (runny nose, blowing bubbles?)
• shell hardness (not soft and see if there is any change)
• skin (any lesion?)
• nails (all there?)
• cloaca (no blood), etc.
  

平日多觀察龜龜的：

• 步姿
• 飲食習慣
• 大小便頻率及其狀態*
• 定時量度和紀錄體重 (有沒有上升或最少保持體重)
• 有沒有便秘等等...

*便便的狀態可用作健康的指標。例如：肚痾可能是由於龜龜飲食不當或寄生蟲問題。 龜龜的大便應該是結實成形的，尿尿則以尿酸形式排出(濃度較高，因此損失的水分極少，牠們是沙漠動物呢)，呈半固態的白色狀態。若龜龜水份足夠，尿酸會較軟和浠(像蛋白)。相反，若龜龜缺水，尿酸會較硬和實 (像石頭, 但一按便散)。

And observe these:

• how he walks
• his eating and drinking habits
• frequency of passing out feces and urate and their forms *
• Weigh him regularly and record the wt (to see if he is gaining wt or at least maintaining his weight)
• any constipation, etc.

*The form of their dropping may indicate an health problem. For example, diarrhea can be caused by improper diet or intesinal disease such as excessive worm load. Droppings should be firm and well formed. Their urine is passed out as a form of urate (more concentrated) in order to save water as they are desert animals. Urate is in a white semi-solid form. It is soft and thin (like egg white) if the tort is hydrated, hard and thick (like stones but can be easily loosen when it is compressed) if the tort is dehydrated .

這些檢查均有助預先察覺到龜龜的健康狀態，龜龜和人類不同，要較慢才出現病徵。多了解龜龜的習性和生活習慣，留意有什麼變化，有問題及早看獸醫。注意不是每一位獸醫都對龜龜有治療經驗的，請小心選擇。

Do all these will help to detect any onset of sickness early. Unlike human, tortoises take a long time to show any symptoms. Know your tort's routine and behaviour. Any change may mean something. Take him to the vet if there is anything wrong. Not all vet are trained for reptiles. Be sure to pick one who is experienced in treating tortoises.

Exercising your Tortoise

For lazy owners: 致懶豬主人
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjX5Zpkj6JQ

Tortoise Treadmill: 跑步機上
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74V1W3MvsJ8

- 補充鈣 Ca Supplelment

龜糧跟牧草已成為盾盾的主要食糧，畢竟盾臀龜是應該吃這種高纖低蛋白食物，而盾盾排便量亦有所増加。間中我們會餵牠一些新鮮蔬菜和鮮草，每星期至每兩星期會在牠的食物中灑上一點爬蟲動物鈣粉以提供生長需要（標籤上說應每星期灑鈣粉，但我怕過量會導致結石）。另外，我會定期觸試盾盾殼子的堅硬程度，感受有沒有變化，定期檢查龜龜是一個良好習慣喲！

Tun Tun does well with the Timothy hay + commercial pellets. This high fiber diet is better for her and that is her main diet now. She passed out more waste ever since the diet change too. We still give her some veggies + fresh grass from time to time. We also give her Ca supplement once in a week to once every two weeks to support her growth. I gave less than the recommended amount (once a week) coz it is a balance of healthy growth and stone formation. I just dust her food with tiny amount of Ca powder. Also, form a habbit to feel the hardness of the shell of your tort regularly. You may do that while you soak your tort.

生長過快或過慢均對龜龜不好，生長過快（如給予太多食物）會令龜龜的肝和腎受損，壽命減短等。過慢較少發生，通常主人都是過度餵飼。

曾在一個台灣龜友討論區看到一隻龜龜停止生長，可能是由於主人是夜班工人，故很晚才餵牠和照料牠。網主是一位有經驗龜友，亦未曾遇過這種情況，只好建議早上餵飼和盡量跟隨龜龜的天然習性飼養，最後結果我不清楚。

It is better to have a steadily slow growth instead of fast growth. That is the way they should be. Too fast growing means damage to the tortoises’ liver and kidney. Also shorten their lives.

Growing too slow rarely happens to these pets as they are often overfed by owners. Of course that is not good too. I remember seeing a thread in a Taiwanese forum that an owner complainted that his tort was not growing. That guy fed the tort very late at night since he worked nightshift. Basically a complete change of a tort's habit. I don't know how the tort end up but the host (an experienced tort keeper) suggested the owner to try to follow the tort's natural pattern of life (e.g., feed in the morning) as he had never seen this situation before.

- 高纖維低蛋白質餵飼 High Fiber Low Protein Diet

盾臂龜需要高纖維素，低蛋白質食物以維持健康 。這是他們在大自然的食物，適合他們的身體構造 。

It is important for African Spurred Tortoise to have a high fiber, low protein diet. That is what they have in nature and that is what their bodies are built for.



給予高蛋白質食物會令他們隆背 ，生長過速則導致腎臟和肝臟問題 ，生命因而縮短 。所以 ，別以為是一件好事。

It is believed that high protein diet is related to pyramiding problem in African Spurred Tortoise. Too much protein will also make them grow too fast. Growing too fast is not a good thing. Think about the kidney and liver damage in the long run. And shorter life span.

(左) 我在一個爬蟲動物協會的籌款項目看到這隻龜龜。牠重15 磅, 7 歲，非常健康，沒有隆背，主人一定很用心照顧牠，是一隻幸福的龜龜。
(Left) I saw this beautiful tort on a fund raising event for reptiles. She? is 7 years old and weighs 15 lbs. The owner takes very good care of the tort. She looks healthy and no pyramiding.

(右) 我在一個爬蟲公園看到這隻可憐隆背龜龜，我想牠是被遺棄的，之前的主人不懂照料，現住在爬蟲公園。隆背龜龜不但有隆起的殼，內臟可能已受損。
(Right) I saw this tort in a reptile park. I think he was abandoned and now lives in the park. This poor baby has pyramiding problem. Notice the lumps on his shell. Unforturnately, for pyramiding, not only the external is affected. Irregular growth may happen within the body too.