Paarthurnax Goes to the Vet!

Today, I finally got to take my pet tortoise Paarthurnax to the vet for the first time since getting him back in December!

He was very confused as to where we were at first, but it didn’t take very long for him to get comfortable enough to start pooping everywhere…which was a good thing, because I had forgotten to collect a stool sample for his fecal exam. D’oh!

We got some measurements, and the vet checked him out as being one of the best-cared-for tortoises that she had seen so far. Yay! But at the same time, that made me a little sad because then I thought of all the poor tortoises out there with owners who have no idea what they are doing. I am lucky in that my significant other is a veterinary technician, so I have a lot of guidance on how to take care of an “exotic” correctly.

Behold, my marvelous drawing skills for the measurements:

Paarthurnax measured a healthy:
12cm from the top tip of the plastron to the bottom tip of his shell,
26cm around the widest part,
and 364 grams!

He did have a case of worms (most likely from the pet store), but that is easily taken care of with oral medication. He hates it though, so I have to be all sneaky-like and basically fill the hollow bits of his favourite Romaine lettuce with it, hehe.

Time to go give him a bath!

Signing off,
Marie

Say Hello to Paarthurnax!

It’s been a while since I last posted, and I’m really sorry about that! I’ve been getting back into the swing of things at school, so I really haven’t had much time to be cooking or baking or any of that fun stuff.

I do however, want to take the time to introduce you all to the newest addition to my tiny family…Paarthurnax! He is a Russian tortoise, named after one of my all-time favourite video game dragons, and he is absolutely adorable.

It’s actually quite a long story about how I came about with getting him. When I first met my current significant other, we were casually talking about pets, and I told him of my lifelong desire to have a pet tortoise or a hedgehog. Since my beau works in a veterinary clinic, it was probably the best thing I could have done, since, a couple of months ago, he told me that a lady who frequents the clinic had some baby tortoises she was giving away (to responsible homes)! I immediately jumped onto that idea, and we started preparing a nice little home at both mine and his place for the tortoise-to-be.

Unfortunately, the baby tortoise ended up dying due to complications during some surgery. After a tearful couple of days, my SO ended up taking me to PetCo to pick up a tortoise there! So although he might be a little older and not nearly as baby-cute, Paarthurnax is now my precious little grumpy baby (of approximately five years old). He’s got quite a surly temperament, which I don’t really mind, since he is so darn adorable the way he is. He loves his Romaine and his basking rock, and he loves to sit on any potted plants I get for him.

Russian tortoises can live for up to 80 years, so he will probably be outliving me. But that’s ok, because I get a whole lifetime to love him.

Signing off,
Marie