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I was five years old when my dad brought Barstow home for me. I'm 58 and we still have him. We already had a dog, and I had to help clean up and care for him, so I was used to a more demanding pet already. My parents were pet lovers and they always made sure the kids were caring for their pets...

Barstow came out Feb 4 this year, a whole month later than last year. This year hasn't been that cold but so rainy! After he came out, there was some more rain and for the first time, I did not feel comfortable leaving him in his burrow. The water table has risen to ground level and although he...

Barstow woke up Feb 4 this year, which is his latest date in the last five years.

I have a common CDT, the California Desert Tortoise. They are very hardy and easy to care for, and Barstow certainly interacts with me quite a lot. He will come out if I call his name. If I spread out a blanket and sit down, he comes and sits with me. That's him in my avatar picture. I estimate...

Hi, I live in Knightsen, near Brentwood and Antioch. We usually get at least 5-10 days of overnights in the 20s and there are many summer days over 100 here. We made our Barstow a burrow in the ground. My farm is basically flat ground and the water table is very high in winter, so I found a high...

I bought a bag of mazuri and made the mush that was recommended on this forum. Barstow said WTF is this crap, bring on the lettuce. I tried several times but he never tried a gram of it. We went back to spring mix, iceberg, spinach, a little fruit, dandelions and rose petals. He said thank god...

But he says the tortoise has been doing this for two months, in the summer. That doesn't sound like brumation to me. Could he be dehydrated? A trip to the vet might be needed.

My CDT is extremely friendly. He will always come out of his burrow if he hears people having a conversation. He likes having his head scratched by people he knows but will always suck back in at strangers. He will eat out of my hand. If I spread a blanket out on the lawn, he will come over onto...

Ive had my Barstow over 50 years now in Northern California. Like yours, so far this year he isn't showing many signs of getting ready to hibernate. He always regulates himself. It's possible he is cutting back a little on his consumption. So far, it's not very dramatic. It's been in the 90s...

Barstow's mouth always looks like that after eating lettuce. You ought to see him after a blueberry!

If he was still alive, I could ask him about these issues. I don't know which aspect of his heart was problematic. Perhaps just because of the issue, he always seemed like a person in fairly poor health. He wasn't on oxygen but he would start gasping with any effort. If we went for a level walk...

I'm out in the country so I have a squirrel problem. Rats must be a tad slower because the dogs seem to kill any rats that come around. I was concerned for Barstow that the ground squirrels might gnaw on him like I have heard rats might do. We built Barstow a nice underground burrow, and about a...

Hi Christi, I've had a CDT for 53 years now. It is definitely a pet you have to think about in a will! He has done very well outdoors at all times in San Lorenzo, Hayward, and the NorCal Brentwood all that time. I make sure he has a varied diet. He gets spring mix lettuce, a little baby spinach...

My brother in law had the procedure a few years ago. He had suffered for years from arrhythmia that would pop up at embarrassing moments when he was golfing with his boss or at a class reunion. The disclosures that the hospital gave him before the procedure were really frightening. I was...

I'm in Northern California and have had very similar weather to yours for the last week, nights in the 40s with daytime temps up yo 80 for a short time in the late afternoon. I've had some anxiety about Barstow's brumation schedule this year since he is in a new place for the first time in 30...

Please sit down tonight and write that lady a short but sincere thank you note for letting you have Billy back, just three or four lines. Do it tonight while you are overwhelmed with happiness. It will take 5 minutes and really impress her with how polite and mature you are for your age. She...

Another excellent tip about the paintbrush, thanks. It turned out I actually had a medium sized crate as well (forgot about that!) so I put the bottom out yesterday and put a little water in it. It was over 90 degrees here so the water temp should have been comfortable in the afternoon when...

Thanks, I already have two of them taken apart and stored in my garage! Although they are the biggest size....but maybe that would make him more curious to go in. It will be very easy to just drag it out and place it in the habitat, then see if he uses it.

Johnny, could it ask where I might buy a tub like that? Was that designed for turtle soaks, or does it actually have another function? At first I thought it might be the lid for a dog kennel, but now I'm not sure. That looks like that would be perfect for Barstow to have a good safe soak any...

Truly the only pet for which you must have an heir. I put a ceramic pie plate into the ground for some water, which I flush every day. I've seen him traverse across it but I've never seen him stay in it, although I have seen poop in it so I imagine he's sat down there a few times. About...