Stitchpunk
Active Member
INTRODUCTION:
It's January.
3 months roughly till I get my baby Greek spur thigh tortoise (Testudo graeca) from the breeder. I've started this thread to document my process of getting ready for his/her arrival, and what comes after that. I hope it will be of interest to prospective new owners generally, but also I'm aiming at providing a handy reference for New Zealand specifically. Tortoises are VERY rare and hard to obtain here, so the pet shops of NZ don't cater for them. No ready made tortoise tables, pre-fabricated tortoise food or lighting packages for us!
Why the Book of Om? If you are a Discworld/Terry Pratchett fan then you'll know why. For the rest of you - the Discworld book Small Gods is about how people create gods, and what happens to those gods when people stop believing in them. In the story, the Great God Om wakes up one day to discover that even though a country and religion are named after him, it's all lip service and ritual and only ONE person still truly Believes. As a result he has lost all of his powers and has somehow become a small, one-eyed tortoise. His new mission in life is to protect his one remaining follower and thereby save his own life. So, really, my tortoise HAS to be named Om. No contest.
I might add that the Discworld is a flat planet that rests on the backs of 4 humongous elephants, who in turn ride on the shell of Great A'Tuin, the World Turtle, who swims through space. If you like reptiles then consider checking these books out
I hope that more experienced tortoise keepers (i.e. pretty much everyone here) will butt in with comments, advice and corrections. This is a conversation, not a blog.
It's January.
3 months roughly till I get my baby Greek spur thigh tortoise (Testudo graeca) from the breeder. I've started this thread to document my process of getting ready for his/her arrival, and what comes after that. I hope it will be of interest to prospective new owners generally, but also I'm aiming at providing a handy reference for New Zealand specifically. Tortoises are VERY rare and hard to obtain here, so the pet shops of NZ don't cater for them. No ready made tortoise tables, pre-fabricated tortoise food or lighting packages for us!
Why the Book of Om? If you are a Discworld/Terry Pratchett fan then you'll know why. For the rest of you - the Discworld book Small Gods is about how people create gods, and what happens to those gods when people stop believing in them. In the story, the Great God Om wakes up one day to discover that even though a country and religion are named after him, it's all lip service and ritual and only ONE person still truly Believes. As a result he has lost all of his powers and has somehow become a small, one-eyed tortoise. His new mission in life is to protect his one remaining follower and thereby save his own life. So, really, my tortoise HAS to be named Om. No contest.
I might add that the Discworld is a flat planet that rests on the backs of 4 humongous elephants, who in turn ride on the shell of Great A'Tuin, the World Turtle, who swims through space. If you like reptiles then consider checking these books out
I hope that more experienced tortoise keepers (i.e. pretty much everyone here) will butt in with comments, advice and corrections. This is a conversation, not a blog.