White flesh

ecachuh

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Nov 29, 2023
Messages
164
Location (City and/or State)
Sulphur, LA
Wow what a story! Started crying at the first post, then crying and smiling simultaneously as the story progressed. My vocabulary isn't big enough to describe the emotion from reading this.
So happy that Jojo has been rescued.

You and your wife are her 'knight in shining armor'. 💕
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
Wow what a story! Started crying at the first post, then crying and smiling simultaneously as the story progressed. My vocabulary isn't big enough to describe the emotion from reading this.
So happy that Jojo has been rescued.

You and your wife are her 'knight in shining armor'. 💕
Thank you for the kind words. Jo Jo has and is giving our family more than we could ever do for her. She is the knight in shining armor or Shelled Armor.
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
Here is a pic from today, you may notice her looking at you. IMG_0616.jpeg
Jo Jo is as full of spitfire as ever, and enjoying life. I have left a brick in her pen just as a obstacle and for her a play toy. Her long term pen is going to be under our large Desert Willow a place she can easily be in a dark place if need be. It will hopefully give her a very good mix of shade and full sun to let her be the dictator of where she wants to be. I keep in mind her lack of eyelid and think this large tree with branches to the ground will give her great places to avoid light in her eye. She will also get a seed mix planting in her pen to keep the variety in her diet alive, literally.
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
Here is a pic from today, you may notice her looking at you. View attachment 368276
Jo Jo is as full of spitfire as ever, and enjoying life. I have left a brick in her pen just as a obstacle and for her a play toy. Her long term pen is going to be under our large Desert Willow a place she can easily be in a dark place if need be. It will hopefully give her a very good mix of shade and full sun to let her be the dictator of where she wants to be. I keep in mind her lack of eyelid and think this large tree with branches to the ground will give her great places to avoid light in her eye. She will also get a seed mix planting in her pen to keep the variety in her diet alive, literally.
She looks wonderful ! Quite at home in her little kingdom - as she deserves to be.
You and your wife have done brilliantly - how very very fortunate that you got her when you did , so that she was still strong enough to recover. I think of her every day - happy she is so well, but sad that she had to go through so much to get to be where she is now.
Her future long term pen sounds perfect, with the big tree .You think of everything, don't you !
Angie
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
Question for the forum?
Jo Jo has had the supports on for a while now, and these things are of concern ...
She eats well and is (we think) well taken care of so this means growth, significant growth. We are afraid the supports are preventing the plastron from expanding naturally. We are worried the supports may be "to good" to simply pop off themselves, they're pretty sturdy. Considering there is bone regrowing are causing pain by putting built up stress on that growth? If you have ever had a friend or family that under went bone graphs and dealt with pins/rods and bone growth it is very painful. Understanding this is just opinions and not Dr. orders what do you think? Do we remove supports and check strength? Has it not been long enough? I am putting pictures from today to show progress and where she is in that process.IMG_0620.jpegIMG_0621.jpegIMG_0622.jpeg
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
This is EXACTLY what we are thinking needs to be done. She is growing so good we are afraid in the 4 months ish she has grown "longer" and the supports are holding her back.
That does sound like a good idea - and may I suggest that every month or so you put JoJo flat , on a piece of paper and draw a line round the edge of her shell, keeping the pencil as upright as possible - cut the paper shape out - then you can lay it under the previous one each time, so you can get a better idea of which bits of her shell have grown and expanded - that might help to determine whether the supports need adjusting.
Angie
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
That does sound like a good idea - and may I suggest that every month or so you put JoJo flat , on a piece of paper and draw a line round the edge of her shell, keeping the pencil as upright as possible - cut the paper shape out - then you can lay it under the previous one each time, so you can get a better idea of which bits of her shell have grown and expanded - that might help to determine whether the supports need adjusting.
Angie
This is such a good idea, fantastic idea.
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
UPDATE: We have been giving her long soaks to try and release the supports. One of them released on the second day but the other is being very stubborn. Her Plastron is SO much more solid and strong, even though 1 support is still in place her Plastron feels sturdy. We are not sure if we can take the supports off permanently so we will keep them for another month just to make sure. The Acrylic is easier to remove than Epoxy but still will be a chore to get completely off. When it is time it will most likely take multiple days to get it removed completely. There will be some still on the shell as we can not get it all off but hope that her growth will eventually "shed" it off.
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
UPDATE: We have been giving her long soaks to try and release the supports. One of them released on the second day but the other is being very stubborn. Her Plastron is SO much more solid and strong, even though 1 support is still in place her Plastron feels sturdy. We are not sure if we can take the supports off permanently so we will keep them for another month just to make sure. The Acrylic is easier to remove than Epoxy but still will be a chore to get completely off. When it is time it will most likely take multiple days to get it removed completely. There will be some still on the shell as we can not get it all off but hope that her growth will eventually "shed" it off.
It's wonderful that JoJo's plastron is mending so well - are you going to take the other support off so you can see better how it's going, or leave it and just replace the other one?
Angie
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
@zolasmum ... I don't know how I forgot to answer this, actually I do ... I forgot. We are trying to get the second to release then reset both, but it's being stubborn. If we start to use Acetone to remove it we will most likely have to start completely over with making the "Pads" that hold the supports. If we cannot get it in the next few days we won't have a choice. It would just kill us if we removed the supports to early and she Cracks or Breaks it again while 4 Wheel Tortoiseing in her pen.
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
@zolasmum ... I don't know how I forgot to answer this, actually I do ... I forgot. We are trying to get the second to release then reset both, but it's being stubborn. If we start to use Acetone to remove it we will most likely have to start completely over with making the "Pads" that hold the supports. If we cannot get it in the next few days we won't have a choice. It would just kill us if we removed the supports to early and she Cracks or Breaks it again while 4 Wheel Tortoiseing in her pen.
Just a thought - I wondered if a length of dental floss - the kind which has a long plastic threading bit at the end -could be threaded through the middle of the space between the plastron and the support, and pulled about gently - even with a tiny bit of acetone on it , to help loosen it ? I don't think acetone would harm her shell, as it is used as nail polish remover. Probably a silly idea, but I had to tell you, just in case !
Angie
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
@zolasmum ... Fantastic idea. If we just keep "dipping" the floss in Acetone and trying to pull it through, gently. The Acetone will basically destroy her shell if too much is used, or it is repeatedly applied. Rubbing Alcohol is not as harsh a solvent but will do nothing to the Acrylic, so it's a little tricky. We will definitely be trying the floss today.
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
Well we tried and tried to remove the second support with no success. We decided to reattach the first one and leave both for 1 more month, then we WILL loosen both. Her fondness for 4 wheeling and climbing over stuff will make me remove all obstacles in her pen for a while. We will monitor the Plastron and make sure nothing is going wrong and "Decorate" her pen according to how the shell is repairing. If we find it is strong enough for her 4 wheeling attitude we will put enrichment items and visual barriers in the pen.
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
Well we tried and tried to remove the second support with no success. We decided to reattach the first one and leave both for 1 more month, then we WILL loosen both. Her fondness for 4 wheeling and climbing over stuff will make me remove all obstacles in her pen for a while. We will monitor the Plastron and make sure nothing is going wrong and "Decorate" her pen according to how the shell is repairing. If we find it is strong enough for her 4 wheeling attitude we will put enrichment items and visual barriers in the pen.
I'm sorry about that, after all your efforts- it must be very frustrating - however, another month will give you a chance to check out any other ways of getting it off - maybe someone on the forum would have bright ideas - I was thinking about people who do craft work of some kind that might involve solvents or tools that might help. Anyway, JoJo is clearly having a good time and enjoying life, which is just wonderful !
Angie
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
In a month we will completely take off the Acrylic, we didn't want to do that just yet. We will be able to remove the whole thing pretty easily, we were trying to just release the aluminum then reattach. We didn't want to remove the Acrylic because of how much it affects the Plastron. With the Acetone to clean it, then the Acrylic mixing and fumes, then keeping her upside down for an extended period we felt it was just to much stress if we were still keeping the supports. My wife feels that the Healing is strong enough, it's my fear of it not being 100% that is stopping us from removing it all. I am giving it another month to make me feel better about her going support free. I would feel BAD if we had taken it off and she cracked the repair and we had to do it all over. I want this to be a 1 time deal, even if it takes a month longer.
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
In a month we will completely take off the Acrylic, we didn't want to do that just yet. We will be able to remove the whole thing pretty easily, we were trying to just release the aluminum then reattach. We didn't want to remove the Acrylic because of how much it affects the Plastron. With the Acetone to clean it, then the Acrylic mixing and fumes, then keeping her upside down for an extended period we felt it was just to much stress if we were still keeping the supports. My wife feels that the Healing is strong enough, it's my fear of it not being 100% that is stopping us from removing it all. I am giving it another month to make me feel better about her going support free. I would feel BAD if we had taken it off and she cracked the repair and we had to do it all over. I want this to be a 1 time deal, even if it takes a month longer.
I hope all is going well with JoJo - and of course you and your wife as well ! We have had some awful weather here, but hope tomorrow will be sunny, in which case we will take Zola to a wood we know where there are lots of wild bluebells. We go every year - I think Zola likes the colour and the scent a lot - he gets quite excited -but we don't let him off the path, as I'm afraid he might try to eat them ! Do you have bluebells in the USA ? We usually start taking him to some of the stately homes in the area about now, as they tend to have lovely gardens, and we can hold him up to look at the beautiful flowers -again, it's been too wet and cold to go anywhere like that just yet.
I will send you a photo of the bluebells and Zola.
Angie
 

zolasmum

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Messages
2,067
I hope all is going well with JoJo - and of course you and your wife as well ! We have had some awful weather here, but hope tomorrow will be sunny, in which case we will take Zola to a wood we know where there are lots of wild bluebells. We go every year - I think Zola likes the colour and the scent a lot - he gets quite excited -but we don't let him off the path, as I'm afraid he might try to eat them ! Do you have bluebells in the USA ? We usually start taking him to some of the stately homes in the area about now, as they tend to have lovely gardens, and we can hold him up to look at the beautiful flowers -again, it's been too wet and cold to go anywhere like that just yet.
I will send you a photo of the bluebells and Zola.
Angie
I haven't been able to send you a photo of the bluebells yet, as they are later in the wood than elsewhere,but I thought you might like to see a picture which includes the breakwater where Zola walks. It is on the far right of the photo - there is a tiny person on it, which gives you an idea of the scale - and a tiny person in a red coat at the very bottom of the photo in the middle, on the sand, in a red coat. So it is pretty long way for a little tortoise !
Angie`r61k.jpg
 

EppsDynasty

Well-Known Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Oct 4, 2022
Messages
795
Location (City and/or State)
Canebrake Ca
Holy Moly that is beautiful. We do have Blue Bells but only on the Eastern side of the US. We have had terrible cold and windy weather as well here, leaving Jo Jo to stay inside quite a lot. We have planned our visit to Johannesburg to visit where Jo Jo came from, it will be either the 11th or 12th of may. I really want to take her with us and get some pictures of her now, with the house in the background. I am imagining black and white photos of her and the "Duck Pen." I think of Jaime Sheffield a lot "How would he write this story?" I am going to make sure and video as well, I don't want to miss recording this event. I wonder if the smell will trigger memories in her? Will she remember the suffering and pain? Our whole family will be there and I am very excited, a little proud too. We will all be there with her just as we have been for these 6+ months. We're not sure if we will be able to find the lady that originally found her but are trying our best to find her.
 
Top