I love her…

I got my first tortoise just 3 weeks ago and got her a little friend only a week ago. Charlie is the oldest and the biggest. Because they come from different batch, they have to be isolated until the summer. I spent Sunday sorting their enclosure out. And then, today, Charlie did this:

Now, you have to know, Charlie is well set up in her enclosure. Got her new little house. Loads of climbing opportunities. But she keeps trying to climb to the top of her hut. So, because I know how much she loves climbing and how much she's been interested in getting on top of her little house, and because I love her, I set up a ramp and protection on the back of the hut so she wouldn't be able to jump off the edge of the table.

Only, I forgot that, as fabulous as they are, tortoises aren’t the brightest of reptiles, and after watching her going up and down, up and down, looking over the edge and nearly falling off it once, I felt she was ok to wonder by herself. Now, when I say by herself, I was in the room, cleaning up after the mess I’d made on Sunday!!!

So, I keep checking on her, because somehow, I don’t trust her. I feel she’s gonna take the plunge…  But, she keeps making a liar out of me, trading carefully every time I’m looking. And that’s where I make the mistake to slightly relaxing and do what every mother knows she shouldn’t do. Driven by a false sense of security, I leave her to be, trusting her to be careful.

And, of course, you guessed it, that’s when she goes for it. I’m by the window, a couple of meters away from her. I turn around, as if something had just pulled me, something inside me was telling me something wasn’t right. Fair enough, there’s Charlie, hanging by a thread, balancing on the edge of the roof of her hut, her back legs still hanging on – no idea how, while her front legs seem to be swimming in the air. As I see her, I run… Alas, too late. I got there only in time to watch her do a 180 and land on her back, all legs in the air.

Now, of course, I’m laughing. I can’t help it. By God, I love her, but why oh why did she think she could fly?!?!? 

Let me reassure you, she had barely touched the ground of her enclosure that I picked her up and turned her back the right way round. And guess what she did then… Go, on … Take a guess… Yep, she seemed to give a little shake – if they can do such a thing – and run straight back for the ramp.

Of course, I removed it before she got to it. But let me tell you, she was not impressed. So, after my appointment to the doctor, I went back to the garden centre – again, and again, and again lol – and picked up some chicken wire to Charlie proof the roof of her hut, so that she can climb and I can go to work without worrying about finding her suffocating because she tried to fly and ended up upside down!!!