A Day in the Life (The Adventures of Oliver the Desert Tortoise)

This is Oliver, He's a Desert Tortoise I have had him for a very long time. He was a gift for my birthday from my Librarian who had a pair that had bred. It was because I would help her take care of the many reptiles and animals she had in the library.

I thought it would be fun to do a little photo shoot and share him with you guys. They are incredible and fascinating creatures. They could live 80 to possibly 100 years.

They could go an entire month without food or water. My back yard has plenty of grasses weeds and probably most importantly dandelions which is a great source of vitamins and minerals that keep Oliver happy and healthy.

With the formation of dew in the morning and also when the sprinklers water the lawn Oliver is up early in the morning when it is relatively cool eating the dew covered grass obtaining the water requirements needed to thrive.

They for the most part get all the water from the food they eat. Aside from foraging for things to eat in the yard we on occasion feed him vegetables fruits and romaine lettuce to ensure a wide variety or full spectrum of nutrients that Oliver can utilize.

In the picture above we can see he is very aware of his surroundings and he is very curious of the camera. Even though it is said that Tortoises have bad eyesight and hearing that doesn't seem to be the case. (I really like this picture for the detail and depth)

Oliver spends most of the day walking around for that is what the do in the wild for many miles in search of food and shelter from the elements. It's amazing that he manages to climb the brick flowerbed and walk upon it.

I sometimes wonder why he does it when he has full range of the yard. I guess maybe he like the challenge it takes to climb up and down even though it seem like he would get hurt or something on his way down. Maybe he likes to be able to see the yard from a higher perch or something.

Oliver during the hottest parts of the day in the summer will stay under the wood rack or in the extra dog kennel to not be subjected to the extreme heat. In winter he hibernates and it will be months until spring before we see him again.

Well that's Oliver, Hope you guys learned something and enjoyed seeing him. Hopefully there will more to show you guys.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for Reading Keep on Steeming!!