Rocky is not pooping.

I was worried because Rocky was not pooping, has not since I brought him home as far as I know. Granted he does have a dark patch around his mouth which could mean he's eating the poop. I know how I feel with my Crohn's disease when I don't poop for a while so I was worried.

I did research online and a few places said that he might not be pooping because he's dehydrated. Since I don't have a mister right now that is highly possible. One site suggested soaking him 30 minutes a day in lukewarm water to see if he starts pooping. His previous owner told me that he usually poops in his weekly soak.

At first I was thinking of putting him in the tub so that he would have lots of room to walk in the water. The issue with that is, because I like to multitask, I was doing laundry while researching so our small washing machine is in the bathtub right now. I was also baking a cake in one of those one time use only pans that have the plastic lids so now Rocky is soaking in a cake pan lid

Have to watch him because he keeps trying to get out

Carrots and Calcium powder

Today I mixed carrot tops and carrot peels with the spring mix for Rocky. Then in the smaller bowl I mixed the veggies with Calcium powder that Brian got at Petsmart. Rocky ate leaves with the Calcium powder on them without a fuss.

Rocky did not spit out the carrot peels like he did the pellets. He ate the carrot top leaves without an issue, which is great because the carrot tops in water are growing well. 

Rocky ate all the Melon

I gave Rocky a piece of melon this morning in the smaller bowl with the pellets. He left the pellets, which expand when wet.  Rocky really does not like the pellets. I am going to have to get him Calcium and Vitamin D powder to put on his spring mix. Rocky ate all the melon though!

I need to figure out how to add a video. I have a great video of Rocky eating the melon and rejecting a pellet that stuck to said melon piece.

He knows when feeding time is

I came up to Rocky just like this

Meanwhile I have some growth in the clover patch.

Getting Fat and Lazy

Ate too much, cannot make it to bed

He ate his first helping of food this morning and was then looking for more so I gave him a second helping. Then I go up to find him like this.

First Rocky inspired short story done

I should be more specific essay the first draft of the first Rocky inspired short story is completed. Once I have finished the editing process I will gladly post it on this blog. It is about a tiny settlement on the back of a colossal desert tortoise but it does not use one of the three settlements that I was working on previously in Worldbuilding.


I finally remembered to post the story at https://slwhtortoise.blogspot.com/2020/01/white-tortoise-inn.html

New way to sleep

I pulled up the log to check on Rocky and found him like this. I pulled him out after taking the picture and he hissed at me. Apparently Rocky was fine like that. 

Upstairs Finally

Upstairs in my new room having one of my favorite meals, spring mix. I have lots of room to dig once I am done eating. Life is good.

Possible New Tank

Tuff Stuff Heavy-Duty Oval Stock Tank, 110 Gal. as a possible new tank for Rocky. It is 20 inches in height by 36 inches width and 53 inches in length. It is heat resistant so I don't think the heat lamp will present an issue. I am still worried about plastic with the tortoise though...

Another option is CountyLine Galvanized Oval Stock Tank but this one is eight feet long. It is still  three feet wide and two feet high so most plans stay the same, see below. I am hesitant because it is over two hundred dollars more than the Tuff Stuff option above. Also the eight foot length might be too long for the table in the office. Plus the heat lamp might heat up the metal.

We wouldn't need a new grate for the top, just put boards over the ends and the grate in the middle with the light on top. Depending on wall durability we can put potted plants on the boards, will have to test this in the store before purchasing no matter which option we choose. The boards will also give Rocky two shade areas. The tubs twenty inch or two foot height means that I can put in at least six inches of pellets so Rocky can have lots of digging fun too.

The Menu Today

Carrot greens and carrot peels and tortoise pellets. I ate the carrot after peeling but it is good to share.

Now to try and regrow the carrot!

Worldbuilding - What per Scute?

Rocky has thirteen large scutes on his shell. That means I can make a settlement with thirteen districts or a much smaller settlement with just thirteen larger buildings and homes along the edge of his shell on the smaller scutes.

So thirteen districts at an average of four hundred people per district would mean 5200 people and thus a small city. Even if I use all upper class districts it would still make a large town which would be too big for the desert zaratan to hold. Or at least too big for me.

Thus I am down to the thirteen large buildings. Now I have two ways to do this. Either I can use the building a city from Dungeons and Dragons to pick a single district and have thirteen non-residences from that district or I can just pick whatever buildings I want from the Pathfinder Kingdom building list. I am thinking the marketplace or shops district. Other options include Guildhall or arena districts too.

Marketplace would have one each of open-air market, temple, average lodging, average food, exotic trade, upscale trade, poor trade, upscale service, average service, poor service, and three average trades.

Shops district would have one each temple, average lodging, average food, exotic trade, poor trade, upscale service, average service, and poor service with two upscale trades and three average trades.

Arena district has the arena in the middle, three associated buildings like stables or barracks, the temple, an average lodging, two average food, one exotic trades (most likely magical arms and armor), two average trades (again arms and/or armor related), one poor trade (see below), and two average services (i.e. veterinarian, public bath, bookkeeper, and barber/physician). Obviously I know that makes fourteen which means scraping either an associated building, food, or service if I go this route. If I cut the average services then I can divide the population of three-fifty by either eleven or twelve to get a settlement population of 29 to 32, essentially a hamlet.

The Guildhall district would be specialized as well, where as the first two can have more general options. The guildhall would be in the center and the surrounding buildings would consist of offshoots of said guild, with one average lodging, two average food, one upscale trade, three average trades, one poor trade, one upscale service, two average services, and one poor service. That is one fifth the buildings making it easy to calculate the population (four fifty divided by five equals ninety) which makes a village.

With the idea of using the Guildhall District the Magical Medieval City Guide has examples of Guilds and the professions they would cover. There is the casters guild but with only one upscale trade that might not work too well. There is the glassmakers guild too but again the same issue as glassblowers are an upscale trade. Medical guild might be interesting but not sure how to have the trades for that. The best option would be the brewers, distillers, and vinters guild. Or I could go off and make my own guild, a stationers guild, which would be bookbinders and papermakers as well as makers of ink and writing utensils.

Poor service could be a pawn shop and/or second hand store or a porter.

Poor trade could be an average trade at lower cost (80%) or a leatherworker/tanner or charcoal burner.

You know what, I am going to ask the opinions of my readers. Yes, I know at the point I am writing this I do not have that many. In the comments for this section give your opinion as to which district I should do:

• A Stationers Guildhall
• A Brewers, Vinters, and Distillers guild
• An Arena hamlet (with which you think should be cut)

Is the terrarium too small?

So I am still in the study process of having a tortoise, even though Rocky is already in our home. Rocky came with a glass terrarium measuring 36 inches by 18 inches. According to Turtles & Tortoises for Dummies a small tortoise should be in an enclosure measuring three yards square (nine feet per side) for each foot of length of the tortoise. According to that Rocky should only measure two inches to be in the enclosure he is currently in. Rocky is much bigger than two inches, I have to measure him later to find out how much bigger.


Another thing both Turtles & Tortoises for Dummies and Tortoises: A Beginner's Guide to Tortoise Care is that glass walled vivarium tanks are not good for tortoises because they see through the glass and thus walk into it. Until I can get a better enclosure I will be putting paper around the glass so that Rocky can see the boundaries of his current home. Rocky was walking into the glass a lot this morning when we first got him home. Then he just spent time under his log.


Page 158 in Turtles & Tortoises for Dummies suggests using a plastic children's wading pool as a starter terrarium. Turtles & Tortoises for Dummies also suggest building a homemade cage on the same page. On pages 30-31 of Tortoises: A Beginner's Guide to Tortoise Care is a guide to make your own tortoise table. I am going to have to discuss all this with Brian.

Worldbuilding - Matriarchy Part 1

Welcome to my first post of Worldbuilding with Rocky. I plan on going over a lot of worldbuilding items using Rocky as a model for a colossal desert zaratan. I am going to be putting a settlement upon its back.

The reasons I want to create a matriarchy are simple. I grew up in a Matrilocal household (Yes that term is spelled correctly). I also love the matriarchy of the Drow in Dungeons and Dragons, not so much the Drow in Pathfinder though. The difference, in Pathfinder the Drow worship male deities. How can they have females be in power yet give males the ultimate power?

The question becomes does it really matter what gender Rocky, and by extension the desert zaratan, is with regards to worldbuilding? Well, if Rocky is female, she could be worshipped for housing and transporting their home or settlement. If Rocky is male than he would be seen as nothing more than a beast of burden. Big difference there.

So to tell the gender of a Russian tortoise there are four things to look at:

1. The length of the tail.
2. For Russian tortoises like Rocky, if the tail has a spur.
3. The shape of the underside in a mature (at least 4 years old) tortoise.
4. The shape of the shell notch under the tail.

I do not want my matriarchy to be completely like the DnD Drow nor the Amazons. Males, while second class citizens, will not be enslaved or ostracized. I want it to be more as explained in the article What are matriarchies, and where are they now? I want the elder females in power because that is what the community wants. I want the property and power to be passed down along the female line because females bring life.

By the way, Rocky is a male.

Rocky is home

Rocky is home. Charity, our 14 year old bullmastiff lab mix, is tolerant of the tortoise. Charity sniffed the terrarium then went and ate her breakfast. Now she is laying in her normal spot on the rug in the living room. Meanwhile Rocky is in the terrarium on the living room floor, instead of up in the office, because Brian and I had a complication trying to get the terrarium upstairs. 

The table is upstairs

We bought a large dinning room table for Rocky for the terrarium to be on. So we set it up tonight in the office upstairs. Originally I wanted the table flush against the windows for maximum sunlight. My husband stated it fit better in the middle of the room, in front of the futon couch. So for now the table will be in the middle of the room. It might be moved towards the windows in the springtime.

The Plan

For Christmas my husband, Brian, got me a tortoise. I have wanted a tortoise since I worked at DEC fifteen years ago. I am also going to write a blog about taking care of the tortoise, whose name is Rocky. I will try to do pictures and daily updates. Along with the care of Rocky I will be posting about the gardening done to feed Rocky. 

Also I will be using Rocky as a model for a Desert Zaratan or colossal tortoise that has a settlement upon its shell. I will be using the blog to work that out too. 

Rocky arrives at our house on Tuesday.