(upbeat music)
(exhaling)
(upbeat music continues)
(exhaling)
(upbeat music)
(car dinging)
- It's 10 degrees outside.
(upbeat music)
And I'm off to the shop for the fun day.
Actually, we have something cool
and Lori ordered something,
it has to do with Matilda, the big tortoise.
It's gonna be pretty fun.
So what'd you say?
We head to the shop and get it started.
(upbeat music)
Of course we had Chris and Casey out
from Garden State Tortoise
and when we're down with Sam at Florida Iguana & Tortoise,
he talked about the shells of these animals
and how you don't mind a lot of pyramiding.
Well, Matilda's actually pretty good
when it comes to the pyramiding,
but they really talked about humidity
and they need a lot of water to be honest.
Now we give 'em water in their enclosure,
but we don't have a water feature.
And then during the summertime,
we actually will take her outside a lot of time
and kinda spray her down,
let her kind of wallow in the water.
She really loves it.
But during the winter time,
obviously we can't take her outside.
So what we did was we actually bought a little
like kinda pond area, kinda portable
that we could put together and she could go in
maybe once or twice a week
because again, it's very important for them
to get that water, to keep that shell really good.
Something I really didn't know
until I visited with those guys
and had Chris and Casey out as well.
So we want the best for these animals, right?
And I'm learning all the time.
Now, that being said, when we do our expansion
and she gets her new enclosure,
there's gonna be a giant water feature
in there all the time.
She can spend as much time in the water as she possibly can.
But in the meantime, let's go ahead
and set this portable pond up, get some water in there
and let Matilda have a little water time.
(upbeat music)
So I was under the impression when Lori got this,
that it was gonna be like 10 foot big.
I thought it was gonna be this giant thing.
Matilda will barely fit in there,
but she'll still go in there.
Another thing that'll be interesting is that,
you know, the sides are pretty pliable
and if she decides to just walk through it
we're gonna have a lot of water on the floor.
Right. (chuckles)
But hey, listen, this is what it is.
We'll try it for today.
We'll get her in here see how she likes it,
kinda give her a little spray down and stuff like that
and then we'll try to get one that is actually bigger
that she can walk around in a little bit.
So it's kind of ironic.
I took it out, I was like, "What?"
So let's go ahead, fill it up with water
and we'll see how Matilda likes it.
(upbeat music)
That's about as much water as we really want.
We don't want it very deep.
We just, in it a little bit enough,
she could put her head in stuff like that.
But the fact is Lori actually wanted to be here
when we put Matilda in it.
I get in trouble while Lori is actually out running errands
that if I put Matilda in here, she's gonna kill me.
So what do you say we just have some fun,
go get Hiccup, the snow vine albino monitor
and see if it likes to swim around.
It'd be the first time it seen a big pond
since it's been here.
(upbeat music)
Here we go Hiccup
And you can really see it
now that the shed is starting coming off
the difference between a normal albino and a snow vine.
Look at how white he is.
Remember how he looked more like this
when he had all that shed on.
So this soak in the tab
not only will it be a little exercise
and a little enrichment,
but it'll also be good to get some more
of this stuck shed off, and that's just how monitor shed.
So let's go ahead and see how Hiccup likes it.
There you go.
Do a little swimming.
And again, I think Hiccup seems to really be liking it.
And this guy it's a water monitor.
These guys are a depth water...
Oops, just pooped in the water.
Hey Mike.
- I got it.
(Brian laughs)
- So now we're gonna have
to actually shot back it outta here
and do it all over again
'cause we don't want Matilda going in here
with a bunch of monitor poop.
Hiccup, you silly monkey.
You were in there for 30 seconds and you already pooped.
But again, water monitors love water,
obviously, hence the name water monitor.
When I was in Indonesia,
actually chasing water monitors around in the wild,
they would like run up a cliff
and jump right into the water and swim away,
that's why we had a hard time actually ever getting,
even touching one in Indonesia,
but hiccup seems to be loving it.
I think this is something we're gonna do
at least once or twice a week.
We might just leave this kinda here when we're not open.
So that way we can kinda just have animals going in here
and enjoying it.
Speaking of animals are enjoying,
so I think that Matilda over here, is wondering,
Hey, "What's going on, dad?
What's this thing all about?"
She'll get her time when Lori gets back.
And you can see how Hiccup just absolutely loves the water,
dipping its head in there really just comfortable.
You can see just again, dipping that head in there,
flicking the tongue around.
It's just something, these guys are meant for that.
That's why all our water monitors in this expansion,
are gonna have really nice water features for them
to be able to swim in,
because this is when they're the happiest
and we definitely wanna give them what they want.
What the heck are you guys doing?
Dusting the plants?
- Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- Oh, that's nice. That's nice.
So I got a question for you guys.
Have you heard this?
Have you heard that NASA
has hired like 20 something theologians and priests,
and they hired them so that like to kinda,
what happens if they tell the public that there's aliens,
how people would react?
- Yeah, they hit me up. - Have You heard this?
- Yeah, they hit me up.
- You haven't heard this?
Why do you think NASA would hire 20 something priests,
and theologians?
As the theoretical, I mean,
do you think that they're preparing us for aliens?
- Definitely believe that there's that many galaxies,
whatever there has to be life out there somewhere.
- Aah, that's a bull crap answer.
It's a bull...
I'm saying, do you think aliens are on this planet?
- No.
- [Brian] No?
- Yeah, look at... - I don't know.
- who's in office.
(all laughing)
Um, I don't know, of course there is.
- [Brian] Well, don't you think that,
I mean, like if you've seen the footage, like the Tic-Tac
and all the UFO footage from the military?
- Well yeah, but I mean, they also just claim alien.
So it's like protecting themselves, so I don't know.
- Don't you think it's a little strange
that they hired a bunch of priests
and theologians to prepare people
or to see how people would react?
- [Mike] I don't know.
- I think ghosts are more real than aliens.
- [Brian] You think ghosts are more real than aliens?
- Yeah. - I haven't seen an alien.
You know what I mean? - Oh gosh, no.
- Now we know.
- I'm disappointed, you know.
I don't know, I'm sorry guys.
I thought you guys were more intelligent than this.
- I mean, hang on a second. - What?
So you're saying like, it's nothing (indistinct)
So you're asking all this alien questions.
Are you an alien?
- I might be an alien.
Don't go back to dusting your leaves or something.
- What's this?
- [Brian] That's Matilda.
Look, she's ready to go swimming.
- No. - That's her swimming pool.
- You got a swimming pool?
- Yes, she's got a swimming pool.
So when mom bought this,
well, we gotta wait for mom.
She said that we have to wait for her.
So she's gonna be back any minute now,
but I think Matilda wants to go in.
- Can we put more water?
You just wanna little drizzle?
- [Brian] Well, I'm gonna start small and then go bigger.
I don't know.
- I heard, that tortoises can swim...
Did you see the video of the tortoise in the ocean?
- [Brian] No!
- I swear to God,
they could swim, they're buoyant.
- Well, maybe we'll put more water in there,
I don't know.
- Have you seen that?
- [Brian] I did not see it.
- There is literally like waves riding waves and stuff.
- [Brian] Oh my gosh (indistinct)-
- Its like surf.
- [Brian] I think that Matilda is ready now.
Look at her.
She's like, "Let me go in dad."
- [Noah] Yeah.
- Soon girl, soon.
Okay, Lori is back.
We're ready for Matilda.
She's ready for a swim.
- Yes. - Are you're excited?
(all laughing)
- Not as excited as I was before, but okay.
(Brian and Lori laughs)
- All right, well, let's see.
Let's see what happens.
Go ahead, let's see what...
I'm excited to see how it's doing.
She does like water.
- [Noah] Oh, yeah baby!
All right.
- [Brian] There you go Matilda.
Water time.
She's either gonna love it
or she's gonna crawl right out of it.
I'm not exactly sure. - Oh, oh.
Oh, oh. Mom, get away.
- Oh, look at her, see that?
Now, look this is interesting guys.
You could see she's sticking her head in
and believe it or not she's drinking right now.
But these Aldabra tortoises actually drink differently
than what you would think.
They actually drink through their nose like a straw.
- [Noah] What?
- And that's how you can tell the difference
between a Galapagos and an Aldabra.
Is because on the Seychelles Islands,
there's like little volcanic pockets
where water builds up and they use their nose as straws.
So it's a little more pointy,
whereas the Galapagos Island tortoises
actually have a rounder head.
Isn't that crazy Noah?
- That is crazy.
- [Brian] But she's actually...
I mean, she's just going to town.
I think she likes it.
- I think she likes it too.
She's gonna drink a lot and she's gonna pee a lot.
- [Brian] She's gonna pee a lot?
- Yeah.
- [Brian] She's gonna pee a lot.
Good job Mike.
- I'm going home. (all laughing)
- [Brain] Look at her, she loves it.
Give her a little bath.
Look at that.
Matilda you're so happy.
Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that you thought of this Lori.
This is so good.
- Right now- - She's just so explored out,
look at her. (Brian and Lori laughing)
- This works out perfect right now.
- It's better. - You don't have
a whole lot of time. (laughing)
Yeah.
- Yeah (indistinct)
- [Noah] She's got a whole lot of work to do.
- [Lori] No. (giggles)
- [Brian] We can see, she's just drinking up a storm
and she loves a little bath.
Oh my God,
she's gonna pee a lot.
- This is good for all the other tortoises too.
This looks okay. - Yeah, this is looking great.
I thought that there was a good chance,
we were gonna put her in there
and she was just gonna crawl right out
and there'd be water all over the floor
from her tipping it over or something like that
but she loves it.
In all honesty, it makes me feel bad
that we've deprived her of this before.
So I'm glad that we figured this out
and I'm glad my friends told us
how important it is, just have them soak like this.
So this is gonna be something we do
at least once or twice a week, for sure from now on,
and then eventually get her an enclosure
with a good water feature
where she can go in there, all that she wants.
But holy moly!
She hasn't literally came out from under the water.
She's drinking (indistinct)
(Lori laughs)
Again it's things like this that make me so happy, right?
Because it makes me happy that we figured something out
that are gonna make our animals happy.
And again, you know, we're learning,
you know what I mean?
This is the first time we've had an Aldabra tortoise.
You know, we've had her for a couple of years obviously,
but we don't know that much.
We've learned and learned and learned.
So the fact is definitely water is a must
when it comes to these guys, so...
Wow, she still hasn't come up.
How long is she gonna hold her breath for?
- Maybe she took lessons from IB.
- Yeah, 45 minutes.
(Lori laughs)
- It's the Aquatic Wong.
(all laughing)
- Yes.
Google it. - It's like a sanctuary.
- Now she's swimming, like a sea tortoise.
(Brian and Lori laughing)
She's just...
- But she finally came up for air.
So that's good.
- Yeah. Do you see that?
It's like, she ran out of breathe.
- [Brain] She's like, "Oh my God,
I've been under water for five minutes."
Literally, she spent like five minutes under water.
That's crazy.
Now she's going back again for round two.
Wild, huh?
- We should try that.
- Oh nuts.
How do you stop drowning?
You know when people think of tortoise,
they think of desert dwelling animals.
The fact is a lot of tortoises come from tropical areas.
Take form instance the red-footed tortoises,
and you could see this one's actually
starting to climb right in the water.
They spend a lot of time in this water dish right here.
And again, I'd like to take these out
and soak them a little bit too as well,
but they love water.
And the fact is is that even animals that are coming
from more deserty areas,
do actually enjoy to go into the water.
And now I know from my friends and stuff like that,
how important that water is in the development
in particular of all of the nutrients that they need,
keeping hydrated, and keeping that shell really well
without pyramiding and stuff like that.
So again, when you think of tortoises,
you think they're from around the desert,
but the fact is the vast majority of tortoises,
do need water and water is very good for 'em.
Yep, but that didn't take long.
Matilda sprung a leak.
Oh my God, she's been out for two minutes
and she's peeing all over the place, like gallons of water.
So in one end, out the other.
- There you go Mike.
Yeah, you can grab, I always mess it up.
I'm choking on trail mix.
We got our boots on, we are clearly geared.
- [Brian] Are you New boot goofing?
- New boot goofing.
- Where did you get that trail mix?
It looked really good.
- Somebody sent it from Ohio.
- What are we doing?
- Ideally grabbing them out and you're just gonna cuddle.
- So- - Nice and slow.
It's kind of funny.
Once he gets on you...
- He definitely calmed down. - Like this?
- [Mike] Yeah.
- This is how I saw the TikTok.
- [Mike] Yeah.
- And then the lady was doing this...
- [Mike] Mm-hmm.
- and then he closed his eyes.
- We just trimmed his nails, and I'm already bleeding.
- Just like this, is he closing his eyes?
- [Mike] Mm-hmm.
- That's a good TikTok right there.
- Oh (indistinct) - Oh.
He just kissed me.
- [Mike] You ran up and (indistinct) too early.
- [Brian] He said, "I don't wanna go back."
Look at these feet dude.
- Noah] Feet.
- Look chicken chimneys nails.
And he's got the natural head for the natural battle scar.
Oh, damn, there's one there too.
It's how today's gonna go
- [Noah] You like that?
There you go bud.
- Hope you enjoyed today's video
and all the swimming with Matilda stuff.
If you did enjoy this video,
you can do me a favor.
Here's a playlist.
You can hit one or two other videos if you so choose.
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Have an absolutely wonderful day "Reptile Army".
Remember be kind to someone
and I promise, I'll see you in the next one.